Dogs! I love them but Grrrrr

I have had dogs all my life, and I have never felt any annoyance with having them in my life, but and that's a big BUT they have always been housed outside.

My lovely pooch that I have had for the past 11yrs was also housed outside up until I moved back to this area, I no longer have the facilities to keep her outside and so she moved into the flat with me.

99.9% there is no problem, for all she has never been a house dog she has taken to it very well and never ever touches anything she shouldn't.

So here's my Irk! 

OMG I had no idea how much mess they make and blooming heck when they start moulting!... everything is ruined, my carpets, my sofa, every item of clothing needs de-dog haired before I can put it on Oh the list goes on!

I know this is not her fault, but example I vaccumed yesterday about 5pm and this morning you would think I hadn't done it in over a week!

How does everyone else cope with this constant mess? 

Andie, it sounds like you have a long haired pooch.

Perhaps if you got a shedding blade and brushed the heck out of her, that would help reduce the amount of hair to a reasonable level.

http://www.gundogsonline.com/dog-grooming-sup plies/dog-shedding-blade.html

The one in the link is my favorite and so easy to use.

I know one of my dogs shed so much you could stuff a king sized mattress with the fur in a week.

Before I got the shedding blade I used to joke to friends over for a visit they would need to be shaved before leaving....kinda embarrassing.

Oh, I totally understand!  I have a beagle and I can't believe how much hair is everywhere.  He is a short-haired dog, I thought we'd do fine...not so much.  However, it comes with the territory.  Awww, I love doggies.  Hairy or not.

I understand completely!  We have a Lab and his beautiful black hair is everywhere!  Of course it's not as beautiful on the rug as it is on him.  

Yep. I had a golden retriever and his hair was everywhere. I always used the wand with the vacuum to get his hair off the arms of the sofa. (It floated there, he wasn't actually on the furniture). I finally found that the best thing, was to pick up the vacuum and run it along the furniture. It brushes it off the best. My doggie passed away a year ago, but I still have to vacuum like that cause of my 2 cats.

I agree with the shedding blade...works awesome. You'll probably do it for a long time the first time but if you keep up with it, it gets better.

Close the closet door or your bedroom door so that your clothes don't get all hairy and have one of those sticky-rolly things around so you can quickly swipe it all off.

Yes, brushing everyday DOES help a lot! And try bathing her with some de-shedding shampoo. I like Furminator, it makes all the hair fall out in the tub instead of your couch.

Yeah, mess just comes with having pets.  I have two dogs and a parrot and they all make a disgusting mess.  This morning I went into the kitchen and my beagle had dumped the garbage.  There were coffee grounds, bacon grease (no I didn't eat the bacon!), egg shells, etc, everywhere - with my beagle in the middle of it munching away.  Ugh.  What a mess.  This after I vaccumed and straightened out the kitchen earlier in the morning.  I wanted to strangle him.  But he is still alive and mooching for food as we speak.  What can you do?

you think you have it bad! lol I have 2 dogs and 8 cats and oh boy the hair. we have a fairly big house but between the up stairs and down stairs we vaccum 2-3 times a week. I think my dad got to frustrated with the dog hair that he took the attachments for the vaccum and used the vaccum on her. It didnt help that well. lol but i guess you can get used to it after so many yrs

Hey andie, brushing her will do some good with the hair. Maybe you should set some ground rules with your baby. Get her a doggie bed and enforce her sleeping only there. Don't let her on the furniture and you could go as far as gating her in one area when you aren't home.  If it is reasonable you may want to replace the carpet with laminate or wood flooring. Buy a bunch of those tape lint brushes for your clothes. One thing I hate about visiting my mother is she has 3 dogs in the house, 2 shed and sometimes I find dog hair in the kitchen and on the cupboards.

Just a little fyi for the future. Most long haired breeds do not shed as much as the short haired type. Lhasa Apso's don't shed at all, none, nada, zip, ziltch. I've had as many as 16 Lhasa's at one time and never a hair on my furniture, bedding, clothes. There are other breeds of dogs that don't shed. There is more grooming involved with long haired breeds just so they don't get matted. The **** Tu is another breed that doesn't shed at all either. **** Tu and Lhasa are almost identical in appearance.

on edit: geez I wasn't cussing here, I was trying to name a dog for crying out loud. hee hee hee Let me see, it's the Shetz Tu, maybe that will work.

Shih Tzu

FURminator and Zoom Groom.

Thanks everyone, she is short haired and I brush her quite regular but it is just a never ending supply for about 6wks.

I will definitely try the shedding blade sound great.

I had actually toyed with the idea of getting her clipped hee hee I have no idea how she would look but I'm still considering it.

Thanks again

A groomer can blow her coat out.  A wash and a blow dry with a high powered dryer shouldn't cost too much.

It will help also.

Awe cheers jewels I think I will book her in because this mess is just crazy! how so much hair can come out of one animal is beyond me!

The horses I had shed less hair than this, my carpets look like they are made from angora and when you walk on it it's silky and slippy 

Ha! 

My poochy sheds all year long but she blows her coat twice a year (or moulting as you put it).  Awful mess.  I have to vaccum twice a day and I still can't keep up with it.  Darn white fur stands out on everything.

yeah the white hairs are the worst. she has white around the neck and they get everywhere!

My uniform for work is black (yup) and this morning I swear I was tempted to punch four holes in a refuse sack and put her in it securing it with a nice bow just behind her ears .

Original Post by lovinmylife24:

Oh, I totally understand!  I have a beagle and I can't believe how much hair is everywhere.  He is a short-haired dog, I thought we'd do fine...not so much.  However, it comes with the territory.  Awww, I love doggies.  Hairy or not.

 I have a beagle too!!!  You just have to keep lint rollers on hand at all times.  And maybe not wear black as often!  My Cooper used to shed REALLY bad.  I had to change his food because he developed an allergy & when I did, I changed it to a higher quality, better food & the shedding nearly stopped completely.  Maybe thats an option.

I've got a Cocker Spaniel... awful with shedding. I keep her body fur cut pretty short (not the shortest clipper blade though) and it helps loads with the shedding. Also, brushing helps. The suggestions here have been good.

Also, you can get better lint rollers for dog hair at pet stores. 

I take it none of you guys have ever had a husky.

Merlin shedded all. year. 'round. When I was younger I used to just pull tuffs of his shedded fur out, and stash it in a pillow. I had enough Merlin-fur to actually MAKE a pillow in one year's time. A nice, big, and fluffy pillow.

It was almost pointless to try to de-dog fur any of my clothing, because I could be five feet from him and end up covered in fur. He also liked to jump up on me and hug me.

Huskys have five coats. That's five thick coats of fur that he blew out really badly twice a year, and "mildly" shedded out the rest of the year. Picking him for "Merlin cotton balls" helped his shedding process immensely, though after a while he wouldn't like you pulling patches of loose fur.

As much as I miss that dog, I don't miss all of the fur.

My cat, on the otherhand, sheds an aweful lot for a cat. I just can't seem to escape the attack of white fur on my clothing.