Make No Bones About It, Fido, This Idea Is Long Overdue
It is with dogged determination that anyone bathes a dog.
Think of the hair, the fleas, the smell! But alas, dogs, like people, have to be bathed. And doggone it, people have to do it. Most dogs can’t bathe themselves.
So, sensing a trend that could collar a nation, Isabel Dutra opened a Laundromat for dogs. That’s right. Just put your pooch upright in a great big tub and turn on the faucet. Lather him up good with sweet-smelling scents and then . . . put him in the dryer.
That’s right--a dryer! Don’t worry. They don’t spin around like they do at a human Laundromat, and most dogs seem to like it. A lot of hot air blows in their faces--a familiar sensation to any dog keeping up with election-year politics.
My Beautiful Dog-O-Mat is Dutra’s idea and a first of its kind in San Diego. Dutra, 34, describes her invention as a “self-service dog-o-mat,” a canine cousin to self-service laundries and carwashes.
Opening the dog-o-mat had a twofold purpose, she said. She needed capital for her true passion, painting, and a clean, cool place to bathe her German shepherd and Rottweiler.
Dutra opened in June on Park Boulevard in Hillcrest, in an eclectic neighborhood near The Flame (a bar), the Park Theatre (which once showed “My Beautiful Laundrette,” which inspired the name Dutra selected) and Crowning Glory (a wig shop).
Dutra is an artsy woman whose clientele reflects her own interests. Young or old, male or female, all are inextricably linked by a love for dogs. And all feel right at home in My Beautiful Dog-O-Mat, which in some ways feels like a shrine to . . . The Dog!
On the counter near the door, Dutra has “gourmet dog treats,” which look suspiciously like human candies and doughnuts. One of Dutra’s less fortunate friends recently munched on one before catching his mistake. Friends later accused him of “putting on the dog.”
She has dog greeting cards--”Do you tingle all over when that someone special’s around?” Bob the Dog says, “It’s either love or fleas!”--dog T-shirts, dog bowls and bones, dog sculptures and paintings. She soon hopes to have dog jewelry, handcrafted by local artists who love dogs.
Just to prove she’s an equal-opportunity launderer, Dutra sells a few items extolling the virtues of-- ahem! --the cat.
On a recent dog day afternoon, hotel worker Mike Peasley, 30, brought in his prized “pound puppy,” Alice, for a cool, invigorating bath and the soothing sauna that followed. If looks could speak, Alice seemed to be saying: “I forgive you, man, for every mean thing you ever did to me!”
Barbara Kruming, 45, a property manager, and her 7-year-old son, Bryan, brought in Marlowe, a large, white “mutt” who expressed many of the same feelings as Alice, albeit through sighs and whimpers.
Kruming placed Marlowe in the 3-foot-by-4-foot tub (12 inches deep), strapped him to a leash latch and turned on the overhead spigot. Clients waiting nearby sat quietly on a row of chairs, much like those in a barber shop, reading such magazines as Dogs or the more elite Dog Fancy.
Kruming said she liked the fact that all the mess stayed behind, in somebody else’s hair- and flea-filled tub (which was quickly cleaned). And, she likes the prices:
It’s $6 for a wash, including shampoo; $3 for the blissful dryer; $4 for a flea dip; $2.50 for a flea shampoo; $4 for a medicated shampoo; $1 for a little “white bright” for the coat; and $1 for conditioner for dogs who want their hair to glisten like Christie Brinkley’s.
“This is great!” Kruming said. “Especially with a dog this big. Marlowe is just too big for us to bathe him in the tub at home. And he always leaves such a dreadful mess! We’d bathe him and couldn’t dry him real well, so he’d roll around outside in the dirt--in the flower beds! An hour later, we wondered why we’d even bothered.”
After the bath, Kruming put Marlowe in the dryer, which Dutra says is ventilated at 70 degrees. Marlowe stared through the glass enclosure, looking surprised and a little confused, but hardly wanting out.
Peasley, the hotel worker, said the best thing about My Beautiful Dog-O-Mat--bar none--is “leaving the mess behind.” He so despised dog baths that avoiding the chore was easier than “gritting my teeth and doing it,” he said. “Now, it’s all taken care of. No fuss, no muss.”
Ronald Ridgway, the owner of the nearby North Park Veterinary Hospital, saluted the idea of a dog-o-mat with the caveat that people use only medically approved shampoos on pets (which Dutra says she does). Store-bought shampoos tend to dry out an animal’s skin, Ridgway said.
“The problem is, the pH factor is too low for dogs and cats (in store-bought shampoos). Assuming you’re using the right shampoo,” he added, “dogs require bathing about once a month. They need baths to get rid of all the pollen and dirt--basically, everything that gets on the skin and stays there.”
Ridgway has never met Dutra, nor has he been to Dog-O-Mat. But, he said, “It’s certainly a concept whose time has come. I see it as a good service.”
Dutra hopes eventually to set up a dog photography studio in the rear of her rectangular building, a one-time floral shop redesigned by two friends, both architects. The sunshine-yellow walls and artfully appointed plants make it a dog- and people-friendly place.
Dutra even has displayed, on the counter near the cash register--she calls it her “dog sled”--sayings by famous people, all about dogs.
“If you want to cure your dog’s bad breath,” comedian Jay Leno once said, “pour a little Lavoris in the toilet.”
“Living with a dog is like living with an idealist,” from H. L. Mencken.
Andy Rooney opined: “The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.”
True, but he’s even nicer when he’s clean.
