PetValu- $10 to bathe your dog in style!

Bath time for Jameson, our adopted North Shore Animal League dog, is NOT fun.   I mean, imagine if you hate water, then are shoved in a closed room and plunged into a tub.  My boyfriend holds her down while I try in vain to spray her with water and clean her with soap.  There is so much wriggling and fighting, it is a work out! At the end of the ordeal, the tub is filled with dog hair, and our pup rubs her wet fur all over the leather couch before we can catch her in a towel.  She is 26 pounds of stubborn determination!

Enter: PetValu.  Their self-serve dog wash ($10 a wash) is quite possibly the most amazing facility in my suburban life.  They provide everything you didn't even know you needed (see below)





Jameson and I enter the store: it is filled with yummy smelling treats, so she is not immediately scared.  Then, realization hits: we are taking a bath.  A helpful store employee corrals her behind the bathing area gate.  Then, we hoist her up into the MARBLE BATH.


 *image similar to my experience, but borrowed from the internet.

 Seriously, this is the lap of luxury.  We tether her to the wall so that she cannot frantically jump out of the tub.  Then, I get to wear a complimentary rubber coated apron to protect my clothes from the inevitable shake off water shrapnel.  We get a choice of shampoo.  I choose the oatmeal blend because it soothes dry skin.  There is a lovely hose to spray her down with.  When I start in with the soap,  Jamo finally relaxes- its  like a massage at a spa! What's not to like?  Also, as she is being washed she can see out into the store, so she does not feel AS trapped.

*not my dog, but similar experience...

Then.. its dryer time.  After toweling my pup off, I turn on the wall-mounted dryer.  For lack of proper terms, it has a tube attached with an end that looks like a hair dryer.  Jameson is TERRIFIED but she can't get too far because she is tethered in.  Once I start in with the high velocity dryer, it only takes a few minutes to blast the water off of her short fur.  When it's all done, I remove the tether and replace her leash.  The PetValu store employee gave her a treat for a job well done.  If only human life was THAT easy.


Then, I headed to the store part to get her a take home treat.  This dog has the LIFE.  With so many options, it was really hard to choose.  I settled on a realistic looking/ tasting? stick. I can always count on PetValu to have interesting choices.   By the way, she LOVED it... go figure.