How to dry your dog safely, quickly and hassle free

We’ve recently written about the best way to wash your dog at home but we thought getting your dog dry was another blogpost all together. So here we are - how is the best way to dry your dog after a bath?

• What you’ll need
• Clean, dry towels
• Hairdryer (optional)
• Lead (in case they get the zoomies)
• Dog drying coat

A step by step guide

Step one

First of all you need to make sure your dog is completely clean - so if you’ve just bathed them they need to be free of mud or soap. You don’t want to start drying them and then realise part way through that they are sticky and soapy or there’s still traces of dirt.

The best thing to do before you reach for any towels is to squeeze the excess water out with your hands. Use a squeegee type motion to move the excess moisture across and off the body. Then run your hands down your dog's legs to achieve the same. You can do a gentle squeeze of the ear and neck area to try and rid the surplus water but do be careful as this is a sensitive area - some dogs may be more so than others.

Step two

Reach for a clean, dry towel and drape it over your dog’s body. Rub back and forth all along the body, you should be reasonably firm and vigorous but use a proportional amount of firmness and make sure you’re aware of any cues your dog is giving you about being uncomfortable. Most dogs don’t particularly
like being wet so you may find that they wriggle quite a lot during this process. Keep hold of them - you don’t want them scampering and running amok around the house!

Paws should be towel dried delicately; you can delicately part the pads and dry in between their toes. Head and face should be gently but firmly wiped dry, along with the ears.

Step three (optional)

If your dog will allow you to, you can use a hairdryer to speed up the process. This is optional and should only be done where it’s not going to terrorise or frighten them. This is not for nervous or sensitive doggies. Hair dryers must be used carefully. Make sure you keep the nozzle a decent distance from your dog’s coat, on a medium to low heat setting, and ensure that air is continuously moving - a stationary hair dryer will only blow air on one spot and heat will start to build up quickly. You do not want to burn your dog. Sensitive areas like the ears, belly, face should be approached with caution as should areas where the hair is thin or absent.

If you prefer not to use a hairdryer, you may want to invest in a drying coat - these are essentially just towels (or other similar absorbent material) which fasten and stay on your dog while it is drying.

 

(Optional extra) Step four

After you’ve towelled dry your dog and before you use the hairdryer, you may want to use some of our Fast Drying Spray. It does what it says on the tin. All you need to do is hold the applicator approximately 30cm above your dog’s coat and pump the mister without over saturating. You can then dry with your hairdryer as normal.

If you’re interested in seeing our Fast Dry Spray in action, take a look at the video below.

Step five

As always reward good behaviour and patience with a tasty treat.


If you’ve got any questions or tips of your own about how to dry your dog at home you can chat with us on Facebook or Instagram.