Pet valu self serve doggy bath - I'm so disappointed.

So I used pet valu self serve doggy bath once before and it was awesome. It cost me 10$ and there is a raised bath, a grooming table, professional dryer and blower, they supply towels and shampoo. I went there today, and they told me it's 10$ per half hour of use (last time it was 10$ for using it with no time limit) I don't know, maybe I'm slow but there is no way that I can get my dog bathed and dried in half an hour, or even an hour, so looking at around 40$ to use this self service bath. I can have him fully groomed with teeth, nails, and hair trim for 50$ (which takes them around 2 to 3 hours to do).

Super disappointed and I won't be going back to that bath again. I guess it's back to the bathtub and juice jug at home.

On a brighter note I did my first little trim tonight. Just around his eyes and the top of his head, but I was happy with it, I do wish I could find some left handed grooming scissors though.

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Permalink Reply by Trudy Harlow on February 20, 2014 at 5:03pm

It takes them 2-3 hours to groom your dog? That sounds awfully slow! My groomer -- a certified professional -- can bathe and groom my dog in about an hour and a half. And that's only because she's a perfectionist and finishes him up with the scissors.

I don't know where you live, but $50 for 2-3 hours of grooming is a pretty good deal. $40 for me would be extraordinary. I know the price I pay is high because I live in an urban area and I'm willing to pay a bit more for a professional job on my dog's curly, wooly coat.

Permalink Reply by Julie and Max on February 20, 2014 at 5:38pm

It was 2 and 1/2 hours the last time I went to the groomers.

.The 40$ cost would be only to use the bathing facility not for a groomer, it's a self service bath, so you're not actually paying someone else you do it yourself, and to me that's ridiculous and my point was why would I pay 40$ to bath him myself when I can pay 50$ and have a groomer do it, I have no issue with the cost of grooming. I guess I wasn't very clear in my initial post.

Yes I can get him done at petsmart for 50$ but that's just a bath, nails, teeth and trim, not a full cut, since he's a puppy he hasn't needed a full cut.

Permalink Reply by Trudy Harlow on February 20, 2014 at 5:44pm

Ah, sorry, Julie, I didn't understand. Still, 2.5 hours to groom a puppy seems excessive -- but maybe others in this forum have had similar experiences. What I'm comparing with is my 50 lb. 6-year-old dog. Maybe your pup wriggles a lot, so they have to go really slowly. The US Dollar is near in value to the Canadian Dollar, so it's just interesting that grooming is so much more expensive here in the US. I guess everything is....

Permalink Reply by Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi on March 7, 2014 at 10:23am

We pay more for pretty much all services because our minimum wage is much higher.

Permalink Reply by Ricki and Tara (doodle) on February 20, 2014 at 6:07pm

Tara's groomer took 2 hours to give her a full grooming and she is a mini-it was $50.00.

Permalink Reply by BG and Gavin on February 20, 2014 at 6:09pm

Gosh I did not know about Pet Valu Julie - I have to check it out. We go to the doggie wash on Ontario street and easily pump 10 bucks into the timed car wash type sprayer and me and DH work like mad to shampoo, rinse and dry. We only get about 10 minutes time. I always have to finish him off with the blow dryer at home and that is where I do my trimming as well. If you need a line on an inexpensive groomer, PM me. Mine is very good and cheap at 45 dollars taxes in, for a full groom.

Permalink Reply by Ricki and Tara (doodle) on February 20, 2014 at 6:12pm

I agree you might as well pay an extra $10.00 to have someone else do it! A couple of thoughts-does your bathtub have a shower head also? If so you can purchase a hand held hose attachment with an on/off switch on the handle that is very nice for bathing at home. I have one and love it! Also, there are lefty shears available-not sure what price range you are shopping in but here is one example of some high end shears:

http://www.chrissystems.com/grooming-tools/brushes-/show-dog-cat-pe...

Here's another example-less expensive:

http://www.amazon.com/Alfie-Pet-Petoga-Couture-Left-Handed/dp/B006O...

Permalink Reply by Julie and Max on February 20, 2014 at 6:21pm

I don't know Trudy, maybe I had a new girl? I do live in a fairly small city, so I don't know if that affects the price? I haven't really looked around at different groomers yet as I plan to do as much as possible myself.

Wow that is crazy too BG, I think it takes me about 25 minutes just to bath Max, but I also think I'm pretty slow lol. The reason I liked and wanted to go to the pet valu was for the grooming table, I really don't mind bathing him in the bathtub. He hops right in there, I just throw on shorts and sit with my feet in the tub, I do get wet but it's pretty easy to do it that way, just takes sooo much longer using the juice jug lol. I will PM you about your groomer. Max has been groomed twice, well really just a trim but he got the "puppy" rate of 20$ and now it's going up to full price which I think she said is 50$ last time I was there. I wouldn't mind that if it was every few months but it seems like the hair around Max's eyes grows really fast.

Ricki that's not bad.

Permalink Reply by Julie and Max on February 20, 2014 at 6:24pm

I think I am going to make my DH build me a grooming table in the basement and then get one of those baths I saw the other day and put it down there. I can't stand a dirty dog, and Max seems to be constantly dirty!

http://boosterbath.com/

Here is the bath I saw online.

Permalink Reply by DonMarie and Picco on February 27, 2014 at 2:33pm