Awash with Dogs Ltd

The Shaggy Dog Story

In 2019 our little family, formerly just my 13 year old son and me, was joined by a beautiful, funny, loveable, kind, stupid, clever Golden Retriever puppy called Not Alan.

We soon discovered, as countless goldie owners before us have, that Golden Retrievers LOVE to be dirty and wet and stinky. Especially stinky.

As Not Alan the puppy rapidly grew into Not Alan the 40kg dog, the regular task of hauling him through the house, to the bathroom and into the bath as he dripped, shook and rubbed whatever he had swam in, rolled in or splashed in across the carpets and walls was becoming an absolute mission. The cleaning of the floors, walls and bath often took just as long as the bathing of the fluffy culprit too!

While joking with an American friend about the herculean task whenever Not Alan did another hippo impression I was asked “well why don’t you just take him to a dog wash?”

The idea of having a place I could go to clean up the adorable fluffy fool without the back pain for the following days and without having to clean up the trail of devastation seemed like heaven and my American friends couldn’t believe that it wasn’t a common thing here in the U.K.

And so an idea formed.

I decided to provide a service for all dog owners in a area, whether their dogs were part hippo like Not Alan, prone to fur staining, lovers of rolling in stinky stuff, prone to being a bit musty or just enjoyed a good pamper now and again.

Having friends and family with disabilities who are simply not able to bathe their own dogs at home and so must try to book in with a groomer whenever they’ve got a grubby puppy, I became determined to ensure that our facilities would be fully accessible for all abilities and so I have made sure to take valuable advice towards making this happen.

Having other friends with reactive and anxious dogs, I became determined that dogs with anxiety or behavioural problems could also enjoy an experience with us and so I have set aside a day of the week to be by appointment only with a nice gap between slots to prevent any stress.

Ideas have a tendency of inviting more ideas and so I decided to add a professional groomer in to the mix for those who would prefer a full-service experience and we also offer a few high quality products for sale both online and in the salon.

We aim to provide a real boutique experience, whether you’re wanting the full self-service package – bath, shampoo, conditioner, blow dry – a quick bath and then out, or an appointment with our on-site groomer.

Our specialised dog baths have a non-slip ramp and sliding door for easy access so you wont need to lift large and heavy dogs up, can be easily used whatever sized dog you have without bending down. With adjustable non-slip floor grates and an overhead grooming arm with adjustable loops to keep your dog safe and secure.

Our specially built grooming platforms have a ramp up to save you from lifting and an overhead grooming arm with adjustable loops.

Our dog air blasters are great even for dogs who dislike human hair dryers.