Why I Would NEVER Use Drying Cabinets: The Science Behind Safer Dog Drying Methods

For many years now, we’ve been hearing that drying cabinets are a really great way to successfully dry nervous dogs but also to free up time and hands in a busy grooming environment. In fact, just the other day, I came across an advertisement for a new brand of drying cabinet, selling the same pitch but to the dog carer community!

This particular company was using words like “relaxation” and “happy dog”, to convince people that their device was not only convenient but also an enjoyable experience for dogs (this was despite the dog in the advert looking completely traumatised while placed in one to demonstrate).

Don’t get me wrong, I think the idea came from a place of good intentions but you cannot ignore the major risks to an animal’s safety these contractions pose, let alone the welfare breaches as well.

The harrowing fact is this: dogs have died through the use of drying cabinets.

The Neuroscience of Canine Emotion: Why Confinement Matters

Dogs are incredibly emotional beings with the capabilities to feel, like, and dislike events, experiences, and different aspects in their lives.

The feeling of being trapped, therefore, would no doubt have a massive detrimental impact on their overall wellbeing, especially when already in a high-stressed state.

Claiming that a dog has the ability to choose what they like and dislike may sound like a bold statement for some, but this is proven science, and it’s time for us all to catch on!

The Heart-Brain Connection in Dogs

According to the HeartMath Institute, dogs have the greatest heart-to-body mass ratio of any living animal (McCraty et al., 2009).

Wait, what does this have to do with anything, Stephanie?

Well, according to research, the heart has been shown to transmit bioelectromagnetic pulses that induce heart-brain coupling (HBC), and this function is associated with various perceptual, cognitive, and emotional functions (Ikhlaq et al., 2023). It was observed through one study that outward cardiac activation of both parasympathetic and sympathetic activity plays a key role in the arousal of emotional conditions.

In basic terms, the heart plays a major role in influencing how the brain receives and perceives the environment, and subsequently the emotions and feelings that occur as a result.

Can you imagine just how significant an event such as being trapped in a drying cabinet when already fearful might have on how a dog feels, and how this emotional state might influence the physiological state of a dog?

It’s all connected.

The Physiological Impact of Stress and Confinement

Science already shows that significant stress can lead to chronic health conditions in dogs (Dreschel, 2010). Research demonstrates that dogs experiencing acute stress show elevated cortisol levels, increased heart rate, and suppressed immune function (Beerda et al., 1998).

So when dogs are confined without the ability to escape a stressful stimulus (in this case, hot air blowing directly onto them from every direction) their stress response becomes chronic rather than acute.

Studies on learned helplessness in dogs demonstrate that when animals are repeatedly exposed to aversive stimuli they cannot escape, they eventually stop trying to escape even when escape becomes possible (Seligman and Maier, 1967). This phenomenon explains why a dog who appears “calm” in a drying cabinet may actually be experiencing emotional shutdown – a state of psychological distress where the animal has given up attempting to communicate their discomfort.

This is not desensitisation. This is not cooperation. This is trauma.

Research in veterinary behavioural medicine confirms that dogs who experience repeated inescapable stress are at higher risk for anxiety disorders, depression-like states, and chronic fear responses (Overall, 2013).

The long-term psychological impact of confinement-based drying methods can extend far beyond the grooming salon, affecting a dog’s overall quality of life and their relationships with humans.

What’s Not So Great About Drying Cabinets?

Let’s not sugar-coat it. Drying cabinets:

• Trap a dog and offer no opportunity for them to escape or remove themselves from the situation until the person decides.
• Can often prevent a dog from standing up and/or moving around comfortably.
• Are not able to supply dogs with constant access to fresh water due to potential hazards, which in the context of a device that blows, often, hot air directly onto a dog is incredibly risky.
• And as I’ve mentioned already, can cause a dog to overheat quickly, leading to dehydration, heat stroke, heart attack, and even death.

The Thermoregulation Risk

Dogs have a limited ability to regulate their body temperature compared to humans. Unlike humans, who can sweat across their entire body, dogs primarily cool themselves through panting and limited sweating through their paw pads (Hemmelgarn and Gannon, 2013).

When confined in a small space with hot air circulating, their ability to thermoregulate is severely compromised.

Research demonstrates that brachycephalic breeds (flat-faced dogs) are at particularly high risk of heat-related illness due to their compromised respiratory systems (Packer et al., 2015). However, all dogs are vulnerable to heatstroke when exposed to elevated temperatures in confined spaces, especially when they cannot access water or remove themselves from the heat source.

