What Happens If You Don’t Dry Your Dog After a Bath

1 Why You Must Dry Your Dog After Every Bath

After a bath, though, many owners don’t make a habit of drying their dog right away, letting it air-dry or giving it a quick blast with the dryer.

On the surface this seems harmless, but owners of white-coated breeds like the Pomeranian soon notice their dog’s fur turning yellow or red. Moisture lingering on the coat oxidizes over time, and that’s what changes the color.

Many owners are puzzled by their dog’s skin problems, sure they’ve kept things clean and avoided dirty places. In reality, this is another side effect of not drying properly.

In a damp environment, the fungi under the coat multiply faster. The more often you skip drying, the more fungi build up — and over time that leads to fungal skin infections that are miserable for both dog and owner.

In winter especially, a wet dog cools down fast and catches a cold. For an adult dog it may just be a few days of sniffles, but for a puppy or a senior, a cold can be life-threatening.

This is especially true for a newly homed puppy that hasn’t been vaccinated yet. Owners bathe it the moment it arrives, worried about outside germs, then leave it to air-dry.

They don’t realize that for an unvaccinated pup, this is exactly how outside viruses get in — and it can be fatal.

Before the bath, follow the basics: use a dog-specific shampoo, brush the coat through first, and express the anal glands before washing. Then work the shampoo from legs to body to head, and rinse from head to body to legs.

For your dog’s health, always blow-dry thoroughly after a bath, then move on to ear cleaning, nail trimming, and paw-fur clipping.

For a new pup with a still-fragile immune system, hold off on baths until it’s vaccinated and stronger — that’s the safer choice.