My dog needs a bath, and I am presented with two option: Take the dog into the shower, or take him to a local pet store self service station where I can wash him there. I would much rather shell out some money then to deal with my wet dog at home, what about you guys?
I have a wet room at home (this is basically a massive shower room) and I just take the dog in there when it is time for her bath, and after I just hose the room down with the shower head and it's good to go for me later on that evening. Before we moved here I used to have to bath her in a bath tub! Now THAT is a challenge!
I usually bathe my dog at home, she is pretty feisty when strangers touch her. I bathe her in my spare bathroom in a big wide pail bucket. She is pretty small but she is a hand full when trying to bathe her.
Outside on the patio with the water hose. It may not be a 'real' bath since I put the harness on so I have a 'handle'. But it's the best I can do. Yes, I know, winter's out but I don't really need to give them a bath too often anyway.
We had a dog that we would take to a pet shop that specialized in that. It was a cute little dog and the shop would puff up its hair with a blow dryer and put nail polish on its nails! It was only like 15.00 and so it seemed worth it at the time. For some dogs that have a lot of fur problems (e.g. long hair dogs) I think the shops are a good idea. But now that the economy has dropped, I am doubting I would spend the 15.00, especially on a large dog who has short fur.
Luckily the type of dogs that I have don't need to bathe very often and I was facing this delema myself recently. The thought of having to deal with a wet dog running through the house was not a fun idea yet luckily the shower I have is a walk in with a removable shower head to make things easier. I just decided to save myself $15 and do it at home. There was bit of drama but I didn't want to have to lift him up into the tubs they have at the do-it-yourself places. He's almost 50 pounds. I kind of miss the days when he was a tiny puppy and I would just give him a bath in kitchen sink.
I'm not surprised that the people on a forum about saving money would bathe their pets at home I ended up taking the dog to the store, everything went fine. He is a Labrador, so he doesn't get baths that frequently, so it's not a big deal for me to spend a little bit of money.
On the one hand, this forum is all about saving a little money here and there, so I should advocate you to just take a paddling pool outside with some buckets of water and go nuts. However, I always take our dogs to a proper doggie salon. I mean, it's not that expensive, means we don't have to deal with a pack of soaking wet dogs, and the hassle of shampooing them in the first place, and they get much better treatment than we'd be able to give them during a washing.
I bath my dog at home , I bought her own dog pan for bathing she has her own kit. I take her to the pet store as a treat like when I let her play in the yard for along period of time. I take her and let her get dipped and freshly cleaned
I have the long haired breeds so it would be very expensive to take them to a groomer. Maybe when I get a job I can do it but for now we just put them in the bath. They get dried with the towel then sit in the hallway until they're dry enough to come out.
We have four big dogs so it would be too expensive to take them to a pet service for bath. We usually just shower them outside the house as we have a large empty area around. They also go crazy if a stranger touches and does something to them even if it means not hurting them.
I have a mid-sized dog and he hates a bath! Everytime I have to give him a bath in the tub he fights me. Plus the tub has to be cleaned after each bath, So I am going to try the water hose next time, but will it be too cold for him?
Our dog gets bathed only here at home. In fact, all of our previous dogs have never been bathed by other people in a commercial establishment. I think if you bathe your dog only once a month or even longer than a month, like once every two months, then I think it would not be much of a hassle or expense, if you hire other people to do it.
I have never spent money to have someone else wash my animal. I'm sorry. I think you should bath your own dog personally, save your money and give it to someone who desperately needs it.
I give my dog a bath at my shower! I'll just grab the smaller little shower and do it right there. It's easier! I tried getting water hot and washing him in the sink before, but it's not very convenient. However it's a bit chilly over here lately so last time I just took him to a pet shop to take a bath so that he wouldn't suffer with being wet in the cold!
I have 4 dogs, but they are all under 20 pounds. So I bathe them at home either in the tub or the kitchen sink. We have a retractable hose nozzle so that makes things so much easier, but they all hate it so much. We used to have boxers and in the summer we would bathe them outside with the hose. They loved that.
When we had dogs we'd bathe them outside with a hose and pet soap. Nothing inside for our dogs were bigger. If your dog is small and you can handle the mess when you bathe them inside you could save money if you've done it before. If you've not done the bathing inside I'd hesitate for you just don't know how your dog will react with all that glass in your bathroom. If you can afford it you could take them to a pet store and have them bathed there and pampered especially if you hadn't done it before. Good luck!
I usually bathe my dog one of three ways. The first two options are done at home, costing me almost nothing: I bathe the dog with dog shampoo in the bath tub. I generally use an inexpensive dog shampoo from Walmart when I bathe him at home. This is my and my dog's least favorite option. I dislike the mess and the stress it puts my dog in, as well as the wet dog smell lingering in the air afterwards.On warm sunny days, I fill up a 5 gallon bucket with warm water and dog shampoo, and use it and a hose to bathe my dog outside. He doesn't mind me scrubbing him down with soapy water outside, then afterwards I use the hose to spray him off. I usually bathe him this way on warm, sunny days, so that afterwards he can air dry outside while I work on chores in the yard. This is my favorite DIY method.I take my dog to the groomer when he really needs a deep clean, a trim, and his nails trimmed. The best way to save on this is to call around and check prices online. I have found that privately owned pet grooming salons are less expensive than Pet Smart or other large retailers.
Do you have a small porch, a lawn or a laundry area? If you do, you can utilize it to give your dog a bath. It's natural for them to shake a lot so make sure you're wearing clothes that can be soaked. You don't really need to have a large area for giving your dog a bath. If you have many dogs, just bathe them one at a time. Sending them to a pet store service station is more costly. Whereas if you do the bathing at home, you'll only spend for the dog soap and a bit of your water bill.
Last time my dog went to have a bath in the pet shop, and honestly I don't think it's worth it to pay for dog baths, since they are expensive and dogs are easy enough to bathe at home. However, it was the first time I got my cat to get a bath since I was scared doing at home for the first time. I did think it was worth it because cats are a nightmare to get into water and plus his fur got soooo soft!!!
