# Swimming/drying off/hot spots



## Isabella (Apr 27, 2010)

For those of you that take your dogs swimming - do you towel dry them afterwards or let them air dry? Rex had some bad hot spots a while ago that the vet thought was from swimming & humid temperatures. Now I am paranoid when he gets wet & I try so hard to towel dry him but he gets pretty annoyed after a while so I don't do that good of a job.

From what I've been reading hot spots seem pretty common. Is this a recurring problem? If he's had them once should i expect them to return??

I'm REALLY hoping it was a one time thing. He had to be shaved & take antibiotics for 3 weeks & it was driving him CRAZY! Not to mention the licking!! Not by him but by my other dog, which slowed down recovery time.


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## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

I have never dried my dogs after swimming and have never had a problem with hot spots.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

GSDBESTK9 said:


> I have never dried my dogs after swimming and have never had a problem with hot spots.


Me too.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Ditto. Mine just air dry and no problems. But it's worth a shot to try it out (drying) and see if it helps. 

My one childhood GSD that that had hotspot problems for 8 yrs never had a hotspot again when I changed him to a better quality food when I was a teenager and learned about better food. At the time, he went from whatever my parents were buying on sale at walmart to eating Nutro Natural Choice, which, at the time, was the big deal food before Orijen and all that came about. Just something to think about.


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## Isabella (Apr 27, 2010)

Rerun said:


> Ditto. Mine just air dry and no problems. But it's worth a shot to try it out (drying) and see if it helps.
> 
> My one childhood GSD that that had hotspot problems for 8 yrs never had a hotspot again when I changed him to a better quality food when I was a teenager and learned about better food. At the time, he went from whatever my parents were buying on sale at walmart to eating Nutro Natural Choice, which, at the time, was the big deal food before Orijen and all that came about. Just something to think about.


He's eating taste of the wild & raw every now and then so it's not the food.
At first I thought it might be some type of allergy. If he does get them again I'll just have to keep him out of the water & see if they return. That would be a shame because he absolutely loves the water!!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Depends on the coat, IMO. My long coated dog will take 5 hours to dry off, the short stock coats dry within an hour.
My border/golden mix use to get hot spots every August until I put her on raw diet at 12 yrs old. 

I started supplementing with oils at that time too, so it could have been the combination of both.

The diluted listerine-gold bond treatment cleared them up faster than what the vet gave me.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

my last dog had problems with hot spots. he swam
a lot. i never towel dried him. the dog i have now swims occassionally.
i never towel dry him. my current dog doesn't have problems
with heat spots.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Isabella said:


> For those of you that take your dogs swimming - do you towel dry them afterwards or let them air dry? Rex had some bad hot spots a while ago that the vet thought was from swimming & humid temperatures. Now I am paranoid when he gets wet & I try so hard to towel dry him but he gets pretty annoyed after a while so I don't do that good of a job.


Hot spots can be caused or exacerbated by dampness. If your dog has a tendency toward hot spots, and his coat doesn't dry quickly and thoroughly, the moisture creates a nice breeding ground for bacteria and fungus. I have seen Newfoundlands, who have a heavy coat, lots of skin folds, and are ALWAYS wet, get hot spots on their necks from this moisture.

I wouldn't be afraid to let your dog go swimming, but dry your dog as thoroughly as you can, or invest in a force dryer like a Metro to get the moisture out completely.


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## Isabella (Apr 27, 2010)

Freestep said:


> I wouldn't be afraid to let your dog go swimming, but dry your dog as thoroughly as you can, or invest in a force dryer like a Metro to get the moisture out completely.


That's a great idea, I would love one of those but I have no electricity at the cottage.
I guess I'll keep trying to towel dry. It's frustrating but funny at the same time. It's not that he doesn't like it, he thinks it's a game & attacks me & the towel. Any of your dogs do this??


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

Where does he swim? Could it be something in the water that is causing the hot spots, like bacteria? Wolfie swims in the ocean, but I always hose him off when we gt home. Then he air dries. He doesnt have any hot spots.


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## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

Odin swims several times a day, we don't dry him. But then again, we are in TX and it's so hot and humid here so he is completely dry in under an hour.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Shasta goes after the towel like its all a big game until she manages to snag a finger or a hand at the same time... Witch hazel on the spot will not only clean it but dry it out, though you need to shave around the area to see just how big it is. Also gold bond medicated food powder can do the trick as well.

ETA: when my dogs do get wet, its usually from a bath. I'll dry them off just so they dont drip all over the floor when i let them back in the house and then let them air dry. but its been pretty humid outside so they have to dry off in the house.


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## High5 (Apr 21, 2011)

Mt griends Golden always got them, usually under the collar, which stayed wet the longest after swimming. They started switching him over to a choker style collar after swimming until he was dry and he never got them again


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Isabella said:


> That's a great idea, I would love one of those but I have no electricity at the cottage.


Maybe you could invest in a generator? 



> I guess I'll keep trying to towel dry. It's frustrating but funny at the same time. It's not that he doesn't like it, he thinks it's a game & attacks me & the towel. Any of your dogs do this??


Oh yes, it's a fun puppy game!

I am a big fan of the microfiber towels--they absorb just as much water as cotton towels, but they dry very quickly. I use them in my grooming shop. Right now they are on sale for $6 each at King Wholesale.

WAGHEARTED Microfiber Towel - Orange from King Wholesale Pet Supplies

They are 48" by 28" I think, and come in orange, pink, and green.


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