Well, my friends, that is what can happen if you're not brushing & grooming your pup on a regular basis! I know. I am remiss, at times, until I find clumps hither and thither around the house, and follow them to their source(s). It's a bit of a bother - if you have one. I have four. And, to make things worse, I have one who sheds who, as soon as she sees that brush in my hand, skedaddles as quickly as possible out the door and into the backyard.
Skally hates to be brushed - so I take our Furminator with us to the park, and get it done there. That way, we have no big mess at the house, and the birds and other critters can take the fur for nesting. There are those "people" who are dead set against doing this, as they don't like the fur in the park, but they're not natural humans - they're the type that have house cleaners, maids, and other servants who take care of them - and they really have no clue how to groom. Forget them. They're as trivial as their opinions, usually...
Rusty needs to be Furminated, as do Simon and Skally. He loves it, as does Simon. But Rusty also needs to be brushed to keep from natting and knotting. Samson is the same - but he doesn't get Furminated...it won't work with his type of fur. He just gets brushed. And there's tons of hair from all of them! And if I do it at home, well, there's tons of fur; and if I don't do it, there's tons of fur.
And as for the dust - well, keeping them groomed and washed makes a ton of difference!
So. Years ago, when I had my two Schipperkes and Skally, I was vacuuming about once a week, which I thought was pretty normal. But when I did, I realized I was dumping the bin quite often, and it never seemed to decrease. I was using a powerful vacuum, so I figured it was leaving very little in the carpet and around the house. HA!
I began vacuuming daily. On Day 2, I discovered there was a little difference in the amount I was collecting, and Day's 3 and 4, the amount continued to decrease. It took a week before I realized I was still going to have about 1/4 the amount in the bin no matter what - unless I was was brushing and washing the dogs daily. Well, I'm a pinnacle of human nature, so that wasn't going to happen!,
What I did realize, though, was that by vacuuming daily, the amount of dust in the house decreased amazingly! The grout in the kitchen marble was returning to a normal clean color. I had less dusting to go after on a weekly basis. I found the house was beginning to smell better, as well. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
I used to use PineSol, and other assorted cleaners, including Swiffer WetJet. I stopped. Not mopping. But using those products. Why? Because they're full of harmful chemicals.
You see, dogs, cats, and other critters of their ilk absorb those chemicals into their pads as they walk over them (it doesn't matter if the floors are dry). Then the chems filter their way into their bloodstream. The Swiffer cleaner, I discovered, was one molecule different than Anti-freeze. So, that stuff went immediately into the trash.
Then I heard that using vinegar on the floors was safe. So, we began mopping with that. I was using it on pee stains, windows, interior of the car windows, so why not on the floors. Well, if you've marble, and are using regular grout (not synthetic), then it eats at it, and makes it crumble. I have marble on some floors - so that's not going to work for long...
Youch!
Then I realized that boiling water would really do more good, and then wiping the water up with towels. That made for an awesome floor. But, being the pinnacle of human nature, it wasn't going to happen on a daily or even weekly basis. too much work, and too time consuming.
Thankfully, there are those steam mops out there, now. Just hot water! I even have a handheld, which has made my life so much easier! And it dries much faster. This, for me, is a no brainer. The dogs may notice..when I don't clean, all of use seem to sneeze more often, and I see a lot more hair floating around...
One of the chief rules of cleaning with a pet, is to keep them safe, and you sane with ease and no chemicals. Twenty years ago, I'm not sure this would have been possible, unless you did the boiling water thing. Today, there are vacuums with pet attachments, with pets in mind. It's a growing business! But, be careful.
When I bought my vacuum a little over a year ago (I had back problems, and the vacuum I was using was too heavy), I needed something that worked well, was for the budget conscious, and would do the job for years. I went to the local vacuum store, which my family has patronized for years. I had read all the reviews in Consumer Reports, and then did digging about the ones I was interested in. I wasn't interested in Dyson (sorry) as I knew people who weren't raving about them - in fact, a couple were raging...
I took to one. The model up had the attachments, and would cost me $40 more. The salesman told me not to buy that one - and explained that the attachment wasn't worth that much, and if I really wanted it they'd sell it to me separately for less. I hated that tool, anyway - they always broke on my vacuums, so it was a no brainer.
Took that sucker home, and flew through the house. I paid well under $100 for it, and it's my saving grace.
Do I vacuum and mop daily? Well, being the pinnacle of human nature, I'd have to say, "No." But I do vacuum at least 3 times a week. I mop about 1-2 times a week, if possible, and I dust once a week.
I still need to figure out how to brush on a regular basis. But for now, I've got a plan - and the system is still booting...I'm eager to hear if anyone else has ideas to share...
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