he invention of the high-velocity dryer was an innovation that has forever changed and bettered our grooming industry. These high-velocity, or “HV,” dryers are so effective and universally used today that most younger groomers have never known grooming without them.
What we older groomers remember is having to use more bulky stand dryers which gently blew out electrically heated air. They had three or five legs on wheels with a metal arm and rotating head that could swing over the grooming table, which we had to constantly adjust to dry different sections of the dog. Some of us felt it was less stressful on the dogs, but it was more stressful on us, and certainly more time-consuming.
The easy-to-use hose and nozzle of today’s wonderful HV dryers are so much faster, easier and more effective in drying the dogs, making them an almost indispensable piece of equipment for pet groomers. But there is one weird thing that groomers often do with our HV dryers, which I call the “flippy dryer” thing.
This is where some of us shake the HV dryer nozzle at the end of the hose back and forth in a rapid motion on the dog we are drying. And I assume groomers do this because we are mimicking what we sometimes do on our own hair when we use our much-less-powerful, handheld human hairdryers on our own heads. But let’s think about this habit some of us have transferred to our big HV dryers…
We know that these two types of dryers are not at all the same. Human hairdryers are more heat than force, while HV dryers are the opposite and are much more powerful. The physical impact of the air from an HV dryer hitting a dog’s skin is felt and experienced by the dog in a much stronger way. Dogs also have to endure the drying process for much longer than we would, as they have much more hair, and have it all over their bodies.
HV dryers require us, as well as the dogs, to wear hearing protection. RAPIDLY WHIPPING the dryer around that is already FAR MORE POWERFUL than any human hairdryer also makes it MUCH NOISIER.
HV dryers require us, as well as the dogs, to wear hearing protection. Rapidly whipping the dryer around that is already far more powerful than any human hairdryer also makes it much noisier.
In addition, the “flippy” thing with the HV dryer has been linked to an increased risk of carpal tunnel syndrome in our wrists. Any repetitive motion can lead to this seriously debilitating pain and weakness in our wrists that ultimately requires surgery.
We also know that “white lung disease” can happen to groomers from breathing in the cast-off particles from blow-drying. Flipping the dryer around worsens the amount of these microscopic particles in the air that we breathe.
Unlike the waving around of a hand held human hairdryer on our own minimally haired heads, waving an HV dryer back and forth actually can reduce the air impact on many dogs’ coat types because you are pulling the air away and then back again from the area you are trying to dry.
And we aren’t just drying hair, we are drying skin! Holding the HV dryer still on an area allows the skin to dry before the hairs, which is important if we want the coat to be fluffed and straightened after we are finished drying. If we leave the skin a little damp while drying the hair, which flipping the dryer around constantly can do, then the coat can curl back up because of the still partially wet skin underneath. Drying from the skin out helps the coat stay straighter and fluffier.
The one exception to this rule is short double coats such as Labrador Retrievers with their very thick undercoats and loose skin on their chests, which can be very challenging to get completely dry. Using the HV dryer in a flipping motion on their chest, underside and rear-end areas, especially while they are still in the tub and before we take a towel to them, can remove a ton of excess water and can save significant time in the final drying process.
One always has to be very careful about HV drying any of these short-coated breeds, however, especially on their upper torso or “jacket” areas, as it could tear the delicate arrector pili muscles that give the tight grain of their coats. Holding the HV dryer at an angle that protects the lay of the coat, as well as that delicate microscopic hair follicle muscle that creates the direction of the growth of the coat, is very important for us to do to prevent causing the dogs any discomfort.
So the next time you find yourself doing the “flippy” thing, put yourself in their paws and hold the dryer more gently and move it slower. The dog will dry just as quickly, the hair will tangle less, de-shed better, stay dry from the skin out, look straighter and your beloved four-legged client will be much less stressed.