Those with dogs and hardwood floors, please help...

renfred · January 2010

I have 2 labs, and I struggle with keeping the floors free of dog hair. I sweep and use my swiffer once a day, but it never seems to be enough. I keep picturing LO crawling across the floor and I hate it!! What do you do to help this? And yes, we brush them. They are yellow labs and have a tenancy to shed more.

Thank you for any help!!

jlthompson19 · January 2010

No help here, my kid will just get used to it, but maybe think of getting a furminator to help with the shedding?

Sam78 · January 2010

Do you have the furminator? A brush only takes the top layer off, not the under layers which cause at least as much shedding as the top layer. Also, yeah, we clean everyday since DD is crawling around - just one of the joys of having a mobile child.

annasi83 · January 2010

I don't have any fantastic solutions other than to swiffer/sweep right before you put LO on the floor. I really just wanted to say that your furbabies are adorable

jessielegendre · January 2010

I don't have an answer, but i'd like to vent with you. We have a yellow lab mix and our floors are awfull!!!!! I sweep and then ten minutes later the floors are full of hair again!! And her hairs are like needles - they stick into everything! Hopefully someone has a solution.

CashewsMommy · January 2010

If you find something that works tell me! I have a big ol' rottie who sheds in the shedding seasons. We brush her twice a day but our kitchen floor (which is white) is still black with hair. We then vaccuum once a day and pick up tons of black hair! It's horrible.

BelhurstBride · January 2010

Two boxers and a long haired cat, here. Kid's just gonna have to get used to it. I vacuum multiple times a week but there's no way to be perfect.

mrsjenni · January 2010

There is nothing you can do! I have dog hair tumbleweeds from my German Shepherd everywhere and I vacuum once a day! They usually accumulate in the corners and on our wood stairs, both of which DS never crawled over too (when he was crawling). It really was not a problem.

The only room in our house that has carpet is our family room and we have a baby gate that blocks it off. We try to keep DS in there with his toys, etc and our dog gets the whole rest of the house

jtwiggy · January 2010

I would suggest a furminator, we use one on our cat and it has done wonders for the hairballs around the house. They can be kind of pricey but are so worth it as it gets out so much hair, I just recommend brushing outside and having a garbage close by for all the clumps. Now we only have to swiffer the hair up once a week with a cat and a boxer that sheds a little too so it helps so much.

Ready2006 · January 2010

OMG, the cuteness of your siggy kills me.

We only have one, but we also have a Siberian cat (PIB) who sheds like CRAZY. But I have no good advice, I should be sweeping and vacuuming more, but I just don't (especially lately, my energy is just zapped). I brush them both outside when I can which helps a bit, but they still get fur all over.

cutie420311 · January 2010

i so feel your pain. We have a husky, anyone with one of those KNOWS how much they shed. JAck gets brushed everyday with the rake, and it helps, but there is still fur everywhere. I figure the poor kid will be like the rest of us and pick the hair off!

Kacy76 · January 2010

We have hardwood floors, a black lab and a golden retriever. I have no idea on how to keep fur off the hardwood...or furniture! Sweep, mop, vacuum, brush the dogs, and let me know if you come up with anything new!

What's a furminator?

nabiasi · January 2010

so glad I have a hair dog who doesn't shed.. but your pups are undeniably CUTE! Does a swiffer pick up dog fur? I just find with hw floors I'm constantly swiffering to keep dust at bay. Still not fun but a little less strenuous than vacuuming.

strawbrrysmile05 · January 2010

jlthompson19:
No help here, my kid will just get used to it, but maybe think of getting a furminator to help with the shedding?

This exactly. I have a white lab/husky mix and I've pretty much given up and figure my baby will get used to it and stay away from the edges(since thats where it seems to gravitate toward since we walk around so frequently lol).

Furminator....and maybe a roomba?? That way it can vacuum while you're gone...

strawbrrysmile05 · January 2010

Kacy76:
We have hardwood floors, a black lab and a golden retriever. I have no idea on how to keep fur off the hardwood...or furniture! Sweep, mop, vacuum, brush the dogs, and let me know if you come up with anything new! What's a furminator?

https://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751965

It's Ah-Mazing!!!!

renfred · January 2010

lol... well I am glad that I am not the only one with this problem. I don't feel like I am a failure at housekeeping! I have heard great things about the furminator, but trying to avoid paying for one. Guess I will have to loosen the pockets a little.

About2bGold · January 2010

I have all hard wood floors, an English Bulldog, a Boston Terrier, and a long haired seimese cat... It close to impossible.. I'm on my 2nd pregnancy, my son will be 1 next week. I had the same feelings... could not stand the thought of my son crawling around the floor with all that dog hair.. and no matter how much i cleaned it, especially with the Bully, his fur is so coarse and thick that its nearly impossible to sweep it all up.. i had to get over the thought of and just let it be. It happened quick.. especially once i came home with the baby and realized how much of my time would go to caring for him the last thing i worried about was constantly cleaning/sweeping/vacuuming the floor.

ally2158 · January 2010

I have a black lab that sheds everywhere. I use an undercoat rake. It gets all the loose undercoat that they shed. After using it I swear I could make another dog with the amount of hair that comes out. It's awesome and they are only $20-$40 online.

aborgra · January 2010

We put an area rug down in the living room. I love the look of the hard wood floors, but the rug is much easier to vaccuum and keep hair free.

