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Soggy dog story T
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Left: Jim Chandler (right) gets a kiss from Gilda after she got a bath at the Bark n' Bubbles dog salon in Massaponax as Bark n' Bubbles co-owner Wanzer Smith looks on.
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Above: Jeannie Streilein, a groomer at Bark n' Bubbles at Massaponax, gives Hershey a bath. Bark n' Bubbles is the first self-service dog grooming business in the area. Customers can wash their own dogs or leaving them with the groomers.
Left: Jim Chandler (right) gets a kiss from Gilda after she got a bath at the Bark n' Bubbles dog salon in Massaponax as Bark n' Bubbles co-owner Wanzer Smith looks on.
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Trendy self-serve dog washes are starting to pop up locally.
Date published: 1/27/2007
By CATHY JETT
IRED OF LEANING over the tub to get Fido squeaky clean, only to have him shake wet fur all over everything?
Three area businesses now offer a relatively inexpensive, hands-on solution.
For about $15, they'll let you plop your pooch into one of their waist-high tubs, tether him to it, and use a hose and complimentary shampoo and conditioner to get rid of all his dirt and dander.
They'll even give you a waterproof apron to wear and let you use their towels and professional grooming dryers so the pup doesn't catch cold on the way home.
"Our motto is, 'Clean your pet, leave the mess, we do the rest!'" said Wanzer Smith, co-owner of Bark n' Bubbles, a self-service/full-service dog wash near Lowe's in the Southpoint II retail development at Massaponax. It opened last fall.
Smith got the idea for Bark n' Bubbles from his wife, Lys Mata-Smith, who ran across an article about a self-serve dog wash while surfing the Net. They researched the idea and discovered that there was a demand.
Such businesses have become increasingly popular since they started popping up in larger cities several years ago, according to Jeff Reynolds, executive director of the Clark, Pa.-based National Dog Groomers Association of America Inc.
"They're for the general public that wants to bathe their pets themselves without a groomer," he said.
The biggest demand, not surprisingly comes from owners of medium and large dogs, such as Labs and golden retrievers, who are harder to fit--and keep--in the family tub, according to Petgroomer.com, a popular Web site for groomers.
Some of the people taking the plunge into the self-service business are like the Smiths, who were looking for a business they could start and expand. He majored in business at Bridgewater College and was running B&K Kitchens on Lafayette Boulevard for his dad.
"It was time for me to get out and spread my wings," Smith said.
His wife continues to work as for Medical Imaging of Fredericksburg as a MRI technician, but helps out at Bark n' Bubbles part time.
Others offering self-service dog washes are like Laurie Williams, a groomer, trainer and doggie day-care owner who added several self-service tubs at her business, Pup N' Iron Canine Fitness & Learning Center on U.S. 1 last summer. And Kim and Ken Weick, breeders and trainers who included self-service tubs along with full-service grooming at their newly opened store, Tender Touch Pet Spa & Boutique on Chatham Heights Road.
Both Pup N' Iron and Tender Touch are in Stafford County.
"When I told other groomers what I was planning, they said I was crazy," Kim Weick said. "I said, 'Why not? It brings in people who normally wouldn't go to a grooming salon.'"
Williams said she thinks she was the first to offer a self-serve dog wash in the area. Called Pup N' Scrub, it's part of Pup N' Iron.
Date published: 1/27/2007
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