Depending on your budget, have a look at Miele. They have excellent quality canisters in smaller sizes. Not cheap, but well worth the money. I got mine after burning out two good-quality uprights in a year (multiple cats and two large dogs). five years later, it's working like a charm.

Even if that's out of your price range, go for a canister style because it doesn't create pet fur "plugs" like the uprights (especially the "whirlwind" bagless kind) that stress out the motor.

I am a huge fan of canister vacuum. I moved into my house about 4 years ago and bought 4 vacuums in 3 years and last year, i gave up and bought Miele Neptune canister vacuum. It was the best thing i did for myself. LOVE IT. IT's pricy but it's suppose to last forever. My other vacuums either died or stopped working efficiently after awhile but my Miele is stilll going strong. It's so light too. I loved it so much I bought my mom another one a few months ago. Trust me, it will be the best investment you will make.

We have the dyson canister and absolutely love it. It's much easier to move around with (i find) than an upright. We have a dog and this thing DESTROYS dog fur. It's incredible - it's like I have brand new flooring each time I vacuum. Their warrantees are really great too - we bought one that was refurbished by dyson for hundreds of dollars less than a new one and it still carries a two year warrantee on it.
Everything curls up quite nicely for storage.
I also find these much better for getting under furniture than uprights.
Good luck!!
- agata.

I have the dyson ball upright and Im very happy with it. I have a tri colored dog and a brown fabric sofa and it gets the fur no problem. Its stood up to a bit of a beating too, I tend to be in a hurry when Im vacuuming and have knocked it around a couple of times :/ Plus, it comes apart very easily to rinse the canister, wash the filter, and clean out the brushbar and so on (when you have time to do all that).

I imagine a canister would be nice for when you want to just vacuum your dusty furniture and do drapes and baseboards and things. With the upright I have to take out the hose and kind of drag the whole upright around which can be kind of awkward.

LOVE my Miele canister vacuum. You can't go wrong with any of their models and they come in a variety of price points for your needs. They have a 30 year guarantee so it's worth spending a bit more money.

if you're on a budget, i love the Eureka Boss, Pet Lover's model. it's got height adjustments for different carpets, you can turn the spinning brush off for bare floors, and it has a hose attachment with its own spinning brush to remove fur from pillows and cushions. i have two cats and have had the vacuum for about 2 years—it has held up great. cons are: it's heavy (about 40-50 lbs), and it's a bit bulky and clunky. but it's also only about $150.

What about the Roomba that's designed for pet hair?

we have a kenmore canister vac that we adore. it has a pet hair attachment for furniture that works wonders. we have 2 rescue mixes that shed like crazy! plus the price is a bit more economical and sears has a great fix/replace program should anything ever go wrong with it.

I had no idea canister vacs were better for pet hair! My upright Dyson "pet hair" vac always gets clogged with balls of hair (I have one small cat, but she's a prolific shedder).

I recently purchased the Dyson DC25 Animal upright vacuum for my small apartment. It does a great job with pet hair, gets under furniture well, and - most important, because space is at a premium - it has a smaller footprint than their comparable canister vac.

I have had the eureka mighty mite for about 7 years now and I love it... lightweight, lots of power, small so it stores easily.

I think I paid somewhere around 50-60 bucks for it and it is going strong 7 years later.

I'd go with the Dyson. If budget is a concern, I purchased a floor model DC-17 (the model before the ball) from a showroom in CA on ebay for much less than retail (I think around $150 incl S&H). It looks great, has several attachments and it works perfectly. I have two Pugs at home and if you've never had Pugs, they shed year round! I've heard that the special pet model of the Dyson is not very good, although they may have made changes to improve it since I last heard.

Hope that helps!

Shopvac makes a line of household vacuums now. I have one and love it. Not only does it do a nice job, but I can use it for the occasional wet work. I don't have sufficient reaason to buy a full blown shopvac to just live in the garage most of the time, but having the option to suck up the occasional spillage is great.

Electrolux are excellent- build quality is so good that it makes a really strong vacuum as there's no air escaping anywhere. Also they're made of a slightly pliable plastic which doesn't break easily (unlike other brands, e.g. Miele) and have softer pipes which don't break but bend.
Can recommend completely- great for allergy sufferers with the HEPA filter.
Also the Silencio model which I have is so quiet I can listen to music whilst vacuuming- a bit of House music makes Housekeeping more bearable.

The smaller Dyson Ball DC24 is excellent. I've frequently declared my love of this vacuum on AT, facebook, and to anyone who ever asks about a vacuum. It is more compact than a regular upright because the handle collapses down. All told, it takes up about one square foot of space, two and a half feet tall. And don't even think about questioning its power - this thing is awesome! It sucks up all the hair from my double coated, super shedding pup, plus all of the dust from my brick wall. It's awesome!!

I actually recently switched from a canister to an upright. The canister just wouldn't clean as well.

I went with the cheap Bissell and I find it cleans very well. It cleaned even better than the expensive Sebo I borrowed from a friend. And it's only 12 inches wide, so it takes up less space and still can get under and around things easily.

For hair comparisons: I have 2 longhair cats, a dog, and my own hair is down to the small of my back (making me the worst shedder of all.)

We've had the same Miele for over 10 years now -- through 2 apartments, 1 house, 1 dog and 2 children. It was one our best investments. The only upgrade was that we went from an air-powered brush to electric. Love it!

Thank you for the comments! I didn't know the uprights had pet hair struggles either?! This might push me over to the canister! I am a little concerned about the bag expense, but at the same time, love the idea of not dealing with the dust and allergens with a canister. I should have included a picture of the "dust bunnies" my Aussie produces.... its not just hair, her undercoat comes out in 3d. The dust bunnies are often the size of guinea pigs- AND I vacuum at least once a week.