caseybuchda · January 2010

We tried anti-shedding treats from Petco and brushing our lab once a day when he was in the house during the cold weather (he's normally an outside dog and sleeps in the garage) and those treats worked very well. I can't remember what they are called though. We also top his dog food off with a raw egg once every few days and he has an extremely strong and shiny coat, which we have also noticed makes him shed less.

mrsdeanna · January 2010

We put area rugs down on our hardwood floors as well. Its better on our furbaby's legs.

caseybuchda · January 2010

And if anti shedding treats don't help I would also recommend buying a curry comb (sp?) for cattle. We used these on our farm dogs when I was younger and it pulled off more loose hair than any other brush I have ever seen. Plus the dogs loved being brushed with it.

buffalo_buckeye · January 2010

I have a yellow and black lab, with hardwood. At least it's not carpet. I can't imagine how much junk would still be in the carpets that the dogs drag in! When ds was little I had one room the dogs were not allowed in and I laid down a blanket for ds. The 9 months-16 months I just had to accept he was going to get fur on him. Once he started walking well, he has been just like the rest of us

. I found a furminator on amazon for 19$... I'll post the link.

buffalo_buckeye · January 2010

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/190-6024276-6681522?a=B000FSFNVI

angiek941 · January 2010

No help here, but an idea. When the baby starts to crawl, tape swiffers to it's legs. That should help! Wink

ecu1995 · January 2010

Ok people.....I have been telling everyone I know with pets about this product:

https://www.target.com/Shark-2-Hand-Stick-Vacuum/dp/B0028MOZHC/sr=1-5/qid=1264174426/ref=sr_1_5/192-6028693-6670155?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Ashark&page=1

I have two dogs: Brittney/Golden Mix and a Lab/Golden Mix. The lab/golden has been shedding like CRAZY this winter, even with furminator treatments! I have hardwood floors everywhere downstairs and was going crazy vacuuming and sweeping (the broom is useless, it just makes the hair fly everywhere).

This little Shark vacuum is amazing on my hardwoods. Its cordless and very lightweight (I can even do my stairs). After each use I recharge the battery so it is fresh at every use. I cannot say enough good things about this!!

About2bGold · January 2010

haha.. I've done something like this... as a joke we bought the floor duster slippers and put them on the baby's legs.. lol.. so funny.... he's helping mommy clean so soon! lol..

jlthompson19 · January 2010

Cassie730:

We have 5 dogs so I feel your pain. We have actually set up 2 "no doggy" zones. One is the kitchen/family room which is completely off limits (gated) The thought of dog hair near where I make my food kinda grosses me out. The newest "no doggy" zone is our TV room, guest room, babies room, guest bath, and DH's "office" which is also now gated off. I figured this would keep babies room for the most part doggy hair free and it's a good idea to have a dog free guest area as well since chances are your guests don't want to deal with that either. The dogs still go everywhere else and have plenty of room. We sweep, swiffer, and vaccuum at least a few times a week and don't have too big of a problem.

GL! :-)

Damn, how big is your house? If we banned the dogs from all of those rooms, they'd be allowed in the dining room, our bedroom, some bathrooms and their bedroom! And we have over 2500 sq ft.

whitneyriley · January 2010

I'm right there with you!! My husband and I argue all the time about whether to shave our lab or not. He doesn't understand that it makes a huge difference in the amount of shedding when she is shaved, but he thinks she looks stupid with short hair. Our entire house has hard wood floors and it looks like I never vacuum. Shaving her really does cut down on the shedding. Good luck!!!

Alicebean · January 2010

Any of those "Anti Shedding" shampoos are a scam so stay away from those. I bathe my dogs once every two weeks with an HERBAL shampoo. The whole "bathe your dogs too much and it will dry them out" is a myth and is only true if you use just any shampoo. I recommend Earthbath or Cloudstar Buddy Wash. They are completely natural and won't dry them out.

The furminator is awesome but, yea, the price is pretty intimidating. Try amazon.com. They are sometimes cheaper than wholesale on there. Take the plunge and buy it, you won't regret it.

Also, a good quality diet will give them a softer coat with less shedding. Make sure the food your feeding doesn't have any by-products, corn or soy products. California Natural is a great food formulated for skin & coat. Has a lot of great oils in it. There are also supplements for skin & coat but if you're feeding a good quality diet in the first place, you usually won't need them.

And keep up with the swiffering or use a regular vacuum for hard floors(just easier than sweeping). They will never completely stop shedding but these steps will greatly reduce it. GL!

ETA: comb them when they're in the bath. Gets a lot of the hair out. I know the thought of bathing them almost week is intimidating but once you start making it routine its not that bad.

sabrinafair · January 2010

angiek941:
No help here, but an idea. When the baby starts to crawl, tape swiffers to it's legs. That should help!

LOL I like this idea!

renfred · January 2010

sabrinafair:
angiek941:
No help here, but an idea. When the baby starts to crawl, tape swiffers to it's legs. That should help!

LOL I like this idea!

I laughed when I read this.

laumholl · January 2010

My sister has a black lab and golden retriever...and of course hardwood floors. She was going crazy sweeping and dust mopping, but she just keeps them groomed (hair cut) and brushes them a lot.

jolibebe · January 2010

I feel your pain. We have a Golden Retriever, Himalayan and Main Coone cats...all long haired. I vacuum once a week and run around every other day to pick up the balls of hair from our dog with a hand vac. We tried the furminator and I wasn't that impressed. Our groomer showed us that a good rake/deshedding tool is what she prefers and it does a much better job at pulling undercoat hair out than the furminator. Plus, it's cheaper!

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Those with dogs and hardwood floors, please help...

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