A wet dog is a problem with a very short window. There are about thirty seconds between the boot opening and the mud reaching your hallway, and a towel has never once won that race.
The Drying Robe is a microfibre dog drying coat that goes on at the car and stays on for the drive home. It wraps the neck, back, sides and belly, fastens in two places with hook-and-loop, and soaks up the water while your dog sits in the boot. Take it off at the front door and the wet stays in the robe instead of on your seats, your sofa and your carpets.
Why microfibre
A cotton towel gets rubbed over a dog for thirty seconds and then put down. Microfibre is made of very fine polyester strands that hold water in the spaces between them, so a looped microfibre towelling like this keeps drawing moisture out of the coat for as long as it stays on.
Being covered keeps a wet dog warmer, too. A soaked coat loses heat quickly in a cold car. Wrapped in the robe, your dog is not sitting in a draught with water running off it.
How it fastens
There is nothing to pull over the head and no leg holes to steer paws through. The high collar wraps round the neck and closes at the front with a hook-and-loop tab. A wide flap then folds under the belly and presses onto two long hook-and-loop strips on the far side, so you can set it snug on a slim dog or let it out for a deep chest. Two fastenings, both done in seconds, and nothing that clips.
It covers the neck, back, flanks and belly, which is where a wet dog holds most of its water. Legs, paws and head are left free, so keep a small towel in the car for muddy feet.
After a bath, too
The same robe works indoors. Put it on straight out of the bath and your dog can shake and wander without soaking the bathroom floor, the stairs and whichever bed they head for first.
Sizing
Measure along your dog's back from the base of the neck to the base of the tail, and choose the size whose robe length is closest. If your dog falls between two sizes, go up: the belly flap takes up the slack, and a little extra length covers more of the back end.
| Size |
Robe length |
Collar length |
| XS |
46 cm |
21 cm |
| S |
59 cm |
26 cm |
| M |
66 cm |
30 cm |
| L |
80 cm |
33 cm |
| XL |
92 cm |
40 cm |
Care
Shake off loose hair and grit, then machine wash at 30 degrees and hang to dry. Leave out the fabric softener: it coats microfibre and stops it absorbing, and it is the one thing that will ruin the robe. Skip it and the robe keeps working wash after wash.
In the box
One Drying Robe in your chosen colour and size. Available in Slate Grey, Ocean Blue and Forest Green, from XS to XL.