How to Set Up a Dog Wash Station at Home

Set up a dog wash station at home?

Set up a Dog Wash Station at Home that is ideal for keeping your pups clean year-round without a trip to the groomers needed! If you have medium to large-sized dogs as part of your family or even in a lot of cases a small dog, you know how challenging it can be to give your favourite dog/s a good bath. Going to the groomers is expensive and not all dogs (or their owners) are comfortable going to a groomer. We’ve all heard the groomer horror stories too and I’ll admit it’s why I’ve never taken any of our dogs to a groomer.

Disclaimer: I was compensated for this post but as always all opinions are 100% my own. 

Now you may think that a dog Miss Cleo’s size could just be washed in a sink and yes she can be but not everyone has a sink that can accommodate washing their smaller dog. As well if you’ve ever washed a dog you know what they do as soon as they get out of that sink, tub or shower you got it they shake all of that water off.That’s why I’m sharing some tips on setting up a dog wash station at home, something we’ve done for years but now we also have a new addition so that we can wash our dog/s outside almost all year long, something we couldn’t do before. Why? Well, no one wants to give a bath or have one with cold water in cold weather right?

Now thanks to the most advanced technology in tankless water heating we can give our pets warm water baths outside. Not to mention all the other cool…I mean hot things we can do outside thanks to the Eco Smart 6 gallon mini tank for point-of-use applications. Don’t worry though we’re sharing tips for the dog wash station that you can set up and use in warmer weather until you can get one of these effective tanks. 

If a picture is worth a thousand words (and yes I can write that many words and go on and on) then a one minute video should be worth a thousand pictures? Check out our video to see how we put this water tank to use for our pet wash station and more as you will see. It’s Miss Cleo approved!

How cool, oops there I go again, how hot is that?! Washing our vehicles with warmer water at home yay. Previously I hated washing my car in the fall and winter as it’s so cold and using cold water from the hose really didn’t get my car clean. Car washes cost me $15+ and guess what? It still didn’t clean my minivan properly so I always feel like it’s a waste of money. We do a better job at home and now with this Eco Mini 6 water heater we can wash away the road salt, grime and all the stuff that is bad for the paint on your vehicle, all at home!My hubby is very happy about this as he’s on the road every day, everywhere so his work truck pictured above is getting the full brunt of what the road has to offer spraying on it day after day. He needs to be able to easily clean it off weekly at minimum and it definitely was no fun to clean it with cold water out in the cold and it’s too expensive to go to a car wash every week. We’ll talk more on this but let’s get to some of the tips on the dog wash station.

Tip# 1 for setting up a dog wash station

For smaller dogs that you can easily lift up set up a sturdy table/stand, whatever is big enough and tall enough so you don’t have to bend over too far and hurt your back. I also suggest putting a tarp or some sort of easy to clean surface under the table/stand and where you will be standing so that when the inevitable water that will spill over/splash over you won’t end up standing in a muddy puddle.

Tip# 2 Wash and Dry Stations

As you can see in the photo above we have two tubs for Miss Cleo. The other one we keep to the side until we’re ready so it doesn’t stay on that table but if your table/stand is big enough keep both “tubs” on the table. One is for washing her and the other I put a dry towel in it and move her over to the “dry tub” to you got it dry her off. I have a towel she’s standing on so she doesn’t slip and slide and another one to actually put over her to dry her off. 

For larger dogs I would have a foam mat and towel on top of that for their drying station on top of the tarped off area. It’s just more comfortable for them and then they’re not standing directly on the ground, they are on something free from mud, dirt, grass etc.. when they first get out of their washing tub. We originally set up the outdoor summer dog wash station for our bigger dogs over the years (50lbs plus) and were excited about getting the EcoSmart tankless Eco Mini 6 water heater for our big dog Apollo whom we adopted a year ago. Unfortunately, just a week before I’m writing this Apollo was in a car accident and didn’t survive. So Cleo gets to benefit from the warm outdoor bath and we’ll be ready to go whenever we’re ready to adopt a big dog again. Our neighbours have already asked us about using it for their two big dogs whom we adore so they will use it too until they get their own EcoMini. 

Before I share our next tips especially on what to use for bigger dogs let’s talk about how the EcoSmart tankless water heater has made our lives easier and how efficient it is!

As you saw it’s a sleek, wall-mounted design and state of the art technology, EcoSmart’s electric tankless water heaters have revolutionized the industry.

• EcoSmart will help you to Save Money, Save Space, and Save Energy. Hot water on demand is the key to conserving energy for consumers and for the environment.
• The patented Self Modulating Technology and design allows you to save up to 50% on your water heating bills as compared to a storage tank. EcoSmart electric tankless hot water heaters are 99.8% energy efficient and provide digital temperature settings in increments of 1 degree. 
• Save water by eliminating the wait for hot water to reach the faucet. Simply tap into the water line and install the heater directly at the sink. No need for costly recirculating lines and pumps. 
• Stores up to 6 Gallons of Water to supply hot water for the EcoMini 6
• Easy installation – appliance line cord included
• For Buffer and Point of Use applications

You can check out all of their electric tankless water heaters on their site HERE. 

Tip# 3 for big dogs – dog tub

Some of the previous tips apply such as putting a tarp down on the ground, the foam mat mentioned, towels etc.. but unless you have dog ramp or dog stairs then you can set up their tub on a table so put one on the tarp. We got an extra-large heavy-duty plastic container, I’m not sure what they were originally made for but it wasn’t for dogs. Our 100lb dog fit into it at the time, however, my husband cut out a section of the front of it, a u-shaped cut out so the dogs could just step in to it in case they couldn’t jump into it as it was about 2-3 feet high.

You could try a foldable, portable dog pool like the one shown above. It’s not too high for them to easily get into and it could be fun for them in the summer. You can get this one on Amazon HERE. 

Tip# 4 location of the dog wash station

Once you get your big dogs all nice and clean you don’t want them to get out and run all over the yard and get dirt on their paws right away lol. Hence why we mentioned the tarp and mat so they can land on that first and if you have a long enough tarp then you can have it lead to the door to your house when you’re ready. Otherwise you may want some doggy boots if you don’t want them to get muddy paws. 

Those are our base tips for setting up a dog wash station at home. We could cover a ton more I’m sure but that’s a good start. If you can we defnitely recommend get an EcoSmart tankless electric water heater. These are amazing.  Think of all the things you could do outside, your RV and more with one of these. Hubby wants to seriously consider one for our travel trailer too. In addition to being able to use the hot water for a dog wash station, car wash, come late spring we can easily wash our patio furniture and get all the grime off it. Yes, we do cover it but we live across from a forest so they still need to be cleaned including the covers. There’s oh so many outdoor chores we can do easier thanks to this tank. Of course if you want to use it indoors it’s awesome for that too and so efficient. Make sure to check out EcoSmart and you can get their tankless water heaters on Amazon too. 

This is Miss Cleo approved 🙂