Why Do Dogs Like Wet Towels?

You may noticed your dog’s fascination with both paper and regular towels. This article describes why that is and what to do if a dog ingests a paper towel or a regular towel. In a similar manner, this article also discusses dogs’ fascination with dirty laundry.

Why Do Dogs Roll On Wet Towels?

There’s nothing concerning about a dog that rolls around on dirty towels.

There are any number of explanations for why your dog would want to roll on wet towels, including:

They like the smell
They’re trying to establish their dominance
They like the way the towels feel
They’re trying to get your attention

Why Do Dogs Like To Lay On Wet Towels?

Dogs like to lay on wet towels because they smell like you. Used towels have your scent on them, and your dog can recognize that.

Why Does My Dog Roll On Dirty Towels?

Your dog may be trying to establish their dominance. Rubbing themselves all over your possessions, like your towels, is a way of doing that. If there are other pets in your home, they would have a lot more incentive to mark their scent.

Why Does My Dog Eat My Towels?

Your dog may be stress eating. This can be caused by behavioral or medical issues like boredom, worry, and stress, particularly separation anxiety. Look out for your dog and make sure they aren’t eating anything dangerous.

Why Does My Dog Like My Dirty Laundry?

They might like the way it smells. Your dirty laundry smells like you, and they may want to get as much of that smell as possible. This is more likely if your dog also rolls around in your sheets.

Why Do Towels Smell Like Wet Dog?

The reason the smell of wet dog is so iconic is because of the microorganisms in the dog’s fur. If your towel smells like wet dog, it is for a similar reason. Your towel may have bacteria or fungi. Another reason could be the buildup of excess detergent over time. Either way, your towels need a wash.

If your towel smells like wet dog, you should do the following:

Let your machine wash itself first. In other words, run the washing machine while it’s empty so it can clean itself. Letting the washing machine cleanse itself will give it a chance to kill any fungi or bacteria in the machine and rinse out residue from previous uses.
Wash the offending towels alone. Do not put in anything else, and don’t use too much detergent. If the reason was because too much detergent was used, you should take extra care to get all detergent out.
Smell your towels to make sure the smell is gone. If you can catch the faintest whiff, run the washing machine again.

Sometimes, the problem is so bad that extra measures need to be taken. Adding two cups of white vinegar, rinsing, adding a cup of baking soda, and rinsing again might help.

To prevent this from happening again, stop doing these things:

Folding towels after using them
Using towels without washing them
Overusing towels by using the same towel for several purposes (e.g., wiping your hands, drying yourself off after a shower)
Washing dirtier towels and clean towels together
Washing towels with hot water too frequently

Should You Put A Wet Towel On A Dog?

Yes.

Putting a wet towel on a dog is a great way to cool them off. It helps to lower a dog’s body temperature. In fact, it is recommended that you put a wet towel on a dog if they are suffering from heat stroke before taking them to the vet.

Why Does My Dog Roll In Dirty Laundry?

There are a lot of reasons your dog might roll around in dirty laundry. They might like the way it feels or smells. They might be trying to mask their own scent. They might just be doing it for attention.

If you want to stop your dog from rolling around in dirty laundry, you’ll need to understand why they do it. If they are just seeking attention, then you should stop encouraging the behavior. Avoid giving them attention when they do it and try to redirect their focus when they do it. If they’re trying to bask in the scent in order to calm down, you should try to reduce the sources of their anxiety.

Of course, you could always just keep your laundry out of your dog’s reach.

Is It Safe For Dogs To Eat Wet Paper Towels?

There are any number of reasons your dog might decide to eat paper towels. Similar to regular towels, dogs eat paper towels because they’re bored, or they like how they feel, or to calm themselves down, or perhaps because they have teeth pain.

Paper towels can be dangerous for your dog to eat if they were dampened with chemicals like bleach or rubbing alcohol. They can also seriously irritate the gastrointestinal tract.

Look out for the following symptoms to see if eating paper towels made your dog sick:

Abdominal bloating
Abdominal discomfort or tenderness around the abdominal area
Anorexia
Constipation
Diarrhea
Excessive drooling
Hunching over (likely due to abdominal pain)
Inability to digest food or water
Increased farting
Lethargy
Restlessness or refusing to lay down
Vomiting

Also, as with any situation, too much of anything is dangerous. When paper towels get wet, they swell with liquid. If your dog has too many paper towels, it could block the digestive tract. This could constipate your dog at best or it could require life-saving surgery at worst.

If you catch your dog eating paper towels, take the following steps:

Figure out how many paper towels they ate and if the paper towels were covered in any harmful chemicals. The more information your vet has to work with, the better.
Figure out how long ago your dog ate the paper towels. If they recently ate the paper towels, your vet may be able to get your dog to vomit them out by inducing nausea with an IV. If your dog ate the paper towels over four hours ago, the vet might take an x-ray to determine how to proceed.
Take your dog to the vet and get their advice. Depending on how severe the situation is, the treatments range from induced vomiting to surgical removal.

References

Why Do My Towels Smell Like Wet Dog? – All About Towels (tauwel.com)

Tips for keeping dogs cool in summer | Blue Cross

Help, My Dog Ate A Paper Towel! Possible Complications & Treatments (emergencyvetsusa.com)