My fashion philosophy is, if you’re not covered in dog hair, your life is empty.
-Elayne Boosler
Dogs always have and always will shed- you will never eliminate dog hair 100% but you can try to control it! After a lifetime of pet parenthood and many years of walking all kinds of hairy dogs, I’ve become quite the expert on pet hair removal. I am constantly removing hair from my staple black leggings, microfiber couch and the cloth seats of my car so I needed to find products to make my life easier.
Preventive
Regular Grooming
Professional grooming is a good way to keep shedding at a minimum and to avoid a mess at home. Letting a professional remove all the old excess hair and give a thorough bath routinely will significantly help. Between grooming visits I highly recommend investing in a great brush and using it weekly. Brushing regularly removes excess and loose fur and redistributes your dog’s skin oils into its fur, helping it stay in place. I prefer the Furminator; they make them for both long and short coats.
Furminator
Good Quality Food
Feeding a nutritious, healthy diet that supports your dog’s skin and coat can reduce unnecessary shedding, flaking, and skin allergies. You will want to look for a high quality ingredient food; avoid meat by-products, gluten’s, and corn meals. Look for food with main ingredients containing proteins, omega fatty acids (salmon, tuna, etc) fruits and oatmeal’s. I have a very finicky Shepherd (read: allergic to EVERYTHING) and the only food I can use is Fromm. Fromm has high quality ingredients and offers rotational feeding; a variety of different proteins that you can rotate between without hurting your dogs belly. Also rotational feeding discourages boredom with food too!
Address Possible Medical Issues
If you groom your dog frequently and there still seems to be an excessive amount of shedding, there may be an underlying physical problem. If you find your dog is losing their fur as opposed to shedding this is an indication there’s an underlying health issue. There are a variety of reasons your dog could be losing their fur; allergies, hormones, stress, and or skin allergies. If you think your dog is losing vs shedding their fur then I recommend consulting your vet asap.
Cover Everything
One way to control dog hair is to cover areas that your dog uses most frequently. I have “Moose Covers” (my dogs name is Moose) literally all over my house and you bet they are all machine washable.
Sofa Shield
I should probably buy stock in this company because I own about 6 of these. They are extremely durable, machine washable and come in a variety of nice colors (reversible too!) and sizes. They also have a strap to keep the cover in place–most do not have these and I promise you it makes a difference! The only downfall is it is not waterproof but what human is letting a wet dog on their couch?
Training Bonus: My dog is allowed on one part of the couch and he has learned that where ever these covers are he can be on it; they are considered his “place” when I have guests over. A product that covers my couch and is a training tool? TAKE MY MONEY.
URPOWER
There are tons of car seat covers out there and I have bought a couple different brands (for my personal use and business; Pet Taxi) but I always buy a hammock style seat cover. I buy a hammock style mainly because it not only saves my seats but my floors from hair and mud. Currently, I am using the URPOWER and love it! It is waterproof, does not slip, has seat anchors (this is a must for me), seat belt holes, and my new must have: side flaps (saves my doors from nails and slobber)! The one downfall it is not machine washable but with that said the material is extremely easy to wipe down and vacuum.
** I have not used the dog seat belts– mine did not come with it a year ago!
If your looking for a good seat belt check out my blog about Traveling With Dogs.
Remove All Carpeting (If Possible)
Yes, this is dramatic. However, if you have hardwood under your fur infested carpet then rip it out! I moved into an older house and they covered ALL the wood floors with a crème colored carpet (I have a black dog…) the first couple months were awful; hair everywhere and my family’s allergies were out of control. I thought we had mold and was freaking out (we did not have mold, phew). One Sunday, I decided to pull up a corner of my carpet and WOO there was beautiful hardwood floors, JACKPOT. We literally tore out all the carpet and my nasal cavity loves me again. Controlling the tumbleweeds are a breeze with non-carpeted floors.
Removal
During shedding season, it’s easy for pet fur to get out of hand regardless of how many preventative measures you put in place. To help get you through the worst of it, here are my go to products for fur removal.
Chom Chom Roller
This is my all time favorite product to remove hair from couches, beds, dog beds, rugs and cloth car seats in a hurry. 
FURemover Broom
My second go to product is the FURemover Broom Squeegee. I was a bit hesitant to buy this but now i could not live without it; the FURemover is a must in my hair removal arsenal. (Full Disclosure it is advertised for grooming tool too- I do not use it for that). I use this mainly for my hardwood floors and getting under my furniture; it is so much better than a regular broom. The rubber bristles literally grasp everything from hair to dirt that blends into the floor. For those of you who have carpet this thing is like a magnet and pulls up some nasty fur balls and is a good workout. Bonus: I used this to clean my windows last summer.
Maintenance
Vacuum Often
This is obvious. Vacuuming is the best way to remove hair off any floor quickly. There are literally hundreds of vacuums out there to choose from and it may be easy to just pick the vacuum that says “pet hair removal”. However! I have used plenty of vacuums throughout my dog walking career and have found some of the best vacuums are NOT advertised to the pet owner, WHAT! Fear not, I have put together some of my favorites below.
Shark Navigator Stick
This is the most budget friendly hair sucker out there. I love the Shark Navigator- I personally have been using this for two years now; I have hard wood floors, tile and carpet. The best thing about the Shark is it’s cordless, charges quickly (battery is a dock on the floor and I leave it charging 24/7), has an easy empty large canister, and you can clean the filter in the sink and let it dry. Not sure if you are supposed to clean the filter or buy new ones but mine has not broke yet..YOLO.
(UPDATE: I just realized they are advertising this to pet owners now…)
Shark Navigator Professional
If you have not noticed by now I am a Shark snob. Moving on, I have a client with three long haired cats and two labs who uses the Navigator Professional. When I would pet sit for them I loved vacuuming because this thing is a BEAST and comes with tons of attachments. I have never used the pet power brush because the main sucker was good enough for me. If I had more carpet I would own one of these, no doubt.
Keep Human & Dog Bedding Clean
Washing your bedding and dogs bed frequently will help keep fur to a minimum. If your dog sleeps with you then I recommend investing in the Pawsse Waterproof Blanket to put over your comforter. The cover is easier to throw in the wash more often. In between washes I recommend busting out your Chom Chom to do a quick fur pick up off your pillows and blankets. As for dog beds I recommend purchasing a bed that has a removable liner that is machine washable. I have found a couple durable dog beds that I love listed below.
Coolaroo Pet Bed
Dog hair LOVES to stick to a good fuzzy fabric, if you want to avoid this then I recommend the Coolaroo Pet Bed. I have a ton of clients who love the elevated pet bed for their dogs and my shepherd sleeps on one every night. Although these are not machine washable they are easy to vacuum and wipe clean. Bonus: This is a great product for hairy pups who get overly heated!
Bonus #2: The Roomba is thin enough to vacuum under this bed!
Change Air Filters Frequently
Regularly changing your air filter if you have pets is a must! For heavily shedding dogs, you might even want to change filters more often than the company recommends. There are tons of air filters out there for your HVAC system, do your research or ask a professional. My HVAC guy recommended Aprilair filters for dog hair and dander. They are a bit pricey but they seem to keep dust and dander at a minimum.
