Czar is scared of a hair dryer!

DiamondPuppy0809 · January 2012

Anyone else have a dog that's scared of a hair dryer/blow dryer? Czar is almost petrified by them. I try to make it a positive experience when I do have to blow dry him after a quick bath, but he curls up in a corner and shakes! I know that he's scared of other noisy, loud objects as well (for a long time he was scared of my electric toothbrush but as soon as he realized it wasn't out to get him, he was fine) but he really despises the hair dryer. It's normal, he's small and feels helpless, so I understand that he's afraid. But - is there any way to get him used to it? I normally wouldn't use it on him if he's scared. But due to very cold temperatures during winter, it's kind of necessary! The house isn't always toasty warm. In fact, it's normally quite cold. After a bath, he'll practically freeze if I leave him wet or damp. Max and Molly have quite coarse fur, the water pretty much beads up on them and wipes off pretty easily, therefore the hair dryer isn't necessary. Sayge definitely needs to be dried but she absolutely ADORES the hair dryer. She gets excited and rubs her face on the towel underneath her. She loves it! So I've never really run into this issue before. I don't like seeing Czar shaking and scared for 45 minutes after he's been dried. He looks like he's been tortured. xD I also have to be careful of which room I dry him in... I did it in my bedroom once and he did NOT want to go back into it for a few days because he was afraid it would happen again. Usually I do it in a room he doesn't really go into - like my parent's bedroom. I avoid doing it in rooms that he vists frequently. Help? xD

Minx · January 2012

Scout is terrified of em too. I usually just put her towel in front of the heater i have in my personal bathroom and leave her in there until she's dry so im no help

Trianna · January 2012

Have you tried letting it run around him without using it on him? Or Using it on your hair with him in the room? It might help to desensitize him to it. Maybe take a handful of treats and feed him them while you hold it next to him? I had a cockapoo/pekingese mix that was terrified of everything- and I mean everything, shoes, stairs, stuffed animals, other dogs... the list went on forever- when we got him. He was a year old and his previous owner was a little old lady who didn't leave her house or do much of anything, so he was never socialized. It took a while to get him used to things, but with treats, a calm reassuring voice, and a ton of patience he eventually stopped being afraid of everything but dogs that were smaller than him (we never had many chances to work on that one). The biggest part of it was making the things he was scared of into good things in his mind, which mostly meant walking him near the object, giving him a treat, walking away, getting closer to the object, treat again, walk away, repeat until he was mostly calm near it, then giving him his favorite toy to play with near the object so it wasn't all about getting a treat. I used that method to turn him from a dog that wouldn't get ten feet from stairs without shaking in fear to a dog that was running up and down stairs chasing a tennis ball within about 40 minutes. We had the same hair dryer problem, and it took a little longer but the same method worked. Just take things slowly at first and try to end on a good note. I however don't advise the Ceaser Milan method of "keep it up till the dog gives in because walking away without calm submissive means the dog wins", because I'm sure you want him to think of the hair dryer as a positive thing, not something that he shuts down mentally when he sees.

DiamondPuppy0809 · January 2012

I normally use Cesar Millan techniques in dominance situations but because this isn't one of those, I would never use his techniques. Chihuahuas cannot be forced to endure something, in my opinion, because they will, as you said, shut down. I use the hair dryer on myself while he's in my bedroom almost every day. He's become amazingly comfortable in that situation - he just doesn't like it being used on him. I'll try having it on the floor (turned off) next to his food bowl, bed, toys, etc. and maybe he'll become more accustomed to it. Perhaps later on I can eventually have it turned on around him and he'll be fine as well and it can gradually build up to having him comfortable with it used on him.

Animalsaremything · January 2012

My dog willie hates it if he sees or hears it he will scratch the door to get out and howl but my dog Dakota loves it and how it goes threw his coat lol.You can bring the hair dryer out and have a treat in your hand or something he likes .

Emster · January 2012

put the blow dryer on the floor get him close to it let him sniff it get near it sit by it let him be around it then get closer

^Oriyana^ · January 2012

Make sure you are using the dryer on a cool setting. The normal heat from a dryer is often too hot for dogs, so could burn him.

Mileysmybaby · January 2012

Garfieldz Gal wrote:

I normally use Cesar Millan techniques in dominance situations but because this isn't one of those, I would never use his techniques. Chihuahuas cannot be forced to endure something, in my opinion, because they will, as you said, shut down. I use the hair dryer on myself while he's in my bedroom almost every day. He's become amazingly comfortable in that situation - he just doesn't like it being used on him. I'll try having it on the floor (turned off) next to his food bowl, bed, toys, etc. and maybe he'll become more accustomed to it. Perhaps later on I can eventually have it turned on around him and he'll be fine as well and it can gradually build up to having him comfortable with it used on him.

How appropriate! XD I had to say that LOL, its just ironic.

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Czar is scared of a hair dryer!

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