At the Fifth Avenue Auto Wash one of the self-service bays has been converted from a car wash into a dog wash.

Owner Mitch Fridolfson said he knows other towns around the area already have such an option, and he thought it was time to bring one here.

“I know Fort Dodge doesn’t have one, and I thought it would be a good deal,” Fridolfson said.

It’s simple to use. In place of the auto bay, there’s now an air-conditioned room, with a tiled floor sloping down to the drain. Right over the drain is a high steel tub with sides, and its own drain. The dog walks up a non-slip ramp to the tub and can be clipped to a ring at the front.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter
Chantel Fridolfson gets a hand from her son, Walton, 2, giving Kainda a shower at the Fifth Avenue Auto Wash’s dog was recently.

It’s $8 for the first 10 minutes of wash. The machine has a set of buttons, coin slot and credit card reader just like the car wash bins, with a lower pressure spray nozzle that’s comfortable for the canine. The machine offers pet shampoo, conditioner, and even an oatmeal skin treatment and de-skunk solution. There’s also a disinfectant to sanitize the tub before Fido gets in.

Fridolfson said the dog wash is getting more and more popular as people learn about it.

“We started construction in the spring,” he said. “With how cold it was, we got held up a little bit. We opened around Memorial Day weekend.”

Fridolfson, who also is the owner of North Central Iowa Service in Humboldt, has owned the car was for about nine months.

“We’re trying to slowly make improvements,” he said.

They changed out the boilers, he said, and have added some lights on motion sensors so the bays can be well-lit at night without leaving the lights always on.

It helps to have access to the workers and equipment from his main business, he said, which does electrical, plumbing and heating.

There’s also someone at the location once or twice every day, Fridolfson said, to make sure everything is cleaned.

The car was has three self-serve bays and two automatic wash locations. All of them accept quarters or a credit card.