Studies on canine heatstroke show that body temperatures above 41°C (105.8°F) can cause irreversible organ damage, and temperatures above 43°C (109.4°F) are often fatal (Bruchim et al., 2006). The confined nature of drying cabinets, combined with the inability to monitor a dog’s core temperature continuously, creates a dangerous environment where heatstroke can develop rapidly and without warning.

Documented Fatalities

There are several known dog fatalities that have been linked to the use of drying cabinets over the years, including:

• Charlie the Labrador died after spending 15 minutes in a drying cabinet in a dog grooming salon in Liverpool.
• Harry the Cockerpoo died after spending too long in a drying cabinet.
• Gracie the Newfoundland died of heatstroke, though information was never disclosed as to whether a drying cabinet was used (but this incident highlights the risk of overheating even without the use of drying cabinets).
• Colby the Golden Retriever died of heatstroke after being found struggling in a drying cabinet.

Without going too much off topic, my sources have also told me that certain big grooming franchises have covered up “hundreds of suspicious dog deaths,” particularly in relation to heatstroke and asphyxiation across various of their locations, settling disputes through substantial payouts to dog carers to keep things under wraps!

I can’t help but wonder how many dogs have died as a result of drying cabinets over the years that we don’t know about…

So, what’s the alternative?

How do you dry a dog that is afraid of being dried?

And furthermore, how can groomers still make their businesses run efficiently without the use of drying cabinets?

Fortunately, there are better ways, ways that are grounded in behavioural science, respect canine emotional wellbeing, and don’t put dogs at risk of physical harm or psychological trauma.

If you’re a dog carer struggling with drying your dog at home, my book Help! My Dog Hates Grooming provides a complete, step-by-step guide to desensitising your dog to drying processes using positive, science-backed methods. You’ll learn exactly how to introduce towel drying, blow dryers, and other drying tools without fear or force.

A Better Way to Dry a Dog Without Unreasonable Risk

Let’s keep it simple and strip it right back to the very basics.

This is how I have helped hundreds of dogs with drying-related fears in the groom room:

Step #1: I Stopped Trying to Dry Dogs Who Are Scared of Being Dried!

I got clear about how to achieve the ultimate goal: in order to dry a dog with little-to-no stress, you have to prove to the dog there is nothing to stress about.

Most groomers make the mistake of jumping in the deep end, missing out on opportunities to help the dog build resilience and trust to each part of the drying process.

The Science: Research in behaviour modification demonstrates that systematic desensitisation—gradual exposure to fear-inducing stimuli at sub-threshold levels—is the most effective method for reducing fear responses (Levine et al., 2007). When we force dogs into full exposure before they’re ready, we risk sensitisation rather than desensitisation, making the fear worse rather than better.

By removing the urgency (the “just get it done” mentality), we give ourselves time to truly look at the bigger picture and devise a care plan that takes a dog’s individual needs into consideration.

The goal is to dry the dog cooperatively, not through force and fear, and that will take time initially.

Step #2: Make Introductions Slow, Deliberate, and Positive

I spent so much time researching the behaviour modification concepts that I now teach students through my holistic grooming protocol, but I also got to understand the processes of more conventional grooming practices as well.

In doing that, I was looking for gaps in popular thinking—what seemed to work as well as what didn’t seem to work—and what I found was quite surprising.

Much of the conventional approach to grooming neglected emotional wellbeing and went straight to a more aesthetic-focused goal.

For example:
I watched many groomers struggle handling dogs that they would later describe as “aggressive” or “difficult.” They would resort to various restraining tools designed to restrict a dog from moving and/or biting just so that they could “get the job done” and move on to the next dog.

They would attempt to be firm whilst forcing a dog to comply with certain tasks based on the outdated belief that dogs need to be shown who is alpha.

From observing the groomer-dog dynamic within the context of a professional grooming environment, I noticed that 99.9% of these dogs were reacting out of fear, anxiety, stress, or pain but the groomers didn’t seem to see this for themselves.

The Science: Research consistently demonstrates that punishment-based and dominance-based training methods increase fear and anxiety in dogs whilst decreasing their trust in humans (Herron et al., 2009). Studies show that dogs trained using aversive methods are more likely to display aggressive behaviour and have poorer welfare outcomes compared to dogs trained using positive reinforcement (Ziv, 2017).

This often was the case for practically every part of the grooming process until, by the end of the grooming session, both the dog and the groomer were utterly exhausted. To me it was simple, the grooming process had to be dissected, with each little piece of the puzzle being carefully put together in a way that communicated to the dog that there was nothing to fear.

