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If you noticed all the chow fuzzies in the last picture I posted, you know we have a problem keeping up with the fur (as I'm sure you all are familiar with). What kind(s) of vacuum cleaners do you recommend? We borrowed a friend's late model Dyson animal and, though it didn't "lose suction," it just stopped. My husband tried to clean it out (and with a Dyson, you have to empty the bucket every few feet it seems) with no luck, but fortunately, our friend was able to fix it. Sullivan (or her hair) broke one vacuum cleaner and the 3 of them are about to break another.
Thanks.
Debbie

Deb,
I'm so glad to hear Sullivan is having some good days!!!!
She is such a little trooper
I've been battling with vaccums for years and have gotten cheap and expensive ones and it doesn't seem like one is any better than the other to me The last one I had was a big heavy Sears canister That thing almost killed me and my back So now I have an Oreck it doesn't seem to vaccum any better than the rest but IT IS LIGHT and I have a HUGE room to vaccum and it is much better for me and my back, at least my hair isn't soaking wet when I finish Also my DH got me a roomba for Christmas last year I LOVE THAT THING!!! I vaccum really good and then roomba the rest of the week It doesn't do the really hairy days but it sure is nice when there isn't that much so it has cut my vaccuming in half

Thanks. I'm impressed, sounds like you're diligent with vacuuming! I'm lucky my husband does most of the vacuuming (though I told him I'd help if we got a Dyson, now I don't know). It kills my back to vacuum too and the Dyson was heavy -- besides breaking (and being beyond expensive). Maybe I should do this as a poll topic?
Debbie

Mine is just one of those Hoover bagless windtunnel kinds. I do have to empty the canister each time but I'm allergic to dust so I would do that anyway. The part I like about this vacuum is that it has an automatic thermal cut off switch. If it gets too hot it shuts itself off. Freaked me out the first time. You just have to unplug it and let it set for 30 minutes and it will reset itself.

Good to know. The friends we borrowed the Dyson from put a plastic shopping bag over their canister every time they dump it to prevent dust flying. (One more reuse for them besides picking up doggie dirt.
Thanks.
Debbie

I just vacumed today and changed the bag 1st. It took me a good 1/2 hr to pull all of the hair out of the tubes 1st.

Alan is good and vacums a fair amount and just uses the shop vac to get a lot of hair up.

Just another reason to own Chows!!!!!

Sharon

Glad to know you have luck and team work on the vacuuming. We did a project about hair in my class last year and I brought in a big plastic bag just of Sullivan's hair after I'd brushed her for the kids to guess what it was (no luck). Then we brought in all three dogs. Sullivan loves attention so she was in her element. Gilbert and Charlie would have rather been anywhere else.

PS -- I read an article last year about saving dog hair to make into clothing -- sort of creepy, but we could make a fortune if we could sell it.

pfordeb wrote:PS -- I read an article last year about saving dog hair to make into clothing -- sort of creepy, but we could make a fortune if we could sell it.

Actually, someone was selling Chow hair a while back on ebay, and they actually had some bids. People will spin it and make sweaters and stuff out of it.

On a slightly different note, this auction item seemed appropriate for this topic.
http://cgi.ebay.com/CHOW-CHOW-BLACK-DOG ... dZViewItem

I have 3 vacuums, the hoover windtunnel works okay or best on the floors / furniture for us. Truly I am so glad mostly I have tile and hard wood floors and a good ole fashioned broom. The good thing about chow hair is it is in clumps. The husky and cats it just sheds as they walk in this fine mist constantly. The pug it sticks to whatever she lays on.

I used a kenmore canister and absolutely love it, I would never use another kind, I used to have uprights, and they do not clean well IMO. My canister can do bare floors and carpet, furniture, baseboards, inside the dryer vent. I replace the bag about everyother week but I have 2 kids and 6 dogs, I vaccum at least once a day the entire main floor. Mine has an indicator light to tell you when the vaccum bag is full. I replace the hepa filter occasionsly but the bags filter out most stuff anyway and they are cheap. Sears and others often have them on ebay.

David

LOL David, the one I had was a hugh man sized monster I finally have figured out that I'm not good with hoses and cords, by the time I finish I'm completely tied up in all that stuff. Yesterday I was tied up in the water hose and cords of the pressure washer. One day I'm gonna just have to wait until my DH gets home to set me free

I have a $75 cheapie (Bissel). My Eureka finally gave up the ghost last winter. I think the most important thing no matter your brand, is keep the filters clean, the bag or container empty, and the brushes and belts fur-free.

