With Education, My Opinions are Shifting!

You might remember my post from over a year ago discussing the Furminator de-Shedding Tool. At the time, I thought the Furminator was the greatest tool ever invented, and would be a great weapon in combating Milly's shedding. Because this blog is about my education, I must say, that I no longer have those positive feelings about the Furminator.

My biggest complaints with the Furminator is it is not gentle on the coat, is easily overused, causes the hairs to break, and tends to pull off a large portion of the top coat and not just the loose undercoat. I've seen some horror scenes of post Furminator grooming, and watched many people at the dog wash remove way too much coat. The Furminator can also easily damage a dog's skin if used too frequently, or incorrectly.

On a Golden Retriever, a good way to tell if you are removing loose under coat is if the hair is whitish/cream in color and sort of whispy. If you are removing top coat, you'll find the hair clumps up much more tightly, and is darker, like the color of your dog's coat.

Last week, I picked up a great tool at The Muddy Mutt, the dog-wash I frequent bi-weekly. This, like the Furminator is a tool designed to remove loose undercoat, but unlike the Furminator it is very difficult to remove the top coat with this tool. The shape of the handle is a rake style, like the Furminator, but rather than having the metal blade found on the Furminator this grooming rage has two rows of plastic teeth. I tested the Furminator on one side of Milly's body, and the grooming rake on the other side. I was amazed at how much more undercoat the grooming rake removed than the Furminator. And, the rake did not remove any top coat, but the Furminator did! At around $10, this is a very economical purchase, and much cheaper than the Furminator.



I've started using the rake fairly regularly after misting Milly's coat, and the results have been spectacular! With the Furminator, even with regular use, I still found large clumps of Milly hair throughout the house. But, with the new grooming rake, I've seen a huge decrease in the amounts of hair she sheds.

The grooming rake I purchased is made by Master Grooming Tools. It has 39 plastic teeth (in two rows), and a very comfortable ergonomic handle. It is so easy to use, just put the rake in the coat, and pull gently in the direction of the hair growth. I'm so glad I discovered this great product. You can find your own right here on Amazon!

DOG HAIR BRACELETS!!!

Recently, I found out one of my favorite companies, Kate's Equine, is now making custom bracelets out of dog hair! I know, if you didn't read the first post, you are probably thinking this sounds creepy and gross. But, you'll be surprised out how fabulous these bracelets really are. I did a post quite some time ago about making fashions out of fur, and have spiffed it up for you all! If you missed the original post be sure to check it out, as there are many more ways to make items out of your pet's fur - from purses to sweaters there's something for everyone!

A dear friend of mine over at Kate’s Equine has been creating bracelets from horse’s tail hair, and now she's making ornaments and key chains, too. No animals are harmed in the creation of this fashionable jewelry. I am actually wearing one of her bracelets as I write this. My bracelet is made from a horse I rode and showed in high school and college named Crabby. Crabby was recently retired, and donated to a young woman with Williams Syndrome, and is currently being used as a therapeutic riding horse. He’s the type of horse that loves having a job, but in his old age needed to step down from competition. He is miserable when he is not being ridden, groomed and loved and this is the perfect retirement situation for him. His new “mother” is hoping to compete in the Special Olympics this summer, and I am so proud of both her and Crabby!

I love this bracelet so much, and wear it all the time. Kate knows this, and for Christmas she gave me a beautiful ornament made out of another very special horse's tail. My ornament is like this, but with black hair.

Between my bracelet and ornament you'd think I'd be set, but now there's another item I'm dying for! A bracelet made from Milly's hair... I could easily collect it while grooming her, and that way it would be clean. Isn't this bracelet lovely? The fixtures and charms are all sterling silver, and 3-4 pencil sized amounts of hair are needed to make one. Check out the detail work on this dog hair bracelet!



I think the heart charm is a perfect tribute to your special heart dog. I don't think anyone would ever guess this bracelet is made of dog hair, do you? It looks beautiful, and really neat and unique, too. I am now absolutely dying for one! You can order one on her website, www.KatesEquine.com.



I'm also thinking about getting a horse hair key chain made. What do you think of this? I love the crystal detailing, don't you?

Guest Blogger: Bissell Revolution Lift-Off Pet Hair Vacuum

Enjoy this wonderful guest blogger post by Anndy, and perhaps you too will want this vacuum! I know with all of Milly's hair in our house I'm dying to get one of these! Great product review!!! :)

Bissell Revolution Lift-Off Pet Hair Vacuum

One of the many joys of getting married is making a list of presents for people to give you. This does seem incredibly self centered, but I have to say it’s really nice when you are on the receiving end of it. My absolute favorite item on our Lowes gift registry was a Bissell Revolution Lift-Off Pet Hair Vacuum. With two big dogs (an Australian cattle dog and a black lab mix) living in a very small house, the pet hair adds up dramatically in a short amount of time. I had never been able to afford a nice vacuum to deal with all of the hair accumulation so I was really happy when my husband’s fellow teachers all chipped in and bought us our vacuum. This product is amazing.

We are currently living in a rental house with wall to wall carpeting. I am not a fan of carpet. I much prefer hard wood floors with a few throw rugs on top. I also really hated vacuuming with a bad model because it just took so long, even in our tiny house. Since we got the Bissell, I must say that my attitude towards vacuuming has definitely changed! Vacuuming takes half the time it used to. The brush feature of the vacuum gets up every bit of hair. Our cattle dog has fairly long hair and the lab mix has short hair and all if it gets vacuumed up. Every time I vacuum, the hair and dust builds up in the container (which either means my house is truly disgusting most of the time or the vacuum really works…or maybe both!) It’s so easy to clean out. The canister that catches the hair and dirt just lifts out and you can dump it in the trash. No bags are necessary. There is a light on the body of the machine that lights up when the filter needs to be cleaned. I haven’t had this happen yet and the vacuum has been used quite a bit.

The only probably I have with the vacuums is that long hair (which I have and I almost shed as badly as the dogs do) and string or whatever else is on the floor gets wrapped around the rotating brush of the vacuum. I don’t think there is anything that can be done about this though, and it is easy to clean out. I have also heard some bad things about Bissells. Some friends of mine have said that they don’t last very long. Since we’ve only had ours a couple of months, I can’t comment on that personally. I do think that this vacuum is great and I highly recommend it to anyone with pets, long or short haired.