Life’s a beach for mucky pups and their owners
SANDY spaniels and dirty Dalmatians could be a things of the past, thanks to a new gadget near Roker beach.
Marine Walk car park in Sunderland is the latest site for a self-service dog wash station for the region’s mucky pups, installed by Sarah Canham and Robert Irving, of Blyth, who first spotted the idea while on holiday in Spain.
The station is the sixth to be installed near North East beaches since 2021 by Sarah and Robert’s business, NE Dog Wash.
Although the sight of a self-service dog wash is still unusual in the UK, thousands have been installed in Australia since 2005, so the couple think their business will go from strength to strength.
Sarah said: “There are thousands of K9000 Dog Wash units across Australia, so we knew how popular they were.
“They have a long record of people loving them in Australia, so we thought why not bring it to the North East?
We’ve seen first-hand the convenience it brings to dog owners, from those with mobility challenges to those with more anti-social pets, it’s given owners a stress-free way of keeping their dogs clean.”
Sarah and Robert first discovered the K9000 dog wash units while on holiday in Spain, and decided the units would work perfectly in their home town of Blyth.
Robert said: “The public reaction to our first dog unit was amazing, it went so well and the feedback from customers was incredible so we decided to look for other sites that we thought would be useful for dog owners.
“Roker is an ideal location, there’s a lot of development there and it’s a lovely place.
“You go down and look across the beach and see all the dogs and you think this is ideal, we think it’s a great addition to the area.”
The K9000 Dog Wash was first installed in Australia in 2005, paving the way for a new market of DIY dog washing ever since, with businesses across the globe investing in the units.
The self-operating units feature a bathtub and the cycles available include rinse, shampoo, herbal shampoo, conditioner and a choice between high or low mode for a warm blow dry.
Designed for dogs of all sizes, the units can accommodate up to two medium-sized dogs simultaneously in a 10-minute cycle for £7.