November 5, 2007
By Elise Zwicky
Peoria Journal Star
PEKIN -- When car wash owner Dave Calhoun first surveyed customers about adding a dog wash to his business, he got some very strange looks.
Photo: Chuck Caudill gives his dog, Beau, a bath at the new dog wash station set up at Let It Shine car wash in Pekin on June 14. (AP/ Elise Zwicky, (Peoria Journal Star)"Most people have a hard time with the concept," admitted Calhoun, owner of Pekin's Let It Shine car wash. "They think: what do you do, drag a dog through the car wash? But it's a separate thing. It's just a dog wash at a car wash."
Calhoun opened the glass-enclosed, climate-controlled dog wash in February, and dog owners from the area have been sudsing their mutts ever since.
"People come out of there — and this is not an exaggeration — they'll be laughing and almost giddy. It gives me the warm fuzzies," Calhoun said. "It's just so much easier than doing it at home, and they're so appreciative to have this service."
Although there is no nationwide dog wash directory, Calhoun said his is one of about 10 in the state and the only one in central Illinois.
"It's a fairly new concept in the industry, but it's picking up steam," he said. "I think there are about 700 of these in the country. In Illinois there are a few in Chicago, Springfield, Charleston, St. Louis and maybe Decatur."
Bob Wofford of Pekin brings his pit bull terrier, Dakota, to the dog wash at least three times a week.
"It's real convenient for me because I take her out hiking all the time with me, and she'll get in the creek and get real dirty," Wofford said. "On the way home, I just drop by there and clean her up."
Dakota was understandably nervous the first time Wofford led her up the non-slip ramp into the raised tub, but now she trots right in, he said. The basin has restraints to keep a dog in place during its bath.
Like others, Wofford had a comical vision when a friend first told him about the dog wash. "I knew it wouldn't be like washing a car, but the first thing that came to mind was taking the car wash wand and just hosing her off," he said with a laugh.
Chuck Caudill of Pekin actually has used gentle pressure from a car wash wand to wash his dog but finds the new dog wash way more convenient.
"It's real cool actually," said Caudill, a former police officer who used to teach search and rescue near Champaign with his black lab, Beau. "It's climate-controlled, so you can use it year-round. I don't wash Beau in my house because he sheds a lot, and the clean up afterward is just" indescribable.
During a recent wash, Beau sat in the tub with his tail wagging while Caudill sudsed him up with flea and tick shampoo for preventive maintenance.
The dog wash offers several shampoo choices, including an oatmeal treatment for dry skin, that spray premixed out of a showerhead. Also available are conditioner and fragrance options. A blow dryer leaves the pups dry and fluffy after the bath.
"You're basically buying time. Five dollars gives you eight minutes, and you can add time if you need it, just like at a self-serve car wash," Calhoun said. A vending machine in the dog wash area offers extras such as dog treats for an incentive or reward, plastic aprons to keep the owners dry and a folding brush for grooming the dog afterward.
"We've seen all sizes of dogs going in and out, from Great Danes and Saint Bernards to the little bitty pocket dogs. Some even bring in two or three dogs at a time," Calhoun said. "Most of them seem happy enough when they come out, though there are a few who don't really care to be washed."
Car wash employees clean and disinfect the area throughout the day.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/lifestyles/632825,EL02_DOGWASH_WEB_1102.article
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