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By Dan Meadows

Clyde hates to take a bath. I meanhe absolutely despis-es them. Fortunatelyfor me, and anyoneelse who stops by tovisit, Clyde isn't oneof those dogs thattakes every opportuni-ty to roll around inthe most rancid-smelling things he canfind. Even if he goeswithout a good cleaningfor months-and he has-he doesn't reallysmell bad. But eventually, inevitably, histhick black coat will start to mat andneed a good washing.

At first, I tried putting him in mybathtub, filling it about a 1/4 full withwarm water, soaping him up and rinsinghim down with the shower head.Needless to say, he wasn't happy. Hewould struggle to get out of tub, splash-ing soapy water everywhere, soaking meand anything else laying around my bath-room. And afterwards, he would makeit a point to go and rub his saturatedbody against any and all furniture in thehouse, just to spite me, no doubt.

Then I tried to wash him with thegarden hose out in my back yard. Thismethod had the benefit of keeping myhouse and personal possessions dry, ifnot myself. However,without thebounds of thebathtub, it wasvery difficult tokeep him undercontrol, whichmade rinsing all ofthe shampoo out ofhis coat next toimpossible. Andthen there was thelittle matter of howmuch he enjoysdrinking from the hose. So much so,that anytime I would squeeze the trigger

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of the nozzle, he would twist and con-tort his body around to get as big a

mouthful ashe was capa-ble.

After try-ing that afew times,and gettingmyselfsoaked tothe boneeach occa-sion while

attempting to keep up with him, Itried to put the forces of nature at mydisposal. I would wait until we had atorrential downpour, then take him out-side, soap him up and let the rain washaway all of the built up dirt and grime.This method still left me dripping wet,but it had the advan-tage of only having tocontrol him longenough to build up agood lather. Butunfortunately, soonafter I declared thisthe best possibleway to clean a dog,we had a droughtand a good fourmonths went bywithout muchmore than a drizzle.

Recently, I had the opportunity totry out a new Pet Clin dog washingbooth at J.R. Pet and Animal Supplyin Colora, MD. The booth, manu-factured by a Spanish company, isone of only a handful of Pet Clinmachines currently operating inthe United States. Marty Restucci,the store's owner, practicallybeams over the shiny new stain-less steel mechanism, located in anewly built special room on theproperty.

J.R. Pet and Animal Supply, located onTome Highway just outside of RisingSun, MD, is a business in transition.

According to Restucci, the Pet Clinbooth is one of the first steps in makinghis business an all-around pet store anddoggie haven. He detailed for me hisfuture plans during a quick jaunt aroundthe property, pointing out for me wherethe therapeutic pool, doggie daycare,dog training courses and much morewill eventually be. He's even planningfor a second, outdoor Pet Clin boothfor the warmer summer months.

Restucci also trains Chesapeake Bayretrievers, proudly showing off photosof his dogs, along with numerous rib-bons and awards they've won, on a bill-board in his store. The store itself ismore than just a feed store, althoughthey do have a full range of food for lotsof animals, including Purina Deer Chow(I didn't even know that existed). It's agenuine pet store with a wide selectionof toys and other products.

Restucci is3 clearly thinking

toward thefuture. In mybrief conversa-tion with him, Icould tell thathe was seeingnot what wascurrently thereas much as whatis to come, eventalking about

going around to other pet stores in theregion to get ideas to help him make hisstore the best it can possibly be.

For now, the Pet Clin booth is astart, along with a new name for thestore, which was formerly J.R AnimalSupply, new signs and a little sprucingup. They are also the regional distribu-tor for the Pet Clin booths themselves.

So, back to Clyde. I brought him toJ.R. Pet and Animal Supply to try out themachine. For $7,1 got a 14-minutecycle in the booth that includes sham-poo, rinse, optional flea rinse and a two-speed, groomer-style dryer. The doggoes onto a platform, then locks in with

two chains that clip to a standard dog //collar, securing the dog to the platformsafely, without the risk of slipping offsquirming away. That was a big selpoint for me.

After that, you could raise or lowerthe platform to the desired height thatbest suits your dog, making it easier towash. The first step was the shampoo.The flexible hose and nozzle allows youto shoot a steady stream of warmwater mixed with an all-natural sham-poo. I could tell Clyde wasn't happy, buthe did stay still and let me completelysaturate him. He didn't even try todrink from the nozzle.

Next came the rinse with just plainwater to wash away all of the shampoo.At this point, Clyde tried to make abreak for it, but the fasteners hooked tohis collar kept him in place very well. Ididn't even really have to hold him tokeep him securely on the platform.

After rinsing him down, I tried theoptional flea rinse. Clyde has never hadfleas, but I figured, why not, he might aswell get the full experience. With theflea rinse, I just had to saturate him

completely before moving on to thedryer. The dryer, also on a flexible hose,started on a fast speed and moved intoa lower speed after a few minutes.Clyde was none-too-fond of the hair dryer—Imay have found some-thing he hates morethan my bathtub—but hegot used to it and finallysettled down, allowingme to get most of theexcess moisture out ofhis thick coat.

And after all that,there was still four min-utes remaining on theoverall cycle. The 14minute standard cycle is more thanample time to give any dog a thoroughwashing and drying. Finally, I unhookedClyde from the platform and let himdown, and he was clearly happy to bedone. Restucci even tried to give him atreat for his trouble, to which Clyde, inhis predictable hard-headed manner,turned his nose up.

The Pet Gin booth has a couple of

other interesting features. One being aspecial trap that allows the water toflow freely through the platform's drainbut collects all dog hair without clog-

ging. I wish I had oneof those for myshower. The other isa self-sanitizing rinsethat the booth doesautomatically aftereach washing, sprayinga disinfectant ontothe platform fromsmall spray jets alongits sides.

When all was saidand done, the PetClin booth is definite-

ly better than waiting for a heavy rain.And for perhaps the only time ever, Iwas completely dry while Clyde got atotally saturating wash. He may nothave enjoyed it—he never does—but he'llget used to it. I think.

For more info on J.R. Pet andAnimalSupply or the Pet Clin dog washingbooths, call I -866-635-2174.

Available ONLY at J.R. Pet £ Animal Supply!(formerly J.K Animal Supply)

2497 Tome Highway, Colors MD 21917

aee-635-2174jranimalsupply@gmail.com

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