Restraining a dog sometimes becomes essential to secure your dog while keeping you safe and injury-free. Thus using a towel is an easy way to restrain dogs, so you might want to know how to restrain a dog with a towel.
Restraining a dog requires a towel, and you can restrain the dog with a towel in two easy ways.
In this article, we’ll discuss the methods for restraining a dog with a towel. There are other methods you can learn if you’re finding the most comfortable way.
How To Restrain Dog With A Towel
Restraining with a towel is a good technique for a much smaller dog. When you’re doing some grooming exercises for your dog, like nail trimming, how much does it cost to sedate a dog for nail trimming ear cleaning, and vaccination giving, you want some easy restraining ideas. So here we described two easy methods of restraining a dog with a towel.
Method 1
Follow the instructions below for the first method. This method will work best if you want to clean your dog’s ear or make him calm.
- Get a typical bathroom towel that is not very thick.
- Fold the towel in half and then start to wrap it. So you’re almost making a little scarf.
- Next, wrap it around your dog’s neck, twisting the remaining towel in the back and holding the end of the towel.
- The towel will almost act like a collar that helps to keep the dog’s head steady.
- Holding the towel, you can direct the dog’s head, and by doing this, you can work on grooming. But make sure you’re not choking him or putting a lot of pressure on his neck.
Method 2
You can also follow this way for nail trimming or when your dog moves a lot while doing any grooming exercise. So below are the steps to restrain the dog with a towel.
- Take a towel and place it on the floor or in your lap if your dog is small
- Get your dog to lay on the towel and ensure you lay them on his back or side, not his stomachs.
- Once you get the right position for your dog, wrap the towel around the dog. Only keep the head and front paws of the dog out of the towel wrap. Then tuck the extra portion of your towel under your dog to keep it in place.
- If you’re restraining the dog for nail trimming, start with its front paws and trim them. Afterward, unwrap the back paws to trim those nails.
- However, release your dog and wash off the towel once your restraining purpose is done.
Note: Remember, your dog is like a kid. So be gentle and kind during the whole process. Don’t create pressure on him. Otherwise, he’ll take it as a punishment and may become anxious.
Is There Any Other Way To Restrain A Dog With A Towel?
If you find the above two methods quite hard, here are other easy ways two restrain your dog.
1. Holding With Arms
If your dog is small to medium size, you can follow the steps to restrain him.
- First, kneel next to your dogs.
- Gently take your left arm under his neck and put it up to wrap your arm around his neck. So that if your dog suddenly turns his head, he can’t bite or hurt you.
- Next, wrap your other hand below around his belly.
- Next, place the dog under your armpit for a secure hold so that he doesn’t suddenly turn his head or move his body.
- Gently hold him in place and check whether your dog is afraid or not.
- Now while you hold him, your assistant can do the grooming.
2. Using A Muzzle
Sometimes your dog might be very anxious and aggressive, even if he is your family pet. That time it’s become hard to control him and just holding him with your arm is not completely safe. So to take extra precautions, you can use a muzzle.
If you don’t have a muzzle for aggressive dogs, we have a dedicated article on the most comfortable and best fitted muzzle for aggressive dogs. You can check it here. (the best muzzle for aggressive dog)
- Take a muzzle that fits your dog comfortably. Otherwise, you only make him upset and more afraid.
- Give him some time to familiarize himself and adjust to the muzzle before you do any grooming sessions.
Note: If you don’t have a muzzle, you can also use a towel to wrap the dog’s head so that you remain safe while not making him more nervous.
3. Prone Position
This position is quite similar to holding your dog using your arm.
- Lay down your dog on its side
- Place your left arm along his neck and your right arm between the stomach and hindquarters.
- This position will ensure you’re holding down your dog so he can’t get away.
- Hold your pet gently but firmly to restrain
4. Have An Assistant
If you have extremely large dogs, which you may not handle alone. In that case, take an assistant with you to restrain the dog. Be gentle while you hold him but not so gentle that he can suddenly go away. Take your time and make sure the dog becomes used to being held.
FAQs
How do you restrain a violent dog?
If you want to restrain a violent dog that can’t be touched, then you might use a barrier method to restrain the dog.
How do you groom an uncooperative dog?
There are various ways to groom an uncooperative dog. You can use the one which works best for your pet. You can lure the dog with food or buy some treats so he can be easy to restrain.
You can also use a muzzle so that he can’t bite you. Otherwise, head halters or leashes can also be used for grooming to ensure security.
What will calm an aggressive dog?
Use a calm, quiet but firm voice to command your aggressive dog to calm down. Ensure your body language looks normal and relaxed so the dog doesn’t take you as threatening. Once your dog realizes that you’re calm and have control over the situation, he’ll also become calm and relaxed.
Wrapping Up
So now you got your answer about how to restrain a dog with a towel. If you follow our instructions, it’ll be very easy for you to get control over your dog during any grooming session or when you need to restrain him.
However, the towel method is effective and works best for smaller dogs, but you might opt for other restraining options for large dogs. Hopefully, you get the right way to restrain your dog.