Most homeowners will tell you that the largest chore in keeping a home clean is staying on top of the pet hair. It's everywhere. Furniture, walls, floors, tops of appliances — places it shouldn't be! To help you tackle the problem before you're on cleanup duty, Dyson has made a cool "sucky-brush-attachment-thing."
The idea is simple, Dyson is aiming at removing excess fur and dead skin cells before they hit your floors and favorite sofa. This attachment, which will retail for around $60 in January, brushes your pets and then has a face plate that pushes out, making the stuck hair free to suck down the vacuum hose.
It's a great idea. For those homeowners with pets that shed excessively, they know of the giant pile of fur that's left over after brushing their top or bottom coat out. Instead, Dyson skips the whole part where you have a giant icky fur ball on your sofa and makes the whole process a little more clean.
Although we like the thought behind the product, we are quite curious how many pets would actually let their homeowners vacuum them. Many animals aren't too keen on the vacuum and the ones who are probably still aren't into physically having a giant sucky thing come at them. Check out more product details over at Dyson.
Would this go over well with your pets? Are you willing to give it a try? Let us know below!
If this is too much for your pet, check out the review of the Dyson DC31 Animal over at Unplggd. It'll tackle pet hair, cat litter and more — plus it's purple!
Image: Dyson
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No way! My dogs hate the vacuum!! One runs away from it and the other barks nonstop at it (especially when we use the attachments). And most other dogs I've known also hate the vacuum. We could probably teach our dog to be okay with the vacuum, but is it really worth the effort when brushing them works fine?
My cat would claw her way out of my screen porch if I came at her with that thing. She normally glares angrily back and forth between me and the vacuum when it comes out to clean up the insane amount of fur she sheds.
I'd love to have a Dyson, though.
This would have given my old dog a heart attack. Seriously.
I modified one of the hose attachments of my upright vacuum so I could vacuum my pets. They loved it. I drilled some holes so there would be less suction than normal.
This is hilarious as my dog, like most, also HATES the vacuum and vanishes when it appears. I don't think he would like being attached with the vacuum.
My dog too would run from this canine flowbee.
Okay, if there's something that grosses me out, it's loose hair in general. Doesn't matter the species. Growing up my sister had long hair and I remember walking out of the shower, but halting as I felt that long brown strand glaring at me from the bath mat!!
Somehow, my hair brush was always better than hers, so she would leave her DNA there too!
I think my dog would be cool with this, though it would some getting used to...
But maybe they can make a brush FOR HUMANs attachment, you know?
That way we would never have to stand over a trash bin yanking away at our brushes, thinking, "Oh this is nasty. This can't all be my hair! Is that a dust-bunny?"
I would love to train my dog to use this. No sooner do we vacuum that a dust mastadon comes rollin' across the floor...
Wait - there are people who actually stay on top of the pet hair? I gave up on it a long time ago.
If I tried to use this contraption on my cats, the naughty one would claw me to death and the sweet one would never let me touch her again.
I am all for technology but really, this is the height of laziness.
No, callaloo, not laziness. Grooming pets can be messy, this might help. I doubt there is a pet owner alive who hasn't considered this concept at some time, if only as a joke. I'd love to try it on my rabbit, especially in moulting season, but my cats would drop dead from fear! (Fortunately, both are short hair cats, so not much of a problem.) Actually, the rabbit probably would stroke out, too. Oh well... more bushel baskets of hand plucked fur in my future...
I'm with it. I may be insensitive, but I can't say that I care more about whether my dog would "go for this" than I do about having a cleaner house! Besides, he has no problem eating that $40 p/bag "hypoallergenic" food or getting those $65 groomings, I see. So if I hold him for a good vacuum, he would do well to just take it!
"a good vacuuming"
I was vacuuming the furniture one day (with the upholstery attachment) and the cat would not get out of the way I reached over with the brush and quickly ran it down his back, thinking that will get him to "move on" but no, he loved it! I have vacuumed him every since. Saves on cat hair all over the house and on my clothing. Never have been able to figure out why the vacuum doesn't bother him but I am grateful. It is an easily way to keep him groomed!
