Those of you who have large dogs, especially ones that like to sleep in bed with you, know what a pain it is to bathe them on a regular basis.

With Bo, Copper and Logan it’s a two hour process to clean the combined 220 lbs of canine grunge. That includes the washing, the cleaning up and the changing of wet clothes. Predictably, this is not something I look forward to. If only there was a better way to make them sparkle-other than paying to get them cleaned by a professional, that is.

Enter the HydroSurge RapidBath Animal Bathing System. It touts that you’re able to give your dog a professional-quality bath at home in three minutes or less. It purports to make the bathing process faster and more comfortable than ever. Well, I’ve read marketing material before, and quite frankly, been parted from a dollar or two because of it. So color me suspicious.

Fortunately, I got to test drive the RapidBath system courtesy of the fine folks at HydroSurge.

I have to admit that if I saw this product at the local pet store, I would have walked right by it. I would think the claims are too good to be true, and at a retail price close to $70 (varies), I’d continue down the aisle to find the super size bottle of anti-flatulence tablets for Copper.

So how does it work. The system attaches to an outside nozzle/hose or to your shower head (via a diverter). The RapidBath unit uses shampoo cartridges to allow for the Exclusive InjectAir Technology to combine shampoo with the constant supply of fresh water and air to penetrate down to the skin. Dirt, loose hair, dead skin and dander are washed away. You don’t need to lather them up by hand, it’s all done by the wand.

Sounds good, right?

The amazing thing is…it works! It really does.

I washed the kids in under fifteen minutes, and that includes drying each of them off with towels. When they were fully dry, it was as if I had just spent two hours bathing them in a tub. I couldn’t tell the difference.

The only downside is that the shampoo is specially formulated and must be purchased from HydroSurge. Your favorite smelling shampoo can’t be used. The cartridges go for roughly $10 for a three pack. Each pack is said to b good for roughly two washes, depending on how dirty your dog is.

I can’t recommend this product highly enough for those of you tired of the mess and cleanup associated with washing your dog. I give it four out four paws.

And now for the good part…we are giving away one HydroSurge RapidBath Animal Bathing System. To enter leave a comment, in the comment section, sharing your dirtiest (as in dirt and filth) dog story. The winner will be chosen, on October 3rd, based on the best answer. Time to get those paws typing, good luck.