Bathing Bonus!

Florida winters are crazy. The weather is all over the place. One day it's pushing 80 degrees, and a couple days later the high doesn't get above 40. It's a wonder we don't all have hypothermia.

This waffling weather can be frustrating when you have a stinky dog. Normally, I set the grooming table up outside and bathe Jedi in the back yard. Easy peasy. But sometimes it's just too cold and I have to ask myself "Do I live with a stinky dog or breakdown and pay a groomer?" Well guess what? I found another option!

A new pet store moved into the neighborhood about 6 months ago. I had never heard of Pet Supplies Plus before, but apparently it's a chain. In addition to decent prices and friendly staff, they have self bathing stations! For $10 (plus an additional $5 for Roxy) I got to defunk the dogs nearly stress-free. The store provided everything I needed:

• Raised bathing tubs with ramps and tethers
• Shampoo (we had four to choose from) automatically mixed into the water
• Warm water
• A waterproof grooming apron
• Lots of towels
• And a forced air dryer

All of this is enclosed so the dogs don't get out, but still open so nobody feels claustrophobic. I washed and dried the pups, and the store cleaned up the mess. Best $15 I spent in a long time. -- K

P.S. Jedi put up such a fuss during his bath that everyone had to come see what was going on. Three weeks later we saw the owner at a dog-friendly festival. He remembered Jedi. He also remembered how much hair we left behind after the bath. Yep, we got our money's worth.

This is what it looked like before Jedi