Love dogs, hate dog hair

Our sweet Maggie

Let me start by saying that I love my dogs and to say that we consider them a part of our family is an understatement. When we got our Rat Terrier, Pinky seven years ago I didn't worry too much about shedding and never really paid much attention to the tiny hairs that she would leave around the house. But when Maggie, our long-legged, long-haired Jack Russell arrived a year and a half later shedding definitely became an issue. All of a sudden everyone knew I had a white dog. I can remember sitting in an urgent care doctor's exam room looking like I had been run over and was feeling like I was on my last breath, when the doctor walked in and asked, "So you have a white dog?" Although I can't imagine our lives without Maggie, I can only dream about how the furniture would look without the addition of her wiry, white hair. Since getting rid of Maggie is not an option, and just down right unthinkable, living with her shedding is something we have just learned to accept.
Brushing her regularly does help, although I must admit that she doesn't get brushed as often as she'd probably like. And brushing her only seems to be a good idea until I have to clean out her brush. One tug on the hair-filled bristles and the loose hair goes flying everywhere, filling the air with her hair. Well so much for helping with reducing the amount of hair around here. But on this particular quest to reduce the amount of hair Maggie leaves in her wake I discovered a secret weapon in my laundry room... dryer sheets!

After I brush Maggie, I grab a dryer sheet and cover the bristles of her brush with it, then give it a tug. Instead of the loose hair flying all around, it clings to the dryer sheet. This works for both used and unused dryer sheets. So if you're looking for a way to reuse all of those dryer sheets, give it a try!

All you need is a dryer sheet and the brush

Wrap the dryer sheet around the brush and tug on the bristles.
The hair will cling to the dryer sheet.