When Rocco was a wee puppy, there was nothing that could send him running for the hills like the sound of the heater turning on. It was terrifying. It was creepy! Not only did the wall, of all things, make strange sounds but hot air also came gusting out. If he was near the heater when it clicked on, he would skitter away to the farthest corner of the room.
To dogs, dryers can be one of the scariest parts of the grooming process, for many of the same reasons Rocco was afraid of the heater. The blow dryer is incredibly loud, it acts alive, but isn’t alive, and it makes powerful gusts of wind.
Reactions to the blow dryer vary from outright attacking it, to soiling themselves out of sheer terror, to actual panic attacks that don’t stop even when the dryer is turned off. Most dogs do not get enough experience with dryers, often enough, for this to become less terrifying.
The good news is, dogs who have been acclimated to the dryer can feel relaxed and comfortable with it, especially when their drying experience is paired with hearing protection. These are the dogs you see napping during their blow dry and have to be woken up to roll them over for the other side, or perhaps that one who likes to use the wind current to itch their own butt.
If you’d like your dog to be one of the few, the brave, the comfortable with dryers, read on.
Different Types of Dryers
Before we can desensitize our pet to the dryer, it’s important to figure out which dryer will be used on your pet. It’s likely that at some point all three dryers will be used, but if you’re confident one will be used more than the other, it’s best to start training for that particular dryer.
Chihuahuas are one of the few breeds of dogs who can be more or less completely dried using a kennel dryer. Kennel dryers are fans that attach to the door of the kennel, so that the dog has no choice but to sit in front of the fan until it dries. Sometimes these are heated, so it is a warm breeze, and sometimes it is not.
Kennel dryers have the potential to be dangerous, since dogs can’t escape the wind—even if that wind is making them too hot. We’ll talk about dryer safety a lot more in a later article, but for now let’s move on to the other types of possible dryers.
Most dogs are dried using a high velocity dryer. This dryer allows the dog to be completely dried relatively quickly. The dryer works by blasting the water off the dog with the sheer force of the air, and sometimes warmth from the dryer as well.
Velocity dryers have a nozzle to make the blast very strong for the body, and the nozzle can be taken off for a gentler breeze on the head.
Poodles and other breeds with curly hair that may need to be straightened will be brushed at the same time as dried and will often have a stand dryer used on their coats. A stand dryer is most like the hair dryers you use at home. It’s only larger and held up by a stand, so the groomer’s hands are free to brush the hair straight as it dries.
Since the desensitization approach for the stand dryer and the velocity dryer are the same, we will be sharing those as one desensitization step.
Your chihuahua will most likely have a combination of velocity dryer and kennel dryer used on them.
Modeling Blow Dryers at Home
Grooming dryers are expensive. There’s no need to buy a blow dryer purely to teach your pet how to be calm around them. Purchase a dryer only if you plan to use this for grooming at home—perhaps if your chihuahua has a poodle as a buddy.
Luckily, the things that cause your pup to fear the dryer are all easily simulated by other items in your house. Vacuums, the heater vents in your house, and your own home blow dryer all do a good job of mimicking the dryers at the groom shop.
Ideas for what to have on hand:
- A hose attachment for a vacuum
Be prepared for the pups to bite this. If you have a big dog and an expensive vacuum attachment, get a cheap attachment to use for training. It doesn’t have to work with your vacuum or even be attached to your vacuum to work. It’s purely for the visual aspects of training. - A way to play audio
We can provide blow dryer sounds to play at gradually increasing degrees, but your pup needs a way to hear them.
- A human hair dryer
This is for letting your dog experience currents of air in a way you can control distance, strength, and warmth on. This is also a perfect substitute for a stand dryer.
- Baby gate (optional)
Some dogs like to bite the blow dryer, as mentioned earlier. A baby gate can allow you to work with your pup safely. You and the Equipment Causing Spiciness are on one side of the gate and your dog is on the other side.
- Great Treats
You probably guessed this by now, but great treats are the key to making your dog like the blow dryer.
- A Clicker
I don’t always remember my clicker, but I do find it handy to precisely mark the behavior I want in a pet.
We will start desensitization for the velocity dryer first (available in its own post next week), since it is the most common blow dryer at the groom shop.
Similar Posts:
- Pre-Training Checklist: All Tools Needed
- Overview of Groom Training Course
- 4 Reasons to Kennel Train Your Chihuahua
- What Age Do Chihuahua Ears Stand Up?
- Our Top Recommended Potty Training Products