The Systematic Desensitisation Protocol

If it was the drying process, this would look like a slow and positive introduction to:

• Towel drying
• The sight of a dryer at a distance
• The sight of a dryer up close
• The sound of a dryer at a distance
• The sound of a dryer up close
• The sensation of the dryer on the coat (away from face)

The Science: Research demonstrates that breaking complex fear-inducing stimuli into smaller components and addressing each component separately significantly improves desensitisation outcomes (Blackwell et al., 2013). This approach, called stimulus gradient exposure, allows dogs to build confidence progressively without becoming overwhelmed. Studies also show that pairing each exposure with high-value rewards (counter-conditioning) accelerates fear reduction and creates positive associations with previously frightening stimuli (Levine et al., 2007).

Sure enough, when I began vocalising these observations, many groomers would fight back with statements like “we don’t have time to break up the process” or “we aren’t trainers, we are groomers” or “it’s the dog carer’s job to train their dog, not ours.”

But I looked at things through a totally different lens because to me, the grooming process is a community-reliant effort. It takes consistency and synchronised care from not just the carer but all pet care providers in charge of safeguarding the wellbeing of a dog. And whilst my suggested process does take a little bit more patience and time, my own clients prove that a more cooperative process is possible through confidence-building and trust-building methods.

Further Reading Resource: Want to implement this process at home? Help! My Dog Hates Grooming walks you through each step of the systematic desensitisation protocol with clear instructions, troubleshooting tips, and real-world examples. You’ll learn how to read your dog’s body language, adjust the pace to their comfort level, and build a positive association with drying that lasts a lifetime.

Step #3: Learn to Communicate and Listen to Dogs Effectively

There is no doubt that desensitisation helps support dogs within a professional grooming environment more than forcing them into tasks. After spending a great deal of time actively putting these concepts into practice, I know that there need not be a place in our industry for drying cabinets or any other restrictive device that removes any/all choice from a dog.

The Science: Research on canine communication demonstrates that dogs use a complex repertoire of body language signals to communicate their emotional state, including stress signals such as lip licking, yawning, whale eye, tucked tail, and freezing (Rugaas, 2006). Studies show that groomers and carers who can accurately read and respond to these signals have significantly better outcomes in terms of dog welfare and cooperation (Mariti et al., 2012).

When we provide dogs with choice and agency—the ability to move away, take breaks, or signal discomfort—we empower them to participate cooperatively rather than forcing compliance through restraint (Yin, 2009).

Whilst even now there may be groomers or dog carers (perhaps you) who still insist after reading up until this point that drying cabinets can:

• Accommodate a fast-paced, multi-grooming salon by allowing groomers to work on styling one dog whilst another dries.
• Help manage nervous dogs who fear alternative drying devices but desperately need dried.

I strongly believe that the risks of using drying cabinets (and any equivalent makeshift ones) outweigh any potential benefit, and it is simply not worth it.

Step #4: Know Which Tools to Use and Which Tools to Avoid

I know that this post is all about drying cabinets, but I should also mention that there are alternative but similar devices and methods that are equally as hazardous to the health and safety of a dog, which we must also refrain from using.

Knowing what to avoid puts us in a good position going forward, so please also avoid:

• Dog drying wraps (that restrict movement and prevent escape)
• Attaching drying devices to crates (creating the same confinement risks as drying cabinets)

The Science: Research on animal welfare demonstrates that any method that removes an animal’s ability to escape an aversive stimulus violates the Five Freedoms of animal welfare, specifically the freedom from fear and distress (Mellor, 2016). The Five Domains model, which has replaced the Five Freedoms as the gold standard for animal welfare assessment, emphasises that psychological and emotional wellbeing are just as important as physical health.

Next Steps: Choosing Welfare Over Convenience

I have briefly tapped into the hot topic of drying cabinets and expressed a rather controversial opinion, but I want to summarise this blog post with a reminder that irrespective of how effective drying cabinets can be at helping a groomer manage time and/or thoroughly dry a dog’s coat, they pose a real threat to the wellbeing of a dog that cannot be ignored.

What’s more, unlike big corporates, smaller businesses could simply not survive the aftermath of a fatality of a dog in their care, especially when it is as a result of neglect, since it is the duty of the pet care provider to ensure that an animal doesn’t suffer. The emotional and psychological state is just as important as the physical safety of an animal (see The Five Domains for more information).

