So I have a bernedoodle that goes with a dog walker to the beach 5 days a week. The doodle has pretty tight curls fur and so the dog walker is at a loss why this dog (air) dries so much slower than her other dogs.
Currently I use a 5/8 clipper on him but I'm wondering whether I should go shorter to aid in his air drying? Perhaps a 3/8? Hes not a double coat.
Any other strategies besides going shorter to aid in this doodles air dry time?
@718 Groomer here! You’re definitely gonna want to go shorter. If your dog is getting wet that frequently and isn’t being blow dried then it could lead to a yeast infection from the wetness getting sort of trapped in there. And also, your dog may end up getting matted from getting wet so often too. Any little tangle will tighten up when it gets wet and potentially spread into full blown matting. And then if your dog is matted then it will cause your dog to take even longer to dry out (because there won’t be as much airflow getting down to the skin) which would make a yeast infection an even bigger possibility. I would say a 4 or 5 blade would be best. Or even a 7 if you’re ok with going shorter.
Edit: just saw where you said you wanted suggestions besides going shorter. Other than that, your best bet is to blow dry your dog each time with a high velocity dryer. There’s honestly not much you can do to make a dog air dry faster. Besides towel drying if you’re not already doing that
@purebliss So I was already planning on going shorter. My gameplan is to go to 3/8" aka #2 aka a 4FC. I already have 2 30 blades I switch out so it was cheaper to just get the #2 wahl metal comb.
At this current time... I bath him once a week after his walks and HV blow dry him which helps release some of the tightness. I also CC slicker brush him every couple days.
I'm mainly looking for ideas in between rinses + baths. My dog walker was getting frustrated bc he dries so much slower than her labs, goldens, and even another doodle. She also feels really bad that he constantly tracks in tons of sand into my apartment because of his slow drying. Usually her other dogs are dry before they get home.
@718 Sounds like you’ve got it figured out then! If you end up still not being satisfied with the 2 comb, you can run it in reverse (from tail to head) to have it cut about 2 lengths shorter. So the 2 comb in reverse would end up being somewhere between a 7 and 5 blade. You just have to be extra careful when doing a reverse in any area with any loose skin
@718 You need to go shorter, your pup will end up with skin issues if you don’t get on top of it now, I groom several lake dogs that have developed awful skin from the bacteria in the water just sitting on them
@718 you can put him in a crate with thick towels get a floor fan from walmart set it in front of the door and wait. you can get a hair dryer and a towel and dry him off some yourself. you can get a shorter hair cut all over, try the 3/8ths and see if it helps.
@rissasallwrite Thanks! I already have an HV dryer - but it wouldn't be realistic for me to intercept him coming home from his dog walks daily to HV dry him.
@718 Well the options are dry him completely or shave him down with a 5. You could limit the amount of time he spends in water and bath and dry him weekly.
