Working at the dog wash, yeah ...

updated 7:08 a.m. ET Jan. 2, 2008

PORTLAND, Maine - Maureen Lafferty is anti-fur. Anti-fur in her tub. Anti-fur on her towels. And anti-fur in the drain.

That’s why she and the one big ball of fur she does love, Jackson, a yellow Labrador retriever, are patrons of the Portland Dog Wash.

“This is why I don’t do this at home,” Lafferty said, pointing to big clumps of fur at the bottom of the stainless steel basin.

In a country whose residents spare no expense on their pets — and keeping their homes clean — self-service dog washes represent another splurge, allowing dog owners to forgo the indignity of chasing a wet and soapy dog around the house, or across the lawn, along with the messy cleanup.

The trend kicked off more than a decade ago. Now it seems that just about every sizable city has at least one.

In Maine’s largest city, the bustling Portland Dog Wash has five tubs, which are disinfected after each wash.

“This setup is much easier than doing it at home,” said Lafferty, who wore a standard issue vinyl smock while tending to her 9-year-old dog.

There are more than 70 million dogs in the United States, and they account for a good chunk of the nearly $3 billion pet owners spend each year on grooming and boarding, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

Dog washes are a natural as dogs increasingly become part of the family, living inside homes instead of dog houses, eating hoity toity designer pet food, going to doggie day care and traveling with families on vacations.

“I don’t think it’s a trend that’s going to go away,” said Blair Smith, who has helped to open three Dirty Dog locations in four years in Austin, Texas. “People are not going to stop spending money on their pets.”

The idea was borne out of many a pet owner’s frustration.

Washing a dog, especially a big one, is messy. The dog shakes. Dirty, soapy water splashes on the walls. Your knees, your back, or both hurt from kneeling next to the bathtub. Then there’s the big lump of dog hair in the drain.

That’s what was on the minds of Francisco and Gloria Gamero when they opened their first dog wash 15 years ago in Santa Clarita, Calif. They now have three U-Wash Doggie locations. U-Wash, like Dirty Dog, offers franchising opportunities.

“Up until we opened our store, there was no facility like ours in the United States. Now they’re everywhere,” said Andres Gamero, the couple’s son.

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