Blow-dry or air-dry?

Mrs.Hizzo

I'm reading conflicting information. Some say you should blow-dry after a bath, so that moisture doesn't stay on the skin too long and irritate it. Others say blow-drying itself is hard on the skin, and not good for the coat, either. Any opinions?

jump*tunnel*climb*weave

Forced air dryer. Heat is hard on them but they shouldn't be sitting wet either

ArtfulSplat!

Trust your dog to let you know, and just use common sense.

You can tell if the dog's unhappy and uncomfortable moping around while he air-dries.Or conversly if he fights you every step of the way when you take the hairdryer to him. Also, you know your hair dryer. How does your hair/scalp handle the air and heat? Some very nice hairdryers don't damage your hair nearly as baddly as other models.

My mini-schnauzer does not have an undercoat, and really doesn't like the hairdryer. He doesn't like the direct heat and is constantly squirming to get out of the airflow. Then my Papillon has a long, thick, dense coat and she loves to be blowdried. I'll lay the hairdryer on the floor on the towel and she'll rub and roll directly in the airflow. Neither of them experience skin irritation after their baths and drying out.

onceuponadisaster

Ditto for the recommendation for the forced air dryer. Or use the "cool" setting on your hair dryer.

MissusTexas

jump*tunnel*climb*weave:

Forced air dryer. Heat is hard on them but they shouldn't be sitting wet either

I would only air dry if you can leave them in the sun to do it.

TheLinkBride

I think you know my opinion, but I agree with jump.  Forced air (never hot air) all the way.  You don't want moisture sitting on the skin, especially getting trapped under a heavy undercoat.

I use a forced air drier after using several towels.

Mrs.Hizzo

Thanks. We use a local dog wash, and they do have forced-air dryers. We used one for the first time today, and Booker was a bit freaked out by them. I was able to get maybe half-way done before I decided it was time to quit. This is only his third bath, and the first two times I didn't want to traumatize him with the dryer since the bath was stressful enough. I'll keep at it, though.

TheLinkBride

Does he like frozen, filled kongs?  You can try having someone hold that for him or treating and praising when he is calm during the blow dry.  Also, see if there are different settings on the dryer, mine has two settings and when he was little I would use the lower setting because it was quieter and didn't blow as much air.

Also, I have found that Keefe thinks that he needs to play with the air by his face so I wear him out a bit by drying him from the back to the front so he is more tired by the time that I get to his front.

I know you don't have the ability to do this but when he was a crazy puppy, I would dry in a few sessions taking breaks so we would both keep our sanity.