My wife and I adopted Zoe first. We got a call from the local Humane Society, in a small town near Corpus Christi, Texas, that someone had dropped off a box containing 9 puppies at the gate in the early morning before it was even open.

Pet Hair Maker Zoe (The one in the photos below)

When I first saw her she was barely a foot long and I could hold her in one hand.

We went through puppyhood, and all the trials and tribulations with that and now three years later she is a full grown, happy dog.

I'll never understand why people don't spay or neuter their dogs and why so many puppies are born unwanted but I'm glad I have Zoe. As she grew she did not hardly shed at all, but as an adult dog, around one year old, she began to shed quite heavily.

 

Some times of the year were worse than others. In spring she would shed her winter coat and my wife and I would constantly be sweeping up dog hair around the house. Luckily we had tile floors throughout the house and sweeping was fairly easy.

Pet Hair Maker Ranger

A few months later my wife saw an ad on the Gulf Coast Rescue web site for a dog named Radar, a Welsh Corgy - German Shepherd mix.

We adopted Radar and Radar became Ranger. Radar had been severely abused by men, and had been adopted out seven times and returned seven times because he could not cope. At first Ranger would run and hide in the closet when anyone other than my wife would come in the house, including me. With his tail between his legs most of the time and sad eyes he was afraid of everything and everyone. With lots of love and positive reinforcement he has, three years later, turned out to be a loving, well balanced dog. While he does regress some times when there are loud noises or strangers in the house, for the most part he is a million light years away from the dog we adopted in terms of happiness. Ranger too sheds, quite a lot. A month after we adopted him another one showed up at our front door, so to speak.

Pet Hair Producer Lulu

Late one night Zoe and Ranger started barking at something outside in the yard. My wife shone a flashlight outside and then called to me, in bed, that a coyote was in the yard. I went out to investigate and the coyote turned out to be a tall, lanky puppy. She immediately came to me, hungry, cold and looking for a kind hand. We learned later that she was the offspring of a blue heeler female and a greyhound dad. What a mix! The only option for her, other than us keeping her, was euthanasia since the small town's animal control facility was full up and the Humane Society could not hold any more dogs.

One Big Happy Hairless Family

      One Big Pile of Hair From Zoe

Now, three years later all three dogs are happy, spoiled family members. We solved our pet hair problem with a very good brush called the "Furminator". For all three we use the medium blade. We also bought a Roomba for pet hair that works fairly well. The Roomba does have to be cleaned (the brushes have to have dog hair removed quite often). The best solution is regular brushing. In the summer that means twice a week, and the rest of the year every two weeks for our dogs.

Now with a regular brushing, once a week during most of the year, and twice a week during heavy shedding time in the spring and early summer, we hardly have any dog hair inside the house anymore. There are other deshedding combs that work well besides the Furminator. Just make sure that it has fine surgical steel tines.

Good nutrition is also a big factor in reducing hair loss and keeping pet hair out of the house. If you can afford it, feed your dog a high quality food that is not made from by products and give them omega oil supplements to help them grow a stronger, more healthy coat.