RV Dog Wash

Trying to find a suitable place to wash a dog when you don’t have your own bathtub can prove challenging. You might think it’s as easy as hooking up a hose to the outside connection at the campground and running the water, but here in south Florida they are so concerned with water conservation that I didn’t think they would be likely to accept a large puddle of water next to my RV resulting from a dog bath. I was probably being overly cautious, but I didn’t want to give anyone reason to complain. So, I did what I normally do and located a Petco store. I discovered that some of them have self dog-washing stations. Wouldn’t you know it, the Petco nearby our campground didn’t have one of those options, and their bathers were all booked up. If I had one of the small dogs like most RVers around us I could just put him in the sink to wash him, but that would not work for a 50 lb dog. So, I decided I would try to wash Sequoia in the RV shower.

When we purchased this RV believe it or not it did actually cross our minds that we might have to wash him at some point and our corner shower and it looked to be large enough. Sure enough, he fit in perfectly, though he was thoroughly unhappy about it. I closed off our both doors to our mid-coach bathroom so he could not run away when he got out and make the entire place sopping wet. The set-up worked out great. He just stood there looking pathetic and then shook off the excess water in the tiny bathroom. Next, I attempted to blow-dry him within this confined space. He couldn’t run which was ideal, but he still managed to sit in the exact spot where the blow-dryer could not reach him. He tried to eat the blow-dryer and paw at me to stop, but I was somewhat successful in drying him a little bit. In the end, he got washed, but not really clean since the water pressure was less than optimal and he had to air dry outside in the grass. Oh well, it sort of worked. It’s a great option for an emergency bath. I think I’ll continue to try to find a groomer. They do a much better job than I can.

In the midst of this dog bathing experience I contemplated the idea of purchasing doggy shears to shave him down myself and save on the entire grooming experience. However, if I could not figure out where to bath him I definitely did not have a spot to shave off his hair. This campground even had a rule listed that said “no haircuts” in your camp spot. Guess I’m not the first one to give this idea a try. I attempted to return back to Petco who normally does a mediocre job on his hair style, but they again were booked. I located a groomer nearby and decided to risk it. I figured they would do no worse I job than I could if I purchased shears myself. Just in case, I brought in grooming instructions on how to cut his head from a Labradoodle website since I did not expect that they would know how I like it cut. There were just a few problems. They only spoke Spanish and also sold puppies in the store which made me nervous that they were a puppy mill. I was taught only to take him to a groomer that required vaccination papers so he wouldn’t get sick from their shop. But, their puppies were in individual cages, looked clean and it was an established store front so I didn’t expect they would close up during the day and run off with my dog. The smell was pungent and overwhelming. I figured it must have been all the dog hair, food and grooming. I should have asked to see their grooming facility which was in the back, but the groomer seemed nice and good with the dog so I decided to trust her. You never really know how they are treated, but he was nice and calm when I got called to pick him back up so I think it went well. There was then one major problem; they hadn’t shaved his hair at all. He was as furry as when I dropped him off. With some prompting they agreed to clip him shorter while I waited (an hour). At least he is a bit cooler and a bit cleaner now than when I dropped him off. I was right not to expect them to do a better job than I could have, but I didn’t have the tools or the place and they got to do the clean-up. All in all it was a stressful experience for me, but Sequoia seems no worse for the wear other than having a slightly silly haircut.