Pet Peeves – How to Win the Fight Against Dirt as a Pet Owner

Updated on October 22, 2019

Pets! They’re our little shadows, our second blankets, our sources of comfort whenever we may need it. We couldn’t imagine life without them. But any veteran pet owner will know all too well that our little furkids come with bucket-loads of exactly that: fur. Even urine, excrement, and occasionally loose foam from half-wrecked couch cushions. If you’re looking to finally conquer the onslaught of dirt brought in by their fluffy little paws, look no further!

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Easy cleaning

The first and foremost step is to make sure you’re vacuuming thoroughly and consistently, specifically with a pet vacuum. Pet vacuum cleaners by Bissell are a prime example of what to look for when buying a vac for your furrier/hairier messes. What sets pet vacs aside from regular vacuum cleaners are the added emphasis on dust and fur collection, ensuring that the cleaned messes are not only easy to suck up, but also easy to remove from the cleaner once its compartment has been filled.

Features like multiple-sized heads for hard-to-reach spaces, long bristles for carpets, and hair spooling, tangle-free brushes, can make cleaning up after pets so much easier than you could have thought possible. Simply using the correct cleaning equipment can make a world of difference when it comes to controlling animal hair.

Weather

It’s a known fact that pets can do wonders for our physical and emotional wellbeing, and that going for a stroll, a hike, or a run with your pet can also provide a fantastic addition to your daily routine. But when you’re going out with your pet, you’ll need to be aware of the impact that the weather conditions will have on your pet and later, your home. In the winter months, you’ll need to keep your pets indoors and minimise time spent out in the cold and wet.

Similarly, in summer you have a responsibility to make sure that pets with longer coats are groomed or clipped regularly to stave off any potential in-door shedding. Slicker brushes are always recommended for long-haired cats, as they mimic the natural combing spikes on their tongues. Deshedding brushes for dogs with thicker coats are also handy year-round, especially considering Australia’s unpredictable weather.

Compartmentalise

Like housetraining your puppy, compartmentalising your home environment into pet-friendly and ‘zero animal’ zones, can help you easily get ahead of the dirt and dust. And most pets, like cats and dogs, prefer smaller spaces as well as having rules and boundaries that they’ll need to respect in their living space. Like cats will instinctively use litter boxes, and dogs can learn to go to their beds on command, you can easily train your pets to steer clear of any area of the house that you may not want them to enter, as well as establish areas specifically for your pets.

Boundary training is as easy as placing a string in doorways and rewarding your dog for staying on the string’s other side as you step into the ‘zero animal’ zone. And if you want to keep your cats out of a specific area, well it’s even simpler: decrease that area’s available nooks and crannies. Invest in some stair-shaped bookcases, cat towers in various sizes and shapes, and a healthy amount of those indiscriminate cardboard boxes that are ultimately always going to go more appreciated than even the swankiest of cat toys. Create an environment outside of this ‘zero animal’ zone where your cats can hide and climb to their heart’s content.

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And there you have it: a home that is far less likely to be coated in fur from head to toe. Follow these handy tips and you’ll not only find yourself with a happier domestic menagerie, but you’ll also be enjoying a dust and dirt-free abode in next to no time at all.

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