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Harlem Dog Spa Lets You Clean Your Canine in Car Wash-Inspired Machine

By Gustavo Solis | January 23, 2015 10:15am
 A new pet saloon on 247 W. 145th St. lets people wash their pets on a "dog wash" machine.
Mia's Bathhouse for Pets
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HARLEM — Customers are panting over a new salon on West 145th Street.

Mia’s Bathhouse for Pets on 247 West 145th St. allows customers to wash their pets in a car wash-like machine where they can choose from different types of shampoos and conditioners.

After their session on the "Dog Wash," the canine customers can get new haircuts from professional groomers.

“The customers like the concept,” said the store’s owner LaChena Clark. “They can drop their dog off or bring the kids and wash their dog together. It saves them from having to clean up their bathroom or kitchen or wherever they wash their dog.”

Clark, who also opened up a dry cleaner called Sudsy Water next to the dog spa in December, is a former banker, who invested in a Bronx laundromat shortly before the economic collapse of 2008. When she was laid off from the banking industry she focused on the laundry business.

Sudsy Water is Clark’s third laundry business. Mia’s Bathhouse, which is named after her toy poodle who died in 2013, is her first dog business.

She got the idea while visiting family out in Los Angeles, where spas like this are more common. The store’s two machines were brought in from Texas, because apparently that’s where dog car-wash machines are made, she said.

The two businesses are connected to each other. Staff seamlessly move from working with human and canine clients, and said each type of customer has its pros and cons.

“Over there, the customers don’t bite. But over here the customers don’t talk back,” joked Estefania Caraballo, 23, a groomer who also works at the Sudsy Water next door.

At the bathhouse, you can buy 12 minutes on the "car wash" machine for $15. Every additional minute is $1. Drop-off service, during which a staff member washes your pet for you, is $30.

Most of the dogs seem to like the machines, the groomers said. Lily, a year-old Maltipoo, nearly fell asleep when she was getting blow-dried Wednesday, said Lashee McKenzie, a groomer at the bathhouse.

Sometimes McKenzie, 21, get puppies that are so scared that they just freeze until the whole thing is over, she said. Some of the older dogs that have never been washed like this get a little aggressive, she added.

Cats tend to be meaner than the dogs, said McKenzie, who has a long scar on her wrist from a previous customer.

“Some cats don’t even like to be touched, let alone washed,” she said. “But if you like what you do you can look past a few scratches.”

Dog-centric businesses aren't new to Harlem. There is an active community of dog owners in the neighborhood and there are dog runs in almost every park, Clark said.

Over the last couple of years several canine-centric businesses have come to the neighborhood, including Paws Country ClubInstinct Dog Training and Manhattan Paws Walkers.