Top veterinarians, best-selling pet-care authors and other top pet-care experts are all part of the Pet Connection team. If you would like the newest, freshest weekly syndicated Pet Connection articles from the Universal Press Syndicate for your newspaper, publication or Web site, find out more here.

Vaccuums and dog hair

By Gina Spadafori

published 01/17/1999

PRINT   |   Email to a Friend   |        

Q: A friend sent me your column about “fur mice.” Since you said your Hoover was outmatched, I just wanted to share some information and a cute story. I am a puppy raiser for Canine Companions for Independence (they provide assistance dogs for people with disabilities), and I am on an e-mail list with raisers from roughly 20 different organizations. Dog hair, as you can imagine, is a constant battle with all of us, most of whom have more than one dog, plus assorted cats and other animals.

One of the people posted a humorous note about dust puppies — similar to fur mice, but I think they’re more prolific. Her vacuum of choice was the Fantom Fury, and she asked if anyone else had used this wonder vac. Many had and quite a number have since purchased one.

I suggested to the Fantom people that they use a service dog in training in a future infomercial because not only was it good to promote a program that helps people, but also that our goldens (and Labs) could give those Dirt Devil pups a run for cuteness. They came to my house to film back in the first part of December. They will edit all they shot down to about 90 seconds, but they did cover the program and quite a bit about the dogs. It will air in February. If you’re up at 3 a.m. with nothing to do one night, look for it.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that if your Hoover isn’t handling your dog hair, you really should try the Fantom. I haven’t found anything better to handle the hair on the floor. And the furniture. And in the air. — K.D.

A: Great story! As it happens, I’m often up at 3 a.m., and I’ll be looking for that infomercial. It’ll be a nice change of pace from the dog-training one and that one about the self-cleaning litter box.

As for the Hoover, I cannot complain. It’s a wheezy, gaspy disaster now, but it has been eagerly sucking up drifts of pet fur for more than a decade. I guess it has earned its retirement.

I guess we wouldn’t be animal lovers if we didn’t find humor in pet hair. My favorite hair story is about a dog club holding its annual award banquet, and on each table was a baggie with some dog hair in it and a note attached that read: “We know you wouldn’t know how to have a meal without dog hair, so we’ve provided some.”

As a person who has picked pet fur off most everything from sweaters to butter cubes for nearly three decades, I can relate. I can also relate to something else I heard: “True pet people would send a meal back if they saw a human hair in it, but pick off the pet ones and eat without a second thought.”

I’m always delighted to get pet-care tips from readers. Thanks for writing.