It's taken me years to capture the essence of what I do. But here it is: I live in dog hair. Not by choice, really. If I could hire a live-in housekeeper, I could live relatively dog-hair-free. But I'm a dog trainer. I'm not rich. Ergo, I live with a lot of dog hair.
Until now, it's really embarrased me. I didn't want people to think I was dirty, or unclean. [And I'm not! Ok?!] But my house always has dog hair floating. It just does. And unless I sweep 3x a day, that's the way it's going to be.
So I'm embracing it. The dog hair. 2012 shall be proclamed "The Year of Dog Hair." One of my business goals has been to do a lot more dog training videos. I didn't do many videos last year because the house was always a mess with the dog hair everywhere.
It was like a whole big deal to get a video shoot ready.
- Block the dogs out of the room I wanted to shoot in.
- Wipe down the furniture (we've gone to all leather, as it's super dog-friendly and easy to keep clean) so all the hair on the furniture's now on the floor.
- Move the furniture so there's enough room to train.
- Freak out at all the hair-bunnies under said furniture.
- Sweep the entire room.
- Fill two sweeper-thingies full of dog hair.
- Prep the room for training (props needed, etc.)
- Finally film.
By that time, I was either late for a private client or I was exhausted. Hence, not so many videos from me in 2011.
Stay tuned. You'll see more videos from me in 2012. And a lot of dog hair. Look past it and focus the fantastic training that's going on. ;)
Looking forward to the videos!
I’m thinking of trying out some of my own, but….well, I only have one dog, who has considerably less hair, but it doesn’t mean my housekeeping is good regardless!
Love me, love my dog hair 😉
Thanks for posting this about the dog hair! I am embarrassed by all the dog hair in my house too! It’s kept me from photography assignments for classes I have been taking so I understand the video problem all too well! I’m working on ways to try to keep the dog hair to a minimum this coming year. I have a lab and another dog with longer hair that needs daily brushing which I have trouble keeping up with. I would love to read about some solutions for keeping up with dog hair: brushing and house cleaning. Also I need some ideas for muddy paws–we’ve had a lot of rain lately and my dog with the longer hair gets mud balls between his nails/toes? sometimes not to mention the mud gets tracked through the kitchen if I don’t catch him as he comes inside. HELP! Any ideas? What’s your routine?
There’s a great book called More Work for Mother that argues that standards of cleanliness have risen as we’ve gotten more “labor saving” devices. In the days before vacuum cleaners, no one would assume your rugs or floors would be free of dust or hair.
I think a video with dog hair tumbleweeds would be great. If more people knew what they were getting into before bringing a dog (or more likely, a puppy) home, we’d have fewer dogs turned into shelters when they don’t live up to unrealistic standards.
Love it: love me, love my dog hair! It’s a great motto!
Ha! I don’t have a routine, which I think is the problem. 😉
We took up all our carpets (two bedrooms still have carpet, but they’re now an office and just a spare room — our bedroom is hardwood). That alone has been a big help. I don’t stress now when the dogs come in with muddy feet. We have 4 dogs, so that’s 16 muddy paws! Yikes! Now that it’s just hardwood and tile, I know how easy it is to sweep and mop — and how much cleaner it is than when we had carpet.
I did buy two washable rugs from Plow and Hearth — something like DirtCatcher or MudCatcher or something like that? They’re terrific. I’ve had them for at least 3 years now. I do need new ones — Ike, our last service pup made very decorative edges on them for us when he was but a baby.
I think I like that book, Pamela! I like that book a lot! 🙂
I got a new camera for Christmas (just regular picture-taking camera), but I think I’m going to be able to take some good up-close-and-personal pictures of the dog hair. I might actually start a regular column on the blog with those artsy dog-hair pictures! 😉 Not to mention all the other junk that gets dragged into the house by the dogs.
Just the other day, Baby Caysun was “trophying” through the house with a huge feather from a crow. As if she’d been the one to pluck it. Ha-the crow probably could have carried her away if he’d wanted. It was very cute, nonetheless, to watch her trophy through the house, showing all the other (unimpressed) dogs with her find.
Can’t wait to see the dog hair pix.
Dog hair should be a badge of honor. It’s a sign that we’re spending our time doing more interesting things than cleaning. 🙂
Mommy always complains about the hair being everywhere! Clothes etc! I’ve told her many a times, “who cares, i’m clean!”
We’re awash in Bella tumbleweeds here too. I need to learn how to stop worrying and love the hair. I’m signing up for the Year of Dog Hair! 🙂
I love this idea! I think it will help so many people and their dogs because it will be real life stuff, not staged, and if you’ve got a dog that you want to spend your life with, they come with the hair, drool, muddy paw prints, stuff dragged in, and a whole lot of sweet fun! Thanks for doing this, Laurie!