How to dry a dog after a bath, with or without a hair dryer

To dry a dog after a bath, squeeze as much water out of the coat as you can with your hands, press and blot with towels, then either let a short coat air dry somewhere warm or finish with a dryer on a cool or low heat setting, held several inches away and kept moving. Thick, double and curly coats need drying all the way down to the skin, because a coat left damp underneath tangles and can irritate the skin.

Start with towels

Let your dog shake first; it gets rid of more water than any towel. Then squeeze the coat with your hands, legs and tail included, and press the towel into the coat rather than rubbing. Rubbing a long or curly coat whips it into tangles. Microfiber towels hold more water than cotton ones, and having two or three ready means the back half of the dog is not dried with a soaked towel.

Can you use a human hair dryer on a dog?

You can, with care. Use the cool or lowest heat setting, keep it moving, keep it several inches from the skin, and feel the coat with your fingers for spots that are getting hot. A dog cannot tell you it is too hot until it already is. Never point a dryer at the face or into the ears, and never leave a dog alone with a dryer running. Groomers mostly use high-velocity dryers, which blow water out of the coat with force rather than heat. They are loud, and some dogs need time to get used to them.

Drying a double coat or a doodle

These coats hold water close to the skin. A coat that feels dry on top can still be wet underneath, and an undercoat or curly coat left damp for hours tends to mat. Dry in sections, lifting the coat with a slicker brush as you go, and check by parting the hair down to the skin. A curly coat dried while it is brushed comes out straighter and fluffier; left to air dry, it shrinks back into tight curls that tangle faster.

Drying a dog without a hair dryer

• Squeeze, then towel thoroughly, swapping to a dry towel as each one gets wet.
• Let your dog finish drying in a warm room, out of drafts, on a towel or bed you do not mind getting damp.
• Short coats dry quickly this way. Thick and long coats can take hours, so brush through as the coat dries to keep tangles out.
• In cold weather, keep your dog indoors until the coat is completely dry.

If your dog hates the dryer

1. Before bath day, let your dog see the dryer switched off and give a treat, a few times.
2. Switch it on at the lowest setting across the room, and reward.
3. Over several sessions, bring it closer, with the airflow pointed away from your dog at first.
4. Start drying on the body, away from the head, a few seconds at a time.
5. Give your dog something else to think about: a lick mat stuck to the wall or floor works for many dogs.
6. If your dog panics, stop and towel dry instead. Some salons say they hand dry rather than use cage dryers, which is worth asking about when you book a groom.

Ears and paws

Wipe the ear flaps and the outer ear with a towel after a bath or a swim, and do not push cotton buds or anything else into the ear canal. Dry between the toes and around the pads. If your dog keeps shaking its head or scratching an ear after it got wet, or an ear smells or looks red, that is a question for a veterinarian.

PawsRx is a platform, not a groomer or a clinic. Product links go to Amazon search results, not to one product, and are affiliate links: PawsRx may earn a commission at no cost to you. We have not tested these products and do not rank brands. Ears, skin and anything that looks sore are questions for a veterinarian. Nothing here is veterinary advice.