Towel or Blow Dry?

Towel drying your dog after a hydrobath is standard practice and removes a lot of water. It may be all that is required for short haired, single coated breeds, especially in the warmer months when they will dry quickly and wont suffer from being wet and cold. But in order to remove most or all water after a wash, they will then need a blow dry as part of their groom.

A blow dry will loosen hair and create a fantastic thick finish showing a lot of volume. This looks especially nice for breeds with medium to long hair. If your dog is to be clipped or de-shedded, a blow dry is necessary in order to give a uniform layer to work with. Even slightly wet hair can be hard to work through with clippers, brushes and de-shedding tools.

A blow dryer, designed specifically for dogs is used which has different power settings and different attachments. It relies on wind power to blow the water away from the skin and hair more than just heat evaporation. Using normal human hair dryers which can be very warm, can dry the dogs skin and hair to much and should be avoided or used on a cool setting.

Blow drying can take a considerable amount of time, especially for longer hair, but even for double coated breeds with short hair such as Labradors, which hide and hold water close to the skin.

When your dog has a clip or de-shedding grooming treatment a blow dry after its bath comes as part of the service, but if your pet is only having a hydrobath we recommend a blow dry to leave a fantastic thick fluffy finish to the coat. Even for shorter haired breeds it means they are less likely to get dirty quickly if their coat is dry compared to damp from a towel dry.

We recommend daily brushing to keep a coat looking and smelling good as well as cleaner for longer. It can also help you detect ticks which causes way to many deaths here in Brisbane and Queensland. One of the main reasons for regular grooming and brushing is to prevent matting which can cause many skin problems as well as being extremely uncomfortable for your dog.