I don't see how this is lazy at all. You brush them the same as you normally do, the loose hair and dirt just doesn't fly all around. We always brushed the dogs outside, but it gets cold/hot and that's a pain.
We're getting a puppy for christmas that is not supposed to be a big shedder, but I'm going to try to make him cool with the vacuum. That way, when I do finally invest in a dyson, we will be ready.
I don't see this doing too well with cats, though...at least no cats I've ever had the pleasure of knowing...
My dog loves to be brushed, but she generally tries to bite the vacuum. I am not sure how she would react to this, but I doubt she would like it.
I can see where they're going with this but my dog hates the vaccuum and won't even come near it when it's turned off. I use a Furminator comb on my dog and although I'm sure it's more time consuming than the vaccuum would be my dog doesn't run from the comb.
We used to vacuum our old cat on the "curtains" setting. She actually didn't mind.
We always used a vacuum on our bunny when he shed. It wasn't his favorite thing in the world, but he didn't run or fight to get away either. It might have helped that the vacuum had a 'quiet guard' on it so it may not have been as terrifying as the average vacuum. Before the vacuum we had used lint rollers, which worked very well, but isn't practical for anything larger than our tiny 2lb bunny.
I've vacuumed my cats for years. However, when I bought a Dyson, I had to stop because you can't change the suction on it. I think a Dyson is just WAY to powerful to vacuum a cat with.
It kind of seems like the vacuum isn't actually on while you're brushing them. The way it's described, it seems like you might just turn it on once you've brushed them, you push the button to lift it off, and then it sucks it down. Maybe that's not right though.
yeah....no.
even moving the vacuum out of the closet to re-arrange was enough to send my cats into a hissing match.
i will stick with a manual pet brush...or let them figure it out themselves =)
When I was in high school, I had to go over to a lady's house who was going to play piano accompaniment for me, to practice.
When I got there, she was vacuuming her cat. It was on a really low setting, and it seemed like the cat really liked it. I was just very surprised.
To each his own, I suppose!
Hm. I think I'd try it. The dogs are more curious about the vacuum than anything.
My dog LOVES the vacuum. I've run the vacuum over him lightly since he was a pup. I have a hard time with him getting underfoot when I vacuum because he is impatient and wants me to vacuum him first. Not sure this would convince me to buy a vacuum, but it's an interesting idea.
Perhaps it may work for some people, but my baby girl is totally afraid of the vacuum. She runs and hides whenever we get it out. Personally, I think the furminator is amazing. The dog loves it, it reduces pet hair on furniture and the floor by between 75-90% in my experience and it costs less than a Dyson plus the fancy attachment.
I've done ages ago with a golden retriever and she loved it!
I have one dog who "charges" toward the vacuum, bites it, barks like crazy and runs off. This goes on every few minutes as she musters the bravado to come charging again. The other dog barks at her as she is doing this. It's crazy!
Ha! Thsi makes me smile. My old Lab LOVED being vacuumed! Seriously could not keep her away while you were trying to clean. I would have bought this.
Where has this been all my life!?
my dad used to cut my hair with something like that. he's still cutting his with it.
Love the idea but don't think any of my pets would go for it. The vaccuum is their main villian in our home. Right now I use a furminator and vaccuum up the pile of hair it leaves behind. Same concept but a tad more work.
My cat already hates my Dyson. All I have to do is roll it out and she heads for the hills. I don't think she'd like this one any better.
My Bissell came with a brush for this exact purpose. I thought it was bizarre but it turns out my dog is super into it. He thinks vacuum time is play time, though, and brings me a tug toy whenever I turn the vacuum on. He's a strange dog.
Ha, my dog has to be taken out of the house before we can vacuum. goodluck to anyone who tries to vacuum him!
This is brilliant, but my dog won't walk anywhere near the vacuum cleaner when it's not even on. I have even tried leaving treats on top of it.
