Saturday, August 28, 2010

Pet Jet Handy Washer

 Handy Groomer
Looks easy doesn't it?
You can see by the nozzle where the hose comes off.
 Notice the kinking in the hose as well

Believe it or not I am always looking for products to make things a bit easier with my crew of six and sometimes I am taken in by great advertising! Let’s see, there was the $200.00 Booster Bath, not bad, but if you have a large dog the water rolls over the side of the dog and the side of the tub so it can basically only be used in a basement floor with a drain or outside. (unless of course you have normal to small dogs), the $80.00 critter cooler, which would have been great if it did not unexpectedly leak gallons of water all over my wood floors daily, the $15.00 retractable slicker brush which does not really go through a thick Newf’s coat, and now the $30.00 as seen on TV 'Handy Groomer', the all in one pet bathing solution! Yep, just a few hundred dollars down the proverbial drain over the years!



I first saw the  Handy Groomer while flipping through the channels on TV. And although I don’t recall how the ad got into my email, suffice it to say it did, and I ended up buying it. The Handy Groomer advertised that you can wash and rinse the dog all at the same time with the flick of a switch making bathing a breeze!

Here’s what the online ad said.

“The Handy Groomer makes bathing your dog a breeze. You can wash and rinse your dog with one easy tool indoors or out. It includes two quick connectors that allow you to connect the Handy Groomer to an indoor faucet or outdoor hose. An interval reservoir holds enough shampoo (6 oz.) for several washings. A dual trigger action allows you to control the release of water or shampoo. A comfort grip handle allows for one-handed operation. Three nozzle settings release water and different speeds to make washing your pet convenient. The wide soft spray is ideal for wetting down your pet and rinsing off the shampoo. The jet spray works great on hard to reach areas like paws. Finally, the wash spray setting creates a foaming action and disperses shampoo through your pet's coat. Any one of the nozzles can be used for shampoo dispensing.


Highlights: Our Price: $19.99”




Sounds great! Yeah, that’s just what I need for sure! I gotta have it!

“A comfort grip handle allows for one-handed operation.” They didn’t mention that you need that other hand to hold the hose together!

I actually paid $29.00 when it first came out and I was ready, willing, and able to bathe all my dogs seeing as how ‘it was gonna’ be a breeze and all!’ The video I watched made it seem effortless! Even at the end I was convinced that a hand might pop out after the bath and dry the dog off with a towel too!
Well, let me just say this, it was not a bargain product, it was not easy to use or hook up, and it caused a lot of cussing as well as got everything around me (except the dog) soaked! The cheap plastic hose was a hassle to hook up to the garden hose connector which was already hooked up to my washing machine connections for easy bathing. The Pet Jet hose came apart just as I gave the first run over Abby’s body with both soap and water leaving the handle in my hands and the hose wriggling like a snake on the floor spraying water all over the basement! Also, the hose kinked a lot which made it very frustrating to use the few minutes that everything did work correctly. Anyone who has ever tried watering their garden with a kinked hose knows what I’m talking about!



Hmm, Do I really want to hassle with this again? No thank you! But have I thrown it away yet? No! For some reason, no matter how much of a piece of junk something is to me, I can’t throw it away until I get into a cleaning frenzy!

So why not just return it to the maker? Well, unlike myself who saves the original packaging and the receipt for at least 30 days should there be a need to return it, hubby dear is ready to throw everything out as soon as that first slice is made into the package to open it! So if I don’t grab the package and hide it, it goes right to the trash. My guess is that the packaging and receipt to the product were probably thrown out two seconds after I started the bath!

So there it sat for a couple of months in the midst of my two hundred dollar booster bath, doing nothing but awaiting a review by me, the sucker who bought yet another perceived great dog product!

This product needs a definite makeover! I should have learned my lesson years ago. Nothing is ever as easy as others make it look in a commercial!

Suffice it to say this product gets four paws down from me. Hey, anyone want to buy a handy groomer dog washer cheap?