Wow. Thanks for everyones' advice. I should have posted this as a poll -- maybe I still will. It's interesting to see how everyone deals with this problem.

I LOVED the chow fur sales on ebay, Sylvia. I may get one of those signs.

Maybe our real problem is not vacuuming often enough. I'm sure everyones' lives are as busy as ours, maybe it's just laziness on our part? We need to replace our carpet and we're thinking tile or some sort of laminate wood? I'm probably the only person left in the world who likes carpet (I like to walk around barefoot and I like the soundproofing of carpet). But maybe I need to sacrifice comfort for practicality?

vicster605 wrote:LOL David, the one I had was a hugh man sized monster

I have one cause I am a Man sized monster , all 5'8" of me. But honestly It isn't so bad, I vaccumed daily when I had a broken ankle and was on crutches, it just took longer

See, that's why I can get my husband to vacuum, because he's 6'4" haha (though he does have those skinny legs you can see in my latest posted pictures).

Truly, I'm impressed that you even vacuumed with a broken ankle.

We do need a new vacuum, though I'm sure if we vacuumed more often (like daily) the hair wouldn't accumulate as badly and/or brushed them more often. I thought chows were only supposed to shed twice a year? Maybe it's the mix in them, but they leave major clumps everytime they lie down, walk, whatever. Our little Charlie isn't much better, but he did do a major shedding in the spring rather than every day.

Debbie,

Vacuum cleaner topic comes up from time to time. There was a long thread a while back, if you do a search on it.

As for myself, I am a huge Dyson fan. The only thing against it is the weight of it, worth every penny, tho.

Big Baby Leonora & mum

Well just a note. My husband and I have always had problems with vaccums because of my hair, even before we got the dog. We did get a dyson last year (not animal just regular) and it has worked great for us. In the last year we haven't had any problems with it. You do have to dump a lot, but other than that it works great for us.

We have 5 dogs and a cat and I have long hair.Vacuum is a Bissell,which works great if you just clean it after you're done.(I always take an extended service plan on vacuums,and lots of them were replaced for free).
Hardwood floors and tile exept for in the bedrooms.Large area rug in the livingroom,and there's hardly ever a hair on it.I swiffer every day,vacuum once a week.The poodles don't shed,the Maince Cooon sheds a bit twice a year and sofar the Chows haven't shed a lot either.Brush them every other day.They shed a bit in spring but I'm not sure if that was their puppy coat or winter coat.

Thanks everybody. While the type of vacuum seems to vary, it seems the real key is to vacuum often. I guess I should have thought of that -- haha.

Debbie

Well, my new vacuum hasn't been tested on Chow fur, but my Turkish Van cat has put it through it's paces

I burnt up the motor in my cheapy Eureka a couple months ago on all this long white cat hair everywhere. So I bought a Hoover Mach 5 bagless cyclonic one. It's supposed to rival the Dyson at about half the price. It's not light or quiet, but I am amazed at the hair that it picks up. It might be the same one that was mentioned before- with the auto shutoff if it gets too hot. I actually enjoy vacuuming with this one because it does such a fantastic job. It works well on cat hair, cat litter and potting soil (the kitten has overturned houseplants a couple of times by racing around and running into the plant stands).

And yes, I think the more often you vacuum, the easier it is on the vacuum in general.

Good luck finding the right one for you.

Dogdad wrote:

vicster605 wrote:LOL David, the one I had was a hugh man sized monster

I have one cause I am a Man sized monster , all 5'8" of me. But honestly It isn't so bad, I vaccumed daily when I had a broken ankle and was on crutches, it just took longer

WOW!! That's really impressive!! I couldn't even get around on the crutches without falling let alone vacuum!! HAHAHA..

LOL! I can totally relate it to me because I and my husband love fur babies we have a total 3 at our house, don't even try imagining how much I should clean to keep my floor fur-free. definitely one will not serve the need, we had a total of 3 vacuum cleaners at our home one is a small canister vacuum for general purposes. and another I bought three months back EUREKA Mighty Mite Bagged Pet Canister Vacuum Cleaner, 3684f-violet. also Kenmore 81614 600 Series Bagged Canister Vacuum it has special features like HEPA filtration, POP-N-GO floor brush, and Automatic cord rewind