The Ethical Imperative

Research in veterinary ethics emphasises that professionals have a moral obligation to prioritise animal welfare over convenience or profit (Yeates, 2013). When safer alternatives exist—and they do—the continued use of high-risk equipment cannot be justified on the grounds of efficiency alone.

I hope that you have been able to take from this article real insight into the implications of drying cabinets from a dog’s perspective and that you will make a less conventional decision towards drying dogs in the future.

Why not check out some of my other cooperative grooming posts and keep challenging yourself to think outside the box when it comes to how you approach grooming tasks going forward? You’ll find you will learn more from harnessing your ability to adapt than you ever will following a set methodology.

Current wisdom can be little more than fads that don’t stand the test of time. Many won’t even get you where you want to go.

The good news is, you can absolutely train and guide a dog to cooperate with drying tasks through basic desensitisation and behaviour modification exercises. You just need the right roadmap, confidence in the process, and a little independent thinking.

Key Takeaways

• Drying cabinets pose serious physical risks including heatstroke, dehydration, and death.
• Confinement without escape creates psychological trauma, not desensitisation, research on learned helplessness confirms this.
• Systematic desensitisation is the gold standard for reducing fear responses in dogs, backed by decades of behavioural science.
• Dogs communicate their distress through body language—learning to read and respond to these signals is essential for ethical grooming.
• Safer alternatives exist that respect canine emotional wellbeing whilst still achieving thorough drying.
• Welfare must take priority over convenience—the ethical and legal obligations of pet care providers demand it.

Your Next Steps

If you want more help here, check out The Holistic Grooming & Behaviour Diploma that has been devised just for you, to help you achieve better results without compromising the welfare of the animals in your care.

For grooming pros: get more information on what the accredited Holistic Grooming & Behaviour Diploma entails, click here.

For dog carers: If you’re ready to learn practical, proven techniques you can use at home right now, grab your copy of Help! My Dog Hates Grooming and start building a positive, cooperative grooming relationship with your dog today.

Questions? Comments? Drop them below. I can’t wait to hear what you think!

References

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Blackwell, E.J., Bolster, C., Richards, G., Loftus, B.A. and Casey, R.A. (2013) ‘The use of electronic collars for training domestic dogs: estimated prevalence, reasons and risk factors for use, and owner perceived success as compared to other training methods’, BMC Veterinary Research, 9(1), p. 93. doi: 10.1186/1746-6148-9-93.

Bruchim, Y., Klement, E., Saragusty, J., Finkeilstein, E., Kass, P. and Aroch, I. (2006) ‘Heat stroke in dogs: A retrospective study of 54 cases (1999–2004) and analysis of risk factors for death’, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 20(1), pp. 38-46. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2006.tb02821.x.

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Hemmelgarn, C. and Gannon, K. (2013) ‘Heatstroke: thermoregulation, pathophysiology, and predisposing factors’, Compendium: Continuing Education for Veterinarians, 35(7), pp. E1-E7.

Herron, M.E., Shofer, F.S. and Reisner, I.R. (2009) ‘Survey of the use and outcome of confrontational and non-confrontational training methods in client-owned dogs showing undesired behaviors’, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 117(1-2), pp. 47-54. doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2008.12.011.

Ikhlaq, S., Khattak, H.K., Groenli, J. and Siddiqui, H.U.R. (2023) ‘Exploring the role of heart-brain coupling in cognitive, emotional, and behavioral regulation’, Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17, p. 1168320. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1168320.

Levine, E.D., Ramos, D. and Mills, D.S. (2007) ‘A prospective study of two self-help CD based desensitization and counter-conditioning programmes with the use of Dog Appeasing Pheromone for the treatment of firework fears in dogs’, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 105(4), pp. 311-329. doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2006.11.006.

Mariti, C., Gazzano, A., Moore, J.L., Baragli, P., Chelli, L. and Sighieri, C. (2012) ‘Perception of dogs’ stress by their owners’, Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 7(4), pp. 213-219. doi: 10.1016/j.jveb.2011.09.004.

McCraty, R., Atkinson, M., Tomasino, D. and Bradley, R.T. (2009) ‘The coherent heart: Heart-brain interactions, psychophysiological coherence, and the emergence of system-wide order’, Integral Review, 5(2), pp. 10-115.

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Overall, K.L. (2013) Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats. St. Louis: Elsevier.

Packer, R.M.A., Hendricks, A., Tivers, M.S. and Burn, C.C. (2015) ‘Impact of facial conformation on canine health: Brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome’, PLoS ONE, 10(10), p. e0137496. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137496.

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