Spring is dog shedding season, as you are probably painfully aware. I have two dogs, which means double the shedded hair around my house. Vacuuming my house is quite a task because I have to keep emptying out the all of the dog hair! Pet hair can burn out the motors in vacuums, so I have also been through my fair share of vacuums. Luckily, I found some great solutions to prevent dog hair from covering every inch of my house.
Dog hair falls out because it is making room for a new coat to come in. The best thing to do is to remove the hair yourself. This way, your dog will not gradually lose his hair as he walks around your house. Daily brushing sessions are a must. Take your dog outside, or in a room that is not carpeted so that it is easy to sweep it up. Regular brooms are not that great for pet hair clean up, so you should use one that is specifically made for pet hair clean up. I use the Arrgh Pet Hair Broom, which has rubber bristles that will not leave any dog hair behind. The best part about this broom is that the rubber bristles can be retracted when you want to use this broom for regular cleaning. Arrgh Pet Hair Broom can sweep up dog hair on tile, wood floors, or even rugs.
For daily brushing sessions, you should use a comb that will remove the dog’s undercoat. The Dog Undercoat & Dematting Rake is a multi-functional brush. One side is an undercoat brush, will does a great job of removing your dog’s winter coat. The other dematting side is great if your dog’s thick fur gets matted. You do not want to use a regular brush on fur that is matted, it will be very painful for your dog. The Dog Undercoat & Dematting Rake is comfortable to hold and does a great job of removing excess fur.
One of my favorite tools to remove dead hair is a dog shedding blade. These do not need to be used every day, because they do a wonderful job of removing your dog’s undercoat. I try to use them about once a week. The shedding blade I use is the Double Sided Open Shedding Blade, pictured to the right. It gets rid of dead hair before it was even going to start to fall out. My dogs feel softer and look much better after I use the Double Sided Open Shedding Blade on them.