The Easiest Pet Product Review Ever!

I’m going to be completely honest here. I have a love/hate relationship with product reviews. I love doing them when I really like a product, but I hate the inherent sense of obligation I feel to write a positive review.

As a result, I don’t do them very often, and when I do I tend to only choose those products I know and love, trust or intrigue me.

But when FURminator® contacted me about reviewing their new line of grooming products I was more than happy to say yes. Why? Because I already have one of their products, the original FURminator® deShedding tool. It was recommended to me by a friend who also has a Lab, like Daisy, who sheds a lot. I purchased one that very same day and have used it ever since.

What I didn’t know was that, in the intervening years, FURminator® had come out with a whole new line of grooming products. I also didn’t know they had an easy way for pet parents to choose the exact right tool(s) to use with their particular pet. After answering a few questions in the Tell Us About Your Dog tool, I was told that I needed the Small Firm Slicker Brush and the Small Finishing Comb.

I knew that FURminator® had recommended the right tools because Jasper and Lady’s groomer had recommended a slicker brush and comb to me when we last saw her in March.

I’m not going to go through all the grooming details, but what I can tell you is that I LOVE these tools! Even better, Jasper and Lady actually seemed okay with their grooming session for the very first time.

Under the best of circumstances, Jasper will only tolerate me grooming him for a few minutes, then he gets all nippy, especially when I do his back-end. Lady usually shakes like a leaf (even with high-value treats in hand), so I usually groom her a little bit at a time with lots of breaks in between grooming sessions. But when I used the FURminator® tools, Lady stood there patiently and stopped shaking almost immediately.  Jasper let me groom him for about 10 minutes!. Clearly, I have been using the wrong grooming tools (even though they were recommended to me by a pet store clerk).

So what made these tools different?

The Small Slicker Brush has a very unusual feature to it. The tines sit on two flexible paddles that move with the contour of a dog’s body. The first time I used it I was surprised to discover the paddles moved, but after using it on both dogs I can completely appreciate the beauty of the design. It doesn’t pull the fur, but glides through it very easily. It’s so smart!

The Small Finishing Comb did not have the sharp ends like the ones on my traditional grooming rake, and tines also have some movement to them. It helped me to get out some of the tangles I have always had a problem with in the past.

To be honest, I was amazed at the difference it made in the results too.

I could go on and on about what I like about these two products, but to me what was most important was knowing how much less stressed Jasper and Lady were throughout the process.

Writing this review was one of the easiest I have ever done. I WILL be using these grooming tools from now on.

When Shedding Runs Amuck – The Top 10 Uses for Dog Fur

I’ll admit it. I love my animals fiercely, but their dog (and cat) fur? Not so much.

Both Daisy and Jasper are shedding like crazy. Jasper looses it in clumps and Daisy loses it strand by strand (and trust me these strands tend to stick together!). At least Jasper’s clumps are darker and can blend in with my multi-colored rug (I’m just kidding…kind of). Daisy’s white fur? Not so much.

So, other than vacuuming every day, what am I to do with all this fur?

Look for a little comic relief, of course! After all, if you can’t laugh at your dog’s fur, what else have you got?

The many uses for dog fur (as found on the internet):
1. Make a dog-hair collar (Nope! I am not kidding.) – This seems almost too strange to be true, but if anyone decides to give this a try, please send me a pic. I gotta see it to believe it.
2. Use in Crafts and Projects – Exactly which projects would these be? And, can I use Elmer’s Glue with it too?
3. Dog Hair Yarn – Custom Spun (Custom Spun? I can’t imagine it any other way!) – To be honest, it actually is an interesting process based on this link.
4. Solve the Energy Crisis? - One man’s humorous thoughts on how to use dog hair. I actually could relate to his commentary – A LOT.
5. Help the Gulf Coast (via Matter of Trust) – Most of us have already seen the tweets and FB posts about the oil booms they can create using dog hair. The question is… do they really work?
6. Dog Fur Coats for humans – I don’t know whether this would be ironic or just plain weird. Anyone?
7. Dog Hair Wigs – Need I say more?
8. Fur-Fun String Bikini – I am speechless.
9. Fur-lined Bird’s Nests – Who said birds weren’t smart? I bet for them it’s like having flannel sheets!
10. Protect your garden? – I couldn’t find any gardeners who recommended it, so I’m guessing it’s one of those ideas someone made up and forgot to tell the person it was a joke. What do you think? Anyone have success at this?

And lest you get curious about uses for human hair… click here.

Feel free to add your own ideas for how to use dog fur. Perhaps I can find a use for the fur dust bunnies running across my floors yet.