Any dog owners out there?

Hi there!

I am wondering if anyone here has dogs that shed and how you manage the hair and the babies. I have 2 dogs - a lab that my hubby had before I came along and a boxer/beagle who we ended up adopting from his sister (LONG STORY). The hair drives me bonkers, and clearly I know we are not the first people to have babies with dogs, but I really am concerned about the level of hair. I have tried pretty much every product I can find AND brush them everyday...and I just can't keep up with it. We just replaced all the carpet in the house with laminate flooring but i wonder: has anyone else dealt with this and what did you do/use to control the hair? i guess my biggest issue is the hair getting on all the baby stuff (swings, playmats, bottles, etc).

Thanks!!

 

We have two boxers and I thought the hair was going to be out of control, but it's actually not too bad. I sweep up every day and dust as much as I can. The toys and the baby proof area gets a wipe down every other day or so with vinegar and water, and honestly, it just hasn't been an issue. I also change the furnace filters quite often in the winter and wash their bedding every couple of weeks. The good news is that studies have been done that kids who have pets in the home are less likely to develop serious long term allergies. So just pretend the pet hair is preventative health care :laughing:

 

We have a lab and they are one of THE worst shedders!!!! We have central vac so it's much easier to clean all floors with the 1 attachment, quickly and easily.

However, we also use the "Furminator" de-shedding shampoo and conditioner from PetSmart. And we bought the Furminator brush. It was expensive but it honestly and truly works. The brush is FANTASTIC. It's just like what they use at the groomers and removes their undercoats. It's sickening how much hair comes off them when you use this brush!!! And after a good week of brushing my dog, nothing comes off her.

Hope that helps!

 

We have dogs and I vacuumed a lot! Then we wound up getting rid of one of the dogs b/c I don't want to take care of 3 little kids and 2 dogs.

 

We have an Australian Shepherd that stays in the house and the hair has always been an issue. We have carpet and laminate and the only thing that helped was that I vacuumed twice daily everyday and sometimes more. Especially when they started crawling, I just couldn't stomach the thought of hair everywhere. It really is a drag, but making sure things were swepted daily and vacuuming a minimal of twice a day kept the hair at bay. Needless to say, this will be the last house dog!

 

We also have a lab that when seasons change has terrible shedding. Downstairs we put in laminate beacuse of it. Then I use like a dust mop to get the hair up it works with static and so much better than a regular broom for hair. Our playroom is upstairs where the dog is not allowed. So that helps. Bedroom and playroom are upstairs with no dog and that is where we spend a lot of our day. Can you have certain room(s) wehre they dog is not allowed and you can keep hair free?

I am going to have to try that brush from lizzbeech. It is always good to have a recommendation.

 

I also use this dry mop from Vileda that works great for collecting dog hairs. Machine washable too and can be used wet or dry (I use dry for a super quick clean!)

http://www.vileda.ca/en/mops/flat/

 

I'm a swiffering maniac with out bullmastiff and lab. And like a previous poster said the furminator is the bomb, especially for the lab hair! But I freak out constantly about the hair.

 

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all your thoughts and ideas!!! I am going out tomorrow to buy that furmintor! Unfortunately we live in a bungalow with a very open floor plan so it's rather hard to keep the dogs out of certain areas - the nursery and master suite are off-limits but that's it! I vacuum pretty much every two days at this point and the thought of doing it twice a day WITH two babies freaks me out...but it's great to know that it's doable
Thanks again!!!

 

I have a German Shepherd who sheds like crazy and I totally second the Furminator!! Expensive but worth every penny. You will not believe how much fur it takes out.

 

I have 2 lab mix dogs(one is part Dalmation) and they shed all the time. we also use the Ferminator and it is worth the price. Go now to Petsmart etc..... and buy one, you will notice a big difference. Also sweep or vaccum every 2-3 days. My almost 3 yr old has never had a problem with dog hair and is actually a very healthy kid

Good Luck!

 

When you pick up a bottle of shed ending shampoo, there is usually a corgi on it. We have two of those shedding beasts and two cats, one long hair, one medium hair. We've found that the Furminator brush is the best choice. We will Furminate the dogs about once a week, getting a plastic grocery bag of hair off of them each time. Imbetween sessions, we vaccuum regularly, and still have hair issues. But like a PP said, it's good for preventing allergies!!

