Best Vacuums for Long-haired shedders

606 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Lillith, Jan 19, 2022

Jenrodin

Discussion Starter · Jan 18, 2022

Hey, all,

We have 2 Australian Shepherds, and have had Aussies for almost 2 decades. So, we are no strangers to crazy shedding! Last year, we welcomed a Red Merle to the family and have discovered that what we thought was bad shedding is NOTHING compared to what this Merle does. We're in her first true shedding season and I've already burned through 3 expensive, well-reviewed vacuums (literally, the hair melts the plastic on the vacuum brushes). This is with everyday vacuuming and cleaning the vacuum brush out every use.

Our pup doesn't have any medical issues to cause such aggressive shedding -the vet says it's typical. We brush her as often as possible, but, no matter how many attempts at desensitization, she hates it to the point of biting the brush.

What are your experiences with good vacuums? Specially for longer-haired dog families. I'd appreciate any and all suggestions. We've been through Dysons and Eurekas already.

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Toedtoes

· #2 · Jan 18, 2022

The best vacuum I ever had was a kenmore professional grade back in the 80-90s. It was heavier than most vacuums, but have metal parts not plastic. It had enough power to pull the hair from the carpet. None of the vacuums I have had or used since or before have been able to keep up with a shedding dog - unless I vacuumed at minimum once a day.

Most people I know, including myself, have found it easier to just replace the carpet with flooring.

Inflicting pain and punishment on another creature for the purpose of control or sport is abuse - plain and simple.
“Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer
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LeoRose

· #3 · Jan 18, 2022

If you've got hard floors, then a ShopVac is the best option. If you've got carpet, I haven't a clue, since I refuse to live with carpeting, and ripping it out was the first thing we did after buying our house.

As far as keeping ahead of the shedding, I use a force air dryer on my GSD. I just move the grooming table to the front porch, hop her up, and blow off as much loose coat as I can.

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RonE

· #4 · Jan 18, 2022

Here's a fun bit of trivia. When I had an Irish setter, I figured her long fur would be the biggest challenge any vacuum would ever encounter. I bought a Kirby for about $450 and that was in about 1977.

Then I got a 116-pound double-coated black lab who shed like it was his one job in life.

Hardwood floors here with relatively inexpensive area rugs where needed.

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Lillith

· #5 · Jan 19, 2022

I have a 7 year old Shark Pro Lift Away (or something like that, they changed the model name a few times since I got it!). I used it in one house for ~5 years where our entire downstairs (about 850 square feet) was carpet and one bedroom upstairs was carpet, and I think it did a really great job getting the hair up (I have an Aussie/Collie mutt dog with long hair). I vacuumed around twice a week, more in shedding season! It also has a "hard floor attachment" that I love for the hard floors.

We then moved to our current house, have been here a little over two years, and after about one year we ripped out all the carpet, so now the vacuum is primary used with the hard floor attachment only and the actual bristle head only for area rugs. In the last year or so I've had to replace the main flexible hose, but it was less than $30 on Amazon, so not an expensive fix. The hard floor attachment hose piece is tore and now I can't find a replacement that fits, though. Ha. As long as you keep the filters clean, I haven't lost suction. So overall, a good vacuum. I think I'll have to end up replacing it at some point because it's getting harder to find replacement parts that fit my old model!

You also might try a Roomba or robot vacuum. I bought the Roomba that will empty itself, so once the bin is full it goes and empties and then continues to clean. It's really taken care of a lot of those dust bunnies and grit that accumulates between vacuuming. Definitely not a full replacement for a powerful full sized vacuum, but I get so annoyed when I feel like my floors are dirty that it was worth the investment for me. I now only have to do a deep clean vacuuming once a week, and I really only do the spots the Roomba has trouble reaching or along the baseboards.

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