How to wash a dog with self service

Last week, we took our dog to the beach, and after playing, he was covered in sand. We couldn’t wait until we got home to give him a bath, so we decided to try out Petbarn’s self-service dog wash.

How we wash our dog with self service

It’s $10 for 10 minutes, with options to choose shampoo, body wash, insect repellent, plain water, high-speed dryer, or low-speed dryer. We never imagined that our dog would be so calm during the bath.

The whole process went smoothly, including the blow-drying, and he didn’t resist or bark. Occasionally, he would rest his head on the railing.

Overall, if your dog is easy to handle, going to a self-service dog wash after a trip to the beach is quite cost-effective. It ensures that all the sand is washed out of their fur.

We spent around 6 minutes washing and 4 minutes blow-drying. The only downside is that they can’t be completely dried, so it’s advisable to bring a towel to give them a wipe down. In Brisbane, the daytime sunshine and temperature are usually sufficient, and after running around for a bit, they’re mostly dry.

Next time, we may wash the shampoo and conditioner together to save time, and use less conditioner. It took us ten minutes to blow dry (yes, it took ten minutes to wash, then we had to extend it twice just to barely dry it)!

Summary:
1. We find it more suitable for short-haired dogs or small breeds with long hair (our puppy weighs 3.2kg); breeds with thick, long fur like Alaskan or Samoyed might not be suitable, as they’re too difficult to blow dry.

2. Time needs to be carefully calculated, not recommended to choose every option. We think combining the rinse and shampoo would be better, and double-coated dogs would probably need more time.

3. Besides bringing towels and brushes for the dog! After blow drying the dog, there were fur particles everywhere in the air, which was uncomfortable.

But overall, self service feels pretty good, all done in twenty minutes!