I have a 100lb German Shepherd/Chow mix that sheds like you wouldn't believe. I have a Dyson, which works wonders on my black rugs, and I can't wait to get my hands on this attachment because my dog actually really likes being vacuumed.
Our 73 lb husky loves to be vacuumed - reminds me to do it this week! Autumn shedding! There's also a furminator vacuum attachment that we're thinking of getting.
My dog probably won't stand for being vacuumed. But if you brush your pets outside, that keeps a lot of loose hair out of your house. (But with three cats and a dog, I've given up!)
It just depends on the pet. My dog doesn't mind it but she doesn't mind anything.
I have a friend with two cats. One loves the vacuum but the other hates it.
Any pet that isn't scared by the vacuum can be trained to be vacuumed quite easily with treats.
To test it out before splurging $60 on this device, try vacuum the pet with the upholstery head. If they don't mind that, then, it's probably a worthwhile investment.
Cheers
wow, that actually makes me want to buy a Dyson vacuum. My dog's fine with vacuums, and it would be awesome to suck up all that golden retriever fur with that thing and not have it fly all over me, the house or the yard as I'm brushing. I do try to run a vacuum hose over her, but with the undercoat she's got it doesn't really work. Two thumbs up, Dyson! Now, get your price down to $200 for a vacuum and I'm in. ;)
I love my furminator, and would get a vacuum attachment in a heartbeat!
Furminator, nothing beats it.
I am laughing. I can see some comedy skits coming out of this.
I second the Furminator. No scary noise and picks up tons of hair.
Ah, if only vacuum cleaners were much, much quieter. Such an attachment would sell very well. Unfortunately, until Dyson invents such a vacuum, I'll have to stick with using a standard brush.
um, yeah... if i wanted to be shredded from the elbow down!
LOL I've been doing this for years... but without an attachment! and without a DYSON! *sigh* I'd give my right arm for a Dyson though. My cat and my dog love it, but I also started them very early. It does seem to help. And the attachment would cut the job in half seeing as I vacuum the pets and then brush and then vacuum up the hair from brushing and then vacuum the floors. Also can't wait to get into a home of my own where I can rip up any carpet and put down hard flooring!
When I vacuum, my cats spend their time under the bed. They hate the vacuum. I have the pet hair attachment for after-the-fact cleaning.
We found the best pre-shedding item is the Furminator. They LOOOOOVE that. They also love to be rolled with sticky rollers.
my cat hates our dyson....i don't know if he'll even let me near him with that thing. Doesn't mean I won't try!
We've actually used a Shop Vac to "vaccum" the dog previously. She got used it eventually, so I think that this would work great! It probably would not work too well on cats givent the noise.
I'd give it a try if I had a dyson.
I agree with most comments - my dog also is terrified of the vacuum cleaner. Though with serious commitment & strategic use of treats I could probably get him to be ok with it. He's a very trainable pup.
doubt anything will beat my furminator, plus the pups are scared of the vacuum
My dog loves the vacuum... he gets really excited whenever I vacuum. He brings his tennis ball and sets it down in front of the vacuum when I have it out, wanting the vacuum to push the ball so he can go chase it.
I have vacuumed him before, and he seems to like it, but he's not enough of a shedder to spend the money on that attachment.
I'd certainly give it a try!
I need this. Whenever I vacuum, my cat stalks me until I give him a thorough cleaning with the crevice attachment. This would be even better. Apparently Bissell makes one too. How have I missed this?
my pug runs from the vacuum even when it's not on. much as i'd love for this to work on his ultra-shedding fur coat, it'd never happen
my red-heeler follows me like glue when I'm vacuuming! She begs me to run the air hose all over her fur! I have to put her in her crate just to get the vacuuming done without her attached to the vac hose (we have an in-house-vac and an Animal Dyson) I'll try the attachment out, but I'm not paying $60 for it.
My 2 cats are a whole other story.
Not a chance in the world.
The cat-in-residence would be out the catdoor like a rocket.
