dog baths: September 2008 Archives

I've seen advertisements for this before, but it seemed a bit pricey. And I'm still not convinced.

But the folks at Dogster say the new HydroSurge RapidBath Animal Bathing System, despite their own prior skeptism about the hose-attachment gadget, works pretty well.

While smaller dogs are easily bathed in bathtubs or sinks at home, larger or even medium-sized breeds present more of a challenge.

I've relied on the self-serve tubs at local pet stores, but even those are getting a bit expensive at $12 to $14 a bath (I think it was more like $7 a pop when I started using them 10-15 years ago).

My dogs both have long hair, so that compounds the problem of bathing them at home. My plumbing is old and simply couldn't survive the amounts of loose hair they lose during a bath. 

So I've been thinking the hose might be my best option. But by itself, it's a bit primitive, which is why the RapidBath gadget caught my eye.

Horst Hoefinger at Dogster was able to do a free test "wash" with it on his dogs and said it works quite well.

The RapidBath comes with shampoo cartridges along with a claim that you can wash your dog with professional results in a very short time.

The down side: The system costs around $70 (more like $79 from what I could find, even on Amazon). So I'm still holding off, for now.

I wouldn't have posted this except I've seen the ads and have wondered, Is it worth it? (That and it gives me yet another opportunity to post poor Cowboy's classic "I hate baths" pic below. He always gets lots of public sympathy for that.)

But if any of our readers have tried this product -- or other do-it-yourself home bath systems for dogs -- let me know what you think. What's the best (and most efficient -- and cost-saving) way you've found to wash your dogs, especially if they're big and furry?

Until I discover something better, it's off to the self-serve dog wash for us.

(Oh, if you don't want to pony up the $$$ for the RapidBath but still would really like one, you have a chance to win one. Dogster is offering a contest to win a free RapidBath -- the winner is the person who can post the best dirty-dog story on Dogster's site.)