Air drying after a bath
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| I air dried my girls for the first 12 months I had them; I only got our dryer back in March. The drier makes them fluffier, but otherwise there's not alot of difference. Well; maybe their fur is a little wavier without the dryer. |
| I'd only let them air dry if they're clipped pretty tight. Undercoat will mat. |
ButtersStotch wrote: I'd only let them air dry if they're clipped pretty tight. Undercoat will mat.
huh; I haven't had that happen. But I do pull a brush through while they are drying. |
I usually let Violet "air dry". The difference is that she is less fluffy, but usually I'm more interested in having a clean dog.  I do, however, brush her out periodically as she's drying. |
| The effect is a lot different on a dog with a really fine coat versus a dog with a lot of undercoat. If you have a heavily coated dog, it will mat. |
OES Mommy wrote: Isthat OK to do. It is in the low 80's so I want to bath all 3. If I let them out to dry is that going to hurt all the brushing I have done?
I submit that letting them out to dry will totally negate all your brushing efforts. Whilst I recognize that there are a lot of people who do "air dry" their OES I really have to advise against the practice. Air drying presents a number of significant problems/risks. 1. The results are never as good - the dogs don't "fluff-up" the same way. While many may see this as simply a cosmetic issue which doesn't concern them it does point to a potential health issue, especially with heavily coated dogs. "Fluffing the coat" with a dryer ensures that he coat is dry all the way down to the skin, including undercoat and that the skin itself is dry. This thoroughness is very hard to accomplish when air drying a Bobtail, even with attendant brushing. Any remaining dampness will result in the "wet dog smell" which reflects a damp environment in which moulds and parasites can grow. While some may say this is overstated and is a rare situation the resultant dampness deep in the coat is a direct health risk to your dog, and in fact your entire family. 2. Damp dogs get dirty! Depending on where your dog is "air dried" he/she will, to one degree or another, get dirty while drying. To me it is counter productive to spend a couple of hours bathing a Bobtail and then facilitate thier getting dirty at a highly accelerated rate. More than one wet dog has slipped a leash, door, fence and run around the back yard vegetable patch or rolled themsleves in that oh so good rotting carcass just down the road etc.  And a wet dog running around the house makes the house a mess as well.
3. Matting! Depending on the degree of supervision and brushing you give your dog whilst air drying wet/damp dogs matt up quite easily. It is universal advise to only bath a coated OES after he/she had been brushed and thoroughly dematted in order to avoid matting. It is also very important not to "scruffle" the wet coat "against the grain" while bathing to reduce the incidences of matting during bathing. Letting a dog run around to air dry invites them to roll around and matt themselves up. Even older more sedate dogs will shake and roll around somewhat when their coat is wet (natural instinct to dry themsleves) and result in some degree of matting. 4. Falls and Injury. Finally, again depending on the degree of supervision and flooring, a partially air dried dog faces the risk of slipping and falling on tiled/wood/laminate/vinyl floors. Whenever I bathe my dogs (Bobtails, Afghans etc) I always leash them when going from the tub to the grooming table to ensure they are both controlled and don't wet more flooring than essential, but more importantly to control them and ensure that they don't run around the house shaking and ending up falling and hurting themselves on a wetted and hence slippery floor Just the water on their feet can be enough to turn a normally non-skid floor into a slippery surface that can result in nasty fall injuries. 5. Time!! Air drying takes a lot longer than forced drying with either a dryer or blower. This represents more work for you (directly in cleaning up and indirectly trying to control the dog for a longer period of time) and a longer time when the dog can't be off just "being a dog". Sorry if this sounds overly negative but I think you need to have both points of view to make your "go no-go" decision about air drying versus forced drying after a bath. Thanks and Cheers Carl |
| I'm no expert but.. I always used to just let Ru dry naturally, but the last time I bathed him a few weeks ago I decided to get out my hairdryer and dry him myself. Well! What a difference! Usually the first brush through once he is dry is a nightmare, he is normally felted (not tightly but enough to make things difficult) all over. This time is was easy to brush him! I didn't use any different products, just dried his body with the setting on cold. He wouldn't let me do his head, he kept trying to eat the dryer and that area was difficult to brush.
I am investing in a doggy dryer AS SOON as I have the money  |
| THANK YOU ALL FOR SUCH GOOD INFO.
I have decided to blow dry them Snowy might get some air first. She is such a pip. Wants to play with eveything! 
Bear and Lily just sit and let mr do what I want. Again this has been VERY good information. You guys are great  |
| Since it's so warm now, even drying with a dryer takes half the time anyway so you still get to take advantage of the warm weather. |
| If you are concerned about the time involved in using a dryer, put some fans blowing on them while you use the dryer. Not only does it help keep them cool but it also starts to dry the areas while you use the dryer on another area. |
| I dont have a fan but I dry Tiggy near where there's an externally vented exhaust fan and that seems to speed the process up a bit as it gets the moist air out of the area I'm drying her in.
Havent afforded a proper dryer yet  , just using my hair dryer.  |
ChSheepdogs wrote: If you are concerned about the time involved in using a dryer, put some fans blowing on them while you use the dryer. Not only does it help keep them cool but it also starts to dry the areas while you use the dryer on another area.
That's what I've done and it works wonders!! |
| since its got warmer here in the uk. i have done a bit of both. i bath billy, blast him in the bath, let him go and play in the sun till nearly dry then finish him off with the dryer. so much easier. best of both worlds |
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