 

I just have to say kudos to all of you with dogs and kids! We have 6 kids and the twins on the way and 1 cat. Our dog we gave to my parents when we remodeled the hard wood floors... I just couldn't imagine keeping up with all the hair and the kids! Way to be!! :banana:

 

Well, shucks. We had a floormate for our old house, we had tile and parquet floors throughout. Daily swiffer, every couple of day swiffer mop, and the floormate on the weekends, there wasn't much pet hair left.

 

We have a cat who does shed, but more than that we have 2 boys who put EVERYTHING in their mouths. So I vacuum every day just b/c it's easier than doing 90 finger-sweeps a day. :gah: It's very doable- you figure out a routine and just get it done.

 

When the girls were born, we had 2 dogs and 3 cats. In the 17 months since, we've found homes for the dogs. They shed a ton more than the kitties do, plus their slobbers and muddy footprints on the floor was just too much for me. I never thought I'd willingly give up my dogs, but it's so much better now. Plus, I know they have good homes.

 

I'm curious if you hot a furminator and if you are loving it?!!

 

Thanks for sharing everyone! I went out and bought the FURminator last week and I almost got sick at the amount of hair that I got off our lab in 5 minutes!!!! And in this past week, the amount of hair in my house has gone down by at least 75%!!!! I am so grateful for you guys recommending it - I think i might even go out and buy another one for our short haired dog who also sheds like crazy!!! Now I'm not too concerned about the hair/babies situation, but I guess we'll see how that lasts once they are here and I don't have time to brush the dogs everyday! For now though, I am hopeful :woohoo:

 

Does this Furminator work well for cats also?

 

Well, I'll admit that we weren't on "top" of the pet hair until the boys *really* started crawling. We put down laminate in most of the house before they got here. I sweep those areas every other day at least. We also have a roomba I run about as frequently on the carpeted areas. It's just faster for me to run a broom around the hard floors. It also encourages me to red up every day.

 

This is totally off-topic, but I just wanted to say that the names of your twins really made me smile. I understand the original Tycho and Kepler may have had a bit of a contentious relationship though .

 

Ditto what all PPs have said about vacuuming and swiffering. We also have an open floor plan and a very, VERY hairy old dog. We compensate by laying blankets down before putting the twins down to play. I lay one blanket directly on the floor and another on top of that. When we're ready to move on, we put up the blankets. We fold the blankets so the clean top sides are always folded in and never touch the hairy outside. We have blankets in every room.

We also bought a portable air purifier to help with the dander. I'm not sure if it actually works, but it makes me feel better.

Finally, we also take off our shoes or socks before entering the areas off-limits to the dog. Believe it or not, socks pick up a lot of hair. If you walk around the house in socks, the hair stuck on the bottom gets tracked into the "clean" areas. Socks are worse than shoes, but both should be abandoned at the door.

 

So glad for this post. We have 2 dogs, a pit/whippet mix (4 years old) and a shepherd/lab mix (13 years old). Everyone is so concerned about the pit/whippet mix because of the bad reputations pits have, but she's an absolute doll. The only concern I have about her is that she gets tremendously excited when we have visitors or when we're about to go on a walk, but we can work with that. The lab/shepherd mix on the other hand....I'm completely stressed about him. 1) He really doesn't like children. He's old and grumpy and usually lunges at them when they come near. 2) He sheds like crazy. Constantly. It never ends. Mid-summer and mid-winter are marginally better, but not much. I sweep our hardwood floors every 1-2 days and pick up piles of hair.

My parents have agreed that they'll take him, but we all hate to have to do that. I rescued him from the shelter when he was 2 months old, and I had hoped he'd get to spend his last days with me (which are fast approaching). But at most we can keep him until the twins start crawling.

Now, some other time I'll tell you all about my real obsessive anxiety - the ancient, damaged, splinter-ridden hardwood floors in the 200-300 year old rowhome we rent. I shudder every time I think about them, which is, oh, about two or three dozen times a day.