I do have a Roomba. It helps with maintaining the house, but I still need to do full vacuums. AND the batteries have consistently failed in less than a year.

I looked at the Dysons- The plastic seems cheap. People either rave or one star them because of the cost and the cheap plastic. Anyone had this experience or do they just appear cheap?

Miele seem pretty solid. But can range pretty high in $$. I do like the idea of a 30 yr warranty! Anyone recommend a mid-range priced Miele that they love? I will have to go try the Miele out this weekend!!

Can anyone weigh in on an Electrolux? I have been eyeing the Oxygen: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11596984&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|90608|4716|90773&N=4047968&Mo=2&pos=0&No=0&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=90773&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC40044-Cat4716&topnav=
from Costco with its killer return policy I couldn't really go wrong. I like that it has a hepa filter and separate motor in vacuum head.

I am definitely leaning towards a canister.

I've also got a Kenmore canister vacuum. It's kinda heavy, which can make it a pain in houses with stairs, but I really like the fact that it has a HEPA filter, and all the attachments that come with it are very useful. We have a mix of rugs, wood floors, and various other surfaces (shelves, drapes, etc) and it cleans all of those effectively.

Kenmores rank well in consumer reports! I think Sears carry Miele as well as Kenmore.... I'll have to try out both this weekend!

I have central sucking now, but I used to have a Dyson Animal (the purple one) which I loved and adored! At that time I had two cats and 2 bunnies, and believe me, shedding with rabbits can be exciting! (I never had plugs, I never even heard of that problem... Vacuuming up HAY caused the hose to jam up, but anyone silly enough to try that deserves it! Including me!) I preferred emptying the "tank" to having to track down the correct vacuum bags -- my older discontinued vac need some that were almost impossible to find.

I'm thinking of getting the Dyson canister just for backup and smaller jobs, like cleaning the cars etc.

I just bought a new Electrolux canister vacuum - the "green" one (more because the price was right rather than the recycled plastics used in the casing) but it is really nice. I love bagged ones, I don't understand why the bagless ones are so popular because they are a huge mess. Well worth the cost of some cheaply-acquired-online bags. I actually use an upright on my carpets and rugs, but my little canister vacuum is totally awesome for my hard floors. And I'm sure it would be great for carpets as well if I had the powered head attachment.

Dyson City all the way!
http://www.dyson.com/store/product.asp?product=DC26-CFIRSB
I live in a 565 sq ft condo and have a long-haired cat. This small, lightweighted vacuum is sturdy and really efficient. The HEPA filter is also an important feature.

I love our Kenmore canister vacuum. I bought it because of its high rating on Consumer Reports. There were several highly-rated Kenmore models when we were buying ours; I just bought the highest-rated one that was within our budget.

Though we don't have a pet, the attachment that's for pet hair on upholstery is indeed awesome, as someone else mentioned.

I just bought a Miele Neptune and I LOVE it! We have 2 cats. Our floors are wood with a few low pile area rugs, and wood stairs. The canister is light, easy to maneuver. And this baby SUCKS! In a totally positive way, of course...

We splurged on a Miele which does a fantastic job with cat hair, and can cope with both hardwood and area rugs, but it is not a space-saver, storage-wise, in a tight space. Because the hose sections that attach the cannister to the attachments are hard (rather than pliable hose that some cannisters have), it is tall and takes up as much storage space as the average upright.

Got the basic Dyson 4 years ago and it is going strong, picking up the Jack Russell hair. If I had it to do over I would spring for the "Animal" model. I think it is worth every penny. I have only heard raves about the Meile but they were not available locally.

favabean, we put a little hook on the storage so we can hang the hose. It was a perfect solution for us.

The answer is Miele. I love my Gemini.

I have a refurbished Miele with a powered brush. It breaks down pretty small because you can separate the canister from the hose and brush, so the whole thing goes on a shelf in my pantry. Love it (and I never thought I'd say that about a vacuum).

Go for the Dyson! Awesome with pet hair! You'd be amazed! Bed Bath & Beyond let me use a 20% off coupon for my purchase. Try that!

COnsumer reports did an evaluation that said "Dyson is a waste of $400" when you can buy their #1 rated upright at $140. The Eureka Boss line with Hepa, edging feature, hose with multi and turbo brush attachment, is the line to buy. it has a 12amp motor, light, handle will release to flat for under beds, sofas...lightweight and cleans as well as the Dyson in all their tests. I just bought the newest version at Walmart in Dedham, for $69 on sale! This is why America is great for shopping, what a deal. haha @ everyone who blew 400+ on a Dyson.

We have 2 dogs, an Aussie Cattle dog and a Beagle mix and they shed quite a bit. We purchased the dyson animal canister (dc23 i think) and have been extremely pleased. The attachments are well designed and the hard floor brush works amazingly well (my biggest gripe about uprights).

The only downside to the dyson i found is it doesn't 'store' as well as an upright would.

miele is amazing. I used to replace vacuums regularly as I killed them constantly with my long hair (I'm a shedder). My miele's lasted me many years already and still works as new. Completely worth the investment imo.

I went with the Miele Titan!
After some serious research. I went to go try it out with no intention of actually purchasing - I found a discounted returned Miele - that had all its parts, hepa not even opened at $180 off! I was thrilled! There was a little debris on the brush and the bag needs replacing, but I ran it when I got home and cleaned MUCH better than any vacuum I have ever used! I was staring at my carpets in the sun this morning... I don't think they have been that clean since I got them.... I will have to come back and give a 6 month review.