Pro Grooming vs Do It Yourself

Professional Grooming

vs

Do It Yourself Grooming

by Tynia Johnson

The newest thing I have seen (Las Vegas and Lehi, UT) for the do-it-yourselfer is the dog wash at the car wash. For $5 you get 7 min. and as many options as you have when you wash your car. You can wash (several options), rinse, condition, de-skunk, vacuum and blow-dry. My daughter and I thought it was a hoot and could not wait to try it.

As it happened, that day we only had $5 and a muddy Rottweiler, so we put the dog wash and ourselves (we are both pro groomers) to the test. We put the dog in the tub and the money in the machine. I was to wash and she was to turn the knobs and update me on the time remaining. I learned years ago that you need a plan of action at the car wash. The water pressure was wimpy, but we pressed on.

As the minutes ticked away, my daughter decided she needed to help. We were both scrubbing and at the 6 1/2 min. mark we were done with the wash and rinse. That left us 30 seconds to dry. When the machine shut off, we looked at each other and laughed. The average person using this setup will spend at least $10-$20 to wash their dog.  If the dog is a husky or any breed of the really hairy persuasion you are looking at $50 easily. We are both groomers, and we barely  got done with the 2 of us working at full speed. By the way, we did not get our dog, Precious, anywhere near dry. For comparison to the groomer remember that after the machine shuts off, you do not have clean ears, nails trimmed or a haircut. You might not have a clean and dry dog either. You make the call.

I think I would enjoy this more as a spectator than a consumer. In the summer, I could sit nearby with a sweet tea and laugh my head off. I would be laughing WITH them not AT them as I myself have tried the 7 minute wash-dry drill and failed.

Some of the other DIY options are discussed in the full article found on the website on the Grooming tips tab.

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