Dog Showers
This looks fantastic! A pet store in Mankato has a dog shower. The dogs seem to really take to it. They say a couple have even fallen asleep during the dry cycle. If it didn't cost $20,000 for the unit, I'd totally get one of these for Daley and Kiki! For now I think I'm up for a trek to Mankato to give the dogs a bath!
No-stress shampoo
Automated pet wash gets a paws up
By Tim Krohn
The Free Press
MANKATO -
It’s a thought that’s probably gone through most pet owners’ minds. Tossing Fido in the washing machine would sure be easier than fighting him through a bath or shower.
A new automated pet washer at Pet Expo is based on the same idea, albeit in a much more soothing form.
The dog, or cat, is placed in a chamber inside the Pet Spa and a Plexiglas door is closed. A series of computer-controlled jets begin spraying warm water from all directions. The pet is automatically wetted down, shampooed and rinsed. Then the dryer kicks in to dry the fur.
“Everyone who’s come in is worried their dog will be scared, but they’ve almost all been very calm, they really like it,” said Bob Bomier, general manager of Pet Expo.
“We had one dog who laid down during the drying, and I think he fell asleep.”
A reporter’s sheltie, who normally has to be leashed tight to a drain pipe in a basement shower to keep him from bolting during his shower, gave the Pet Spa a try recently.
When the water started spraying, the dog turned in circles a few times looking to escape the water, then stopped and sat down. The sheltie looked out the window calmly through the wash. By the time the rinse cycle had started, the dog laid down. He was even more content through the 20-minute drying cycle.
“I can’t believe how relaxed he is. He’s liking it,” said Ann Christian of Mankato, a customer who, like a dozen others, stopped to watch the dog shower.
Customer Binette Goebel was likewise surprised. “I thought it would scare him. I can’t believe how calm he is.” Goebel, who owns two terriers, a lab and a mixed dog, said she can see the advantage of using the auto shower.
“You have to do it in the tub at home and they get water over everything and they don’t care for it. I’m thinking I might just try this,” Goebel said.
The machines cost $20,000 each and are just beginning to show up at groomers and pet stores. Bomier said he believes this is the first one in Minnesota.
“We saw it at a product show in October. Our first response was, ‘You gotta be kidding,’ ” Bomier said. “But we talked to some groomers that had them who said they wouldn’t be without them because dogs that usually are timid or bit when they’re getting a bath are calm in these.”
Bomier says virtually no dog likes getting a bath or shower from their owners or groomers and usually are calmer inside the automated machine. The reason, he said, is that while smaller spaces make humans nervous, they calm dogs because of their primal nature to live and hide in dens.
Bomier has one tip for owners worried about their dogs being scared of the machine: “The owners are usually the ones nervous and dogs pick up on that real easily. If the owners don’t make a big deal out of it before they come and aren’t nervous, it’s a lot easier on the dogs.”
Bomier said that once the water starts spraying, the dogs usually do what the sheltie did - spin around a couple of times to see what’s going on. “When they realize the water’s coming from all around, they just sit down.”
The clear door encourages the dogs to face it and look out, which keeps them from getting sprayed directly in the eyes.
The normal cost for the auto bath and drying - which takes a total of about 25 minutes - will be $15, but Pet Expo is charging an introductory $10 fee through January. Pet Expo still has its full line of grooming services; a shampoo and dry runs from $25 to $40 depending on the size of the dog.
“When I think about the hassle of giving my dog a bath at home, I think $15 is a good deal,” Bomier said.
He thinks the automatic washer will especially be useful to hunters with dogs. “If you’re coming back from hunting and your dog’s all dirty and you don’t want to go home and let him in the house, you can just stop and wash him here.”
There are no appointments needed to use the washer.
The machine is controlled by a computer that controls the jet spray force and temperature. The water is kept at 90 degrees (people take showers of about 120 degrees), and the machine shuts down if the door is opened.
“They have a lot of safety mechanisms on it so the dog won’t get injured. The guy that invented it crawls in them and takes showers to show it won’t hurt,” Bomier said.
A variety of shampoos and conditioners can be used in the machine, including flea and tick shampoo. All the shampoo is tearless and organic.
The compartment fits most any size dog, even those over 100 pounds.
“A Great Dane might be too big, but most any other dog will fit in there.”
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