DRYING YOUR DOG AFTER BATHING

Bathing your dog can be the most tedious task that one can undergo. In most cases, your pets are quite unwilling to get themselves wet, and thereafter, most unwilling to get themselves dried. For adequate drying, most of the water should be dried with a towel before the dog gets out of the bath. You should also be prepared if your dog shakes itself – for you don’t want to end up drenching yourself. Cover your dog with a towel when it prepares to shake itself. That way, most of the water would be absorbed by the towel. After toweling your dog, you should use dryers that are applicable as per your dog.

DRYERS USED AFTER TOWEL DRYING:

Groomers use three types of dryers such as:

1. High velocity type

2. Hand blow type

3. Cage type

High velocity dryers are used for dos with heavy fur coats. These dryers gust the water from the dog’s coat. The method to use a high velocity dryer is to place the dog on a table, with a towel supporting the dog’s back. Hold the dryer and blow upwards and away from the dog’s body. This will remove the water from the dog’s fur. On the contrary, if you blow directly at the dog’s fur, the water would go towards the skin and into the coat. Heavy fur dogs such as Spitz or St Bernard’s breeds can easily tolerate this method of drying. However, dogs such as Poodle, etc cannot bear the velocity of this heavy duty dryer and would crinkle away from the pressure.

Hand blow type of dryer is best suited for dogs such as Poodle, whose hair are dried by partitioning them with a hair brush. Separate partitions are then dried individually, being careful that high heat is not used. Blowing should be done in a direction away from the dog’s skin so that it doesn’t get too hot.

For dogs having flat look, like Golden Retrievers, cage drying is done till majority of coat dries off. Then hand blow dryer is used in downward direction to have the flatter look. Dogs which have short hair should be cage dried in their kennels. They can also be towel dried and left in a warm place to get them dried on their own.

However, some breeds such as Afghans, Poodles, Collies, Old English Sheepdogs, etc should never be left on their own for drying. They need continuous brushing and drying.

These drying methods are not only applicable to dogs but to other pets such as cats, tigers, etc. Different breeds of dogs need different methods accordingly. If your dog doesn’t fall into the categories described above, you can find more information on the internet. However, majority of dogs are either short haired, flat haired or having heavy hair and would do with either of the methods. Simply follow the basics – i.e. good towel drying before you start drying and your dog would be the best groomed dogs of your town!