Last week Brody descended into that category known as “ripe”. You know, when you go to pet your dog, then your hand comes up in a cloud of dog essence and you have to use your foot to keep him off the bed because you don’t want that stank hanging around. That kind of ripe.
The timing worked well since I had a couple of items I’ve been waiting to try out for just such a stinky occasion: Dog shampoo from the Molly Mutt Clean line, and the new Dyson Groom vacuum grooming attachment.
Wash by Molly Mutt
First, Brody got lathered up with the sample of Wash I received from Molly Mutt, who you might know better as the maker of the eco-friendly Stuff Sack duvet that’s forever on my ‘Favorite Things’ lists.
The Clean line is free of parabens, synthetic fragrances, and sulfates, all things that are highly unnecessary when you have a sensitive dog and you don’t want to strip off all the oil in their skin.
The Wash had a nice herbal scent (rosemary and peppermint). I hate the smell of synthetic fragrances- my own laundry detergents are scented with natural oils or nothing at all- so this was welcome to my nose.
It also doesn’t come out of the bottle super concentrated like a lot of dog shampoos. I dislike those “do your own dilution” because it comes out of the bottle thick as syrup and makes it really hard to spread over the dog. The Wash was the perfect consistency right out of the bottle.
Brody dried very gently fragranced, shiny, and clean. And ready for round two with- DA DA DUMMMM….the Dyson Groom! I was ridiculously excited about getting to try this out.
Dyson Groom
I’ve been singing the praises of Dyson vacuums for a decade now, after watching in wonder how efficiently it managed to eliminate the house tumbleweed population.
When I saw Dyson came out with a grooming attachment, I actually squealed out loud with glee. I never do that over household cleaning items. Dyson was kind enough to send me a Groom attachment for review, which I wasted no time in putting to work.
The Groom attaches with an easy snap like all Dyson attachments. The Groom itself is a slicker brush, which recedes under a cover when you’re not holding the button down. So you vaccum the dog to pull all the hair up, lift your finger, and whoosh- it gets sucked into the vacuum. No more having to scrape the detritus out of the brush, picking up the leftovers from the floor, etc.
Because I’m impatient, I didn’t spend any time getting Brody acclimated to the sound of the vacuum or the feel of the device. I just plopped him in my lap with a rawhide and had at it. As you can see, he was severely traumatized:
(In case you skip the video for fear of seeing a traumatized dog baying in fear of the almighty vacuum, the trauma remark was 100% facetious.)
Koa enjoyed it too, though for obvious reasons Apollo got a pass on this one. It was so nice to not have to spend 15 minutes after brushing cleaning up the floor! It’s my new favorite toy.
Great for: Long and medium haired dogs, mellow dogs, people who hate brushing up hair
Use with caution on: Nervous dogs, dogs scared of the vacuum, dogs with sensitive skin (the bristles are metal).
Use only if suicidal on: Cats, lions, significant others, that itchy spot on your back
Available at the Dyson Groom website.
Great stuff!! I might might have to buy a Dyson just to get the dog groomer!!
WANT!!! (Although neither of my dogs really likes to be brushed, this will make at least the cleaning-up part easier on Mommy…)
I think my dog would love that Dyson groom attachment! He’s in utter bliss when I blow dry and comb him after a bath.
I haz Dyson envy!
I saw that attachment a month or so ago and thought it looked interesting. Now that I’ve seen it in actual use, I think I’m going to get one. Clyde is a lab, so he doesn’t have long hair, but he does shed. And a plus for me is the fact that he’s not at all afraid of the vacuum. Thanks, Dr. V, for showing how easy this is and how well it works! 🙂
LOL – “use only if suicidal on”
Plinko is definitely the one who needs this instrument but she would absolutely not hesitate to chifonade us if we even attempted it. What a cool device!
Does the vacuum need to be on the whole time or just to clear the hair from the brush?
I supposed you could try it without the vacuum on, though it probably wouldn’t pull the hair or dander up as well. It would be a good way to start with a nervous dog.
I also now have Dyson envy. Sadly, it’d be a hard sell for DH, as we have mostly solid surface floors in our place. Alas.
I actually had a cat once that loved to be vacuumed. We had one of those internal vacuum systems, so the motor wasn’t right next to him–it was just the gentle sucking feeling. Hilarious!
Our house is 85% hardwood and tile. Still love it. The hair piles there just as much as on the rug!
Was the Dyson on during this? I saw hair jump off the tool, but my Dyson makes much more noise? Would love to try that but it would take years to train my two Welsh Terriers to like the vacuum (I’ve been trying to do just that). They go into attack mode when I get the vacuum out, let alone turn it on. It’s just easier to put them outside, or doggy daycare, so I can vacuum!
It was on, and it was loud (as all the Dysons are.) I actually had the audio off and did a voiceover to avoid that. If your dogs are that anti-vacuum, yep, they would have a hard time with this tool.
wish i could use it but the moment the vacuum cleaner (even turned off) makes an appearance, my dog goes into major panic mode. go brody! you are the doggie model for all vacuumphobes! 🙂
What a great idea! Leave it to Dyson–I love my Dyson vacuum but don’t have a need for the groom attachment with my Cornish Rex and Sphynx…so no worries about being chiffonaded here!
Wish there was one for cats and nervous puppys!
Hi Dr V,
Will that shampoo work on me? So far the only thing that works is Sulfodene Medicated green shampoo.
Gee my Human would like that attachment but her vacuum hose attaches to the wall and all the dirt gets collected in a dispenser in the garage. 🙁
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
OMG this looks like the best thing ever. I have long said there should be a flo-bee for doggies. This is the closest thing yet!
Sounds cool! Glad Brody is smelling better!