How to Vacuum Your Dog

Meet Jerry...

He's a miniature labraspoodle, he's a year old and he's a lot furrier than he used to be.

In saying that, he's certainly not as shaggy as some dogs and he's definitely not as big as most of them. However, he still gets a bit knotty in places and as for his ears... well, just look them. Ridiculous. Cute. But ridiculous.

I'm not much into grooming. And I don't just mean the dog. Faffing around with brushes, scissors and clippers is not my style. And again, I don't just mean the dog.

Jerry gets a shower if he gets too grubby or smelly but that's about the extent of it. Although lately, his extra furriness has meant extra knots and yes, from time to time we've had to get the brush out.

Is there an easier way? Is there a more fun way? Is there a crazier way? As usual, Dyson has both asked and answered all those questions in the affirmative.

Let's not get carried away here; Dyson has not developed a whole new machine you can feed a dirty dog into and it emerges spick-and-span at the other end. Not yet, anyway. There is a new Pet Groom Tool though.

It comes in a three-piece kit; for NZ$139.00 you get the Pet Groom Tool, an extension hose and an adapter to connect it all to your compatible handheld Dyson vacuum - which means basically any stick Dyson from the V7 right through to the most recent V15 Detect.

The Pet Groom Tool is a pretty useful gadget before you even connect it to the vacuum. And that's exactly how Dyson suggests you use it at first, in order to get your medium or long-haired best friend used to the idea. You may be surprised to discover some animals won't necessarily take kindly to being vacuumed - not initially anyway - so Dyson has produced a helpful "Getting to Know You" video to walk you through some helpful tips so you don't completely freak your pet out first time you come near it with this thing.

Certainly my guy was a little nervous about the Pet Groom Tool when he first saw it. But then, he gets nervous when he sees another dog on TV and will often try to find it when it goes off screen by looking behind the telly. He's actually really smart. I swear.

Which is probably why the second time I tried brushing him with the Groom Tool, he literally rolled over onto his back so I could give his tum-tum a good going over. As I said, this still works very well by itself - the 364 angled bristles pop out as you push the back of the tool down with your thumb. They then flex to dig down deeper into your dog's coat to grab any bits and pieces and loose hairs.

By simply releasing your thumb, the bristles retract back into the head leaving behind any fur and dirt you brushed off. This is easily disposed of - even more easily disposed of once you attach your Dyson and get some suction going.

As much of a fan of the grooming tool Jerry had quickly become, he was definitely much less enamoured with the noise of the vacuum. Luckily, the extension hose stretches out to a metre or more meaning you can keep the noise of the vacuum well away from your doggo.

This does tend to become a three-handed exercise though - especially if your dog isn't prepared to just sit there motionless while you do some really weird stuff to it - so it's probably a good idea to have another person around to help keep him in place.

The results are quite brilliant. A smooth, gleaming coat in a matter of minutes. Okay, I admit Jerry is a fairly small job but still, it beats shelling out at least $70 for a professional grooming session every time he gets a bit knotted up.

Unfortunately, you can't use your Dyson to vacuum a wet dog. This shouldn't come as a surprise - Dysons aren't wet'n'dry devices and that obviously doesn't change just because you've plugged the grooming tool into it. That said, it's a bit of a shame as from what I can tell, the leading cause of knotty-dog-syndrome is taking him for a wet walk. Jerry loves nothing more than leaping through a patch of long grass - even rain-soaked long grass. Inevitably the result is a damp, matted mess - especially on his legs and belly. Ideally I'd be able to fire up the Dyson the moment we clambered in the front door, sucking up any dirt and debris and maybe drying him off at the same time. Perhaps the Dyson engineers are already working on a wet version of this kit? If so, consider this my pre-order.

For the meantime, I'll just have to wait for Jerry to dry off then put this simple and yet brilliant accessory to work. Genius Dyson design does it again; shaggy dog mystery solved.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Dyson Pet Grooming Kit.