Pet Grooming Robot: From Poodle Clips to ABB Cobots

Anyone who has bathed a wet, wriggling dog in a bathtub can see the appeal of a machine that does it for you. The pet grooming robot is an older idea than it sounds. Inventors patented motorized brushes for animals in the 1990s, self-service dog washes spread from Australia after that, and in 2025 AI wash-and-dry cabinets began to appear in pet businesses. This post looks at how grooming was done by hand and why the wash became the first step to automate. It then covers what is being installed now, including a dog wash machine planned for an Isle of Man promenade in September 2026, and whether robot arms like ABB's could ever do the rest.

A small white dog being washed by hand in a bathtub. Photo: Andrew Vargas / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

From retriever coats and poodle clips to the grooming table

Dog grooming started as a practical job. The earliest records date from about 1500 to 1600 AD, when Curly Coated Retrievers were among the first identifiable breeds groomed by their owners, to help them swim when they retrieved game. The English writer Gervase Markham described how these dogs were used and trained in the 1620s. Cosmetic grooming came later. It spread among European aristocrats in the 1700s, and because King Louis XVI of France was fond of the poodle, French groomers worked out elaborate cosmetic clips for the breed.

A groomer finishes a show clip on a poodle at a dog show. Photo: daveynin / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Through the 1800s, books on dog care gave owners general advice on bathing, and grooming stayed a luxury for wealthy owners into the early 20th century. From the 1920s on it became a normal part of owning a dog. The groomer's kit took its modern shape: slicker brushes for long coats, rubber curry brushes for short ones, greyhound combs to find tangles, cordless clippers, curved shears, guillotine or scissor-style nail trimmers, and rotary tools to smooth the nails afterwards. Groomers work on raised tables with an adjustable arm and loop that keeps the dog standing, which makes nail trimming and clipping easier.

A groomer works on a small dog on a raised grooming table, with a dryer arm overhead. Photo: japanese_craft_construction / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The first attempts to automate grooming went after the brush and the bath. A 1990s US patent describes a mechanically assisted self-grooming device whose motor turns a brush at 10 to 15 revolutions per minute, copying the motion of a human hand. The wash was automated as a paid self-service. The K9000, a self-service dog wash station from Australia, had reached places such as Wilmington, North Carolina, by 2018, charging $10 for 10 minutes. The station supplies the tub, water and dryer, and the owner still does the scrubbing.

A K9000 self-service dog wash on the seafront in Cromer, Norfolk. Photo: Hugh Venables / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Self-service washes and AI wash cabinets today

The newest machines close the door on the dog. At CES 2025, Woofwoof Lux showed an enclosed dog washing machine whose washing and drying cycles adjust to the dog's size and coat. It uses gentle water jets and pet-safe shampoos, filters out hair and debris, and has a transparent door so owners can watch. In July 2025 one opened for self-service at Paws 48 Dog Wash & Gym in Phoenix, Arizona, fitted with sensors, cameras and temperature gauges for safety. Founder Carol Hu said a wash takes 5 to 20 minutes. "If we have a car wash, why can't we do something that's using technology to be smarter for our pets," she said.

A self-service dog wash kiosk on a street in Lorca, Spain. Photo: Elgaard / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

These machines are moving outdoors as well. On September 4, 2026, Manx Radio reported that DoggyWash (Isle of Man) had applied to place a dog wash machine on Mooragh Promenade in Ramsey, next to an existing chemical toilet disposal point. The unit takes contactless payment and gives dogs a contained bath for washing and drying. The company pointed to the dog-friendly spots nearby that draw many owners, even though dogs are banned from Mooragh Park itself. Another self-service wash on the island, Clean Canines IoM near Foxdale, charges £10 for 10 minutes and takes only cards and contactless payment.

An outdoor dog bath with a hose and dryer at a campsite on Romo, Denmark. Photo: Elgaard / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

None of these machines uses a robot arm, and ABB does not make a pet grooming robot. The closest ABB products are arms built for wet work or for working near living things. The IRB 1200 Hygienic is designed to be washed down, so it could plausibly sit inside a wash cabinet and move a shower head or dryer nozzle along a dog's back. GoFa, a collaborative arm that senses contact and stops, is the sort of robot a brushing station would need. We know of no ABB robot grooming animals today, so treat both as possibilities. Our pet care post covers where robots already help on the pet food side.

An ABB IRB 1200 Hygienic robot picking bananas, a food handling demo of the wash-down arm. Photo: ABB

What grooming robots still have to learn

At home, the next step is probably a smaller wash-and-dry cabinet. Robots with arms are much further off. Woofwoof Lux says its machine was designed for both private and commercial use, with a smaller home model and a larger one for businesses such as groomers and dog parks. A home unit still needs space, a water supply and a drain, so it suits houses with a utility room or garage. Brushing gadgets and robot companions, which we covered in our post on robot pets, will likely stay separate from the machines that wash a real dog.

ABB's GoFa cobot is guided by hand and stops when it senses contact. Photo: ABB

For grooming salons, robots are more likely to show up behind the scenes. Pet shampoos, brushes, clippers and the steel tubs of wash stations are all factory products, and ABB robots already do this kind of handling, welding and packing work in other industries. In the salon itself, a wash cabinet could let a groomer start on the next dog while the first one dries. Any robot cell that comes close to animals would be laid out and tested first in RobotStudio, with SafeMove zones set so the arm slows or stops when something enters its space.

An engineer programs a robot cell in RobotStudio next to an ABB industrial robot. Photo: ABB

The hard part is the animal. A dog can jump, turn its head or panic, and coats range from a smooth Greyhound to a matted Poodle. Clipping and nail trimming happen millimetres from the skin and the quick of the nail, where a groomer watches the dog's body language and stops when needed. Collaborative robot safety rules are written around contact limits for the human body, so animals would need their own testing. Cost is another barrier for small salons. Until those problems are solved, machines will handle the wash and dry while people keep the clippers.

A groomer brushes a golden retriever at a grooming salon in Lille, France. Photo: Tikita-Lille / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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