Thank you for all the lovely comments.

kazyaboutkatz, I invested in the grooming equipment on Dec 18th of last year (warehouse sale). I've already saved more than I spent on that stuff. At $45 per dog, $255 every 6 weeks, it didn't take long to break even!

Sana, I grew up with big dogs. When my first bichon, Sugar, arrived 4.5 years ago, that was my comment as well: she looked like a stuffed toy!