It’s not that we don’t love our dogs. We do. But no matter how much you compare their hair to glitter it’s still not always something you want all over your furniture, all over your carpeting, or all over your clothes.
Yes. There are all those fun dog hair memes out there that are supposed to make you feel good about fur flying in the house. Dog hair, don’t care. Dog hair is my glitter. You know the ones.
But it’s okay to dog hair, do care. And as pretty as glitter is, it’s a huge pain to clean up when it gets all over the place.
So there’s nothing wrong with wanting to get control of the dog hair. It doesn’t mean we love our dog any less.
I will be the first to tell you I hate cleaning. And I’m not afraid to admit that I don’t clean as much as I should. If you come to my house you will find dog hair in places other than on my dogs.
But I do try to keep it to a minimum. And I try to do that with the least effort possible.
And it doesn’t matter if your dog is short-haired or long-haired, there is still going to be hair to deal with. In fact, sometimes the short hair is worse because it embeds quickly into the carpeting or furniture.
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Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks to help you keep the dog hair under control.
The hair before it gets in your house
Brushing
Yes. I’m starting with the oldest advice given for reducing dog hair in your home.
But it helps.
All the hair you get off when you spend time brushing your dog means there is that much less hair being shed around your house.
Plus keep in mind, no matter if your dog sheds all year or sheds most of their hair seasonally, regular grooming is important, not just for keeping the fur down in your home, but also for their health.
You might choose to make an appointment with a groomer. They are skilled in getting loose hair off your dog, but to really keep the hair under control, you’ll need to groom in-between visits.
There are a few tools I love to brush with that help get a good amount of hair off.
The Furminator– I held off on getting one of these, but wish I had bought one sooner. The loose hair that comes off from using it is amazing! There is so much satisfaction that comes with getting the hair off that you have to be careful not to overdo it. I make sure I don’t stay on one area long and only do it for short periods of time so I can be sure to not irritate my dog’s skin.
The Zoom Groom– At first glance, it doesn’t look like much, but once you start using it- Wow. This is a great tool for shorter-haired dogs. It’s soft so it isn’t irritating and for how much my dogs love it, I can only imagine it feels like getting a massage. You can even do use while bathing your dog to help work the shampoo in with the bonus that it will help with the loose hair.
I try to use these tools outside to help keep the hair that comes off from getting in the house, but when I can’t I have a big old blanket my dog stands on to help retain the loose hair. Once we are done I just shake the blanket outside, fold it up and store it or wash it.
High velocity dryer
Bathing your dog will help remove loose hair, but there is something to use after the bath that will really knock that hair off- a high velocity dryer.
In simple terms, a high-velocity dryer looks like a canister vacuum only it blows air out instead of pulling air in. You use a hose with a nozzle to blow the water off your dog and along with the water it blows off the loose fur. The mess it makes is glorious with the hair plastered all over the wall in your bath. It makes you really feel like you accomplished something in the loose hair removal department. At least until you have to clean the mess up.
You can avoid the mess by going to a groomer or using the self-service dog wash at your local pet store and use the dryer there.
Or you could if you prefer to do it at home, you can get your own dryer.
There used to be a time, these dryers were pretty expensive. I love the K9 Force Air Dryer we had when I groomed, but the price tag was more than I could afford when I wanted my own for grooming my standard poodle.
After hanging out in a poodle grooming Facebook group for a while, I learned about the Shelandy Force dryer so that is what I ordered.
It is SO worth it. I’ve used smaller high-velocity dryers that were about the same size and honestly, they didn’t deserve to use “high” in their description. But the Shelandy is so great, I am not at all upset I don’t have a K9Force dryer. The power is just perfect for using at home and you can even adjust how powerful the flow of air is.
And the price makes it even better. Definitely affordable for the average dog parent to get.
The hair in the house
Now that we are working on keeping more hair from the dog off the furniture and rug, we can work on the hair that is already on the furniture and carpet.
The are a few tricks that will help get some of that hair up.
The Carpet
Vacuum- Yes. It doesn’t sound like a trick, after all you vacuum all the time. But regular vacuuming is a big step in tackling the dog hair.
The goal with vacuuming is to get any loose hair up before it has a chance to get settle and get embedded in the carpet or furniture.
That means you need to do it fairly frequently. Definitely more frequently than I do it. Vacuuming just is not my favorite way to spend my time. It’s also why a robot vacuum is on my wish list.
A dog mom can dream, can’t she?
Since I can’t motivate myself to be diligent about vacuuming, there are times I need something to help get some of that settled hair up.
Squeegee- running a squeegee or a rubber broom over your carpet will help pull some of that hair together so you can suck it all up with the vacuum. You can even use the Zoom Groom to loosen up the hair.
Vacuum attachments- When it comes to vacuuming, I prefer using the hose part of the vacuum over the upright part. That means juggling the attachments.
After spending time squeegeeing my carpet, I decided to try my brush attachment and see if it would speed things up. It did! It saved me time because I wasn’t having to run my squeegee over the carpet first. The next thing I want to try is an upholstery brush attachment which is made for just this job.
The Furniture
Like other pet parents, I like to have my dogs join me on the couch. After all they are family and I let other family members sit on the furniture.
Usually.
Of course this means that it’s much easier for dog hair to take up residence on the cushions where it just waits for an unsuspecting person to latch onto.
Short of not allowing your dog on the couch(and who are we kidding, that’s no guarantee of a fur-free couch), there are a few things you can do to reduce the chance of dog hair settling on your furniture.
The first thing is before you even get your furniture. Choose a dog-friendly fabric. And what would that be?
Leather always seems to come at the top of the list when it comes to fabrics that do best with pets. Leather couches are easy to clean and it’s not a fabric dog hair seems to stick to.
I had a vinyl couch that I loved for the same reasons leather is a top choice. And these days vinyl couches don’t look as cheap as they used.
Then there are options like canvas and other fabrics so it’s a great idea to do some research before buying on which are the best sofa fabrics for pet owners.
If you are like me and not at a point where you can buy a new couch, take a look at slipcovers.
I’ve had SureFit slipcovers that have been great, not only in making my pathetic looking couch look much better but making it easy to deal with the dog hair by simply removing the slipcover and throwing it in the wash.
I do recommend not trying to go cheap with the slipcovers. I tried some real cheap stretch slipcovers and they were SOOO not worth it. First, they were microfiber which just seemed to attract the dog hair. Second, they snagged like crazy and just looked after from my dogs and cats being on them.
Spend the money on good slipcovers. Mine are about 10 years old and are still going strong.
If you aren’t ready for slipcovers or if your dog has a favorite spot that they hang out on, you could use a couch protector or even just a blanket. They are easy enough to remove when guests stop by.
No matter what you use to cover your furniture, you’ll want to wash them frequently. These tips on washing dog hair out of blankets will help you get as much hair as possible off of your slip covers and blankets before returning them to the furniture.
Even if you do these things, there is going to be some hair that will get on your furniture. Along with using your vacuum attachments, there are a few tricks to get the dog fur off.
Lint Roller- This go-to for getting pet hair off your clothes will also work on your furniture. Use your regular lint roller or make things a little easier with a large lint roller made to be used on furniture.
Rubber glove- Yes. A rubber glove. Just wet the glove and rub your hand over your furniture. You’ll be amazed at the hair you gather up.
Dog hair is a given when you have a dog, but with just a few changes in your grooming and cleaning routines, it doesn’t have to be a given to all dog hair all over your house.
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