I've had the Lassie Groom & Vac for about 10 years. Same concept but I think I paid $12 for it. Works great!
I know some people vacuum their dogs and the dogs are fine with it. My beagle would never speak to me again if I tried to use this on him.
Brilliant! If I can get my long-haired white cat to like this, I'll be the happiest gal on earth.
i LOVE my dyson. i have the world's hairiest golden retriever and after blowing through 2 cheaper vacuums in her first year, we purchased a dyson and it has been faithful for over 5 years. i actually tried to vacuum her with the wand attachment once and it didn't do much :) but a doggy brush attachment is GENIUS. i will be buying this as soon as it arrives. the only other brush that even makes a dent in her shedding is the furminator.
Our cats used to love being vacuumed. :)
My rescued Jack Russell is afraid of a spoon dropping, let alone a vacuum. I think this thing would put her over the edge for good!
i was under the impression that you brush first... and then vacuum the hair that's on the brush
we have a dyson too, but i would never subject my kitties to such 'torture' ... plus, I would totally get clawed to death too ;) this is yet another example of how in theory, something sounds great (!) but in reality, not so much. back to the drawing board, dyson!
Noooo way would this ever work out. I have never heard of a pet being able to stand being that close to a vacuum, none the less actually let it touch them.
Our year old Shepard has no problem with vacuums (even when I bumb into him with it; he's 110 lbs and spraaaaaawls) but our lab/shepard mix only likes the shop vac when it's on blow - or a blowdryer. Given a few snacks, I'm sure he'd be convinced it's a good thing.
Our Husky/Shepherd mix lets us vac him with the attachement that now comes with the Dyson Pet Vac for stairs....and upolstery. He even seems to like it, i have often commented it would be great to have an actual pet attachement....i will look forward to it! His name is Cowboy and he is afraid of his own shadow but he will let you vac him anytime of the day!
my dog used to cry when we pulled out the vacuum!
I have a 200lb english mastiff that LOVES to be vacumed. He would love this and so would I.
He loves the suction...everytime I turn on my shop vac he blocks my path so that I will vacume him.
Dyson spends a lot on advertising, so most people thing that they are the bees knees. . .until they get one.
The scam is that they do have filters. They have filters that clog and reduce suction, even though they advertise to the contrary.
I've sole and repaired vacuum cleaners for over 25 years - trust me.
Central Vacuum Service LLC
I have a male rottweiler and I use a slicker brush that has small metal bristles and a push off attachment similar to the Dyson vacuum brush. He is fine with the brushing until it gets down his back towards his tail area. The brush makes a noise or rasp sound as it goes through his hair and since its getting closer to his hind area he gets highly agitated and will growl or snap if you continue to brush there. However when I use the vacuum on him he just sits there and I can vacuum him anywhere except when I get around his head and his ear gets sucked into the hose to far, a little of the ear going in is OK but all the way is off limits. This vacuum or attachment should work great on him since the vacuum noise doesn't bother him and the noise from the brush going through his hair would be hidden by the vacuum cleaner. Assuming that the smaller hole on the vacuum brush that sucks the hair won't allow his ear to get pulled in to far then this could be a winner for us both. And also I wouldn't have to clean up hair mats left from the brush. I know that my post is old, but this is new to me and I will see if I can purchase one somewhere and will leave another comment at a later time.
I just read another post and I had misunderstood the vacuum function. That you brush first then push the hair off just like my slicker brush and as it is being pushed off it is then sucked off by the vacuum. That should work also, I can let the vacuum keep running while I am brushing because he loves being vacuumed and it will keep him from hearing the rasp from the brush going through his hair. Can't wait to get one.
Well, I would love to try this product!!! I have two border collies that are very well trained - considering that they have to be drained of their energy every day. They love to "attack" my little vacuum like its a herd of sheep or something. Of course I chase them off and make them lay down and "stay" at which time they eventually leave the room for inability to herd the vacuum. I think they would adapt to getting groomed with this product because they are not bothered by the vacuum, they only want to chase it.
I'll give it a try!
JenTen, MD