Pet hair

holley79 wrote: Dh and I have always had our "furkids". They have ruled the roost and pretty much ruled our lives. They don't belong to us we belong to them kind of thing. I have always vacuumed my house and swept the floors but not really gave much thought to the dog hair in the house. It really hasn't ever bothered me.

WELL that has all changed. I am ready to get rid of the dogs and that's not fair because they depend on us to care for them. The dog hair has been about to drive me batty. I vacuum twice a day now and sweep all the time. I'm ready to yank all the carpet out of the house and have it tiled. (Not that we can afford that but wishful thinking.)

All day today I have just fretted about the animal hair. I was putting together her changing table and dresser and was going out of my mind. As soon as her crib is together I'm having a carpet cleaner come in and clean all the carpets. Then I am banning all dogs from Annika's room. I keep her room and my room doors closed so they can't go in there and roll around and stuff. Peanut use to sleep with me but now he's been banned to a pet bed. Gypsy thinks we are the worst people in the world right now because she can't just go into whatever room she wants to. I catch myself freaking out over one little dog hair on Annika's blanket when we are in the living room or if one gets on her outfit.

Did anyone else go through this? What did you do, short of getting rid of the pets?

Thanks for listening to my freak out session.

C&K*s Mommie replied: you guys are bad parents! J/K

We had a Boston Terrier, similiar to the one in my siggy. He was short hairedso we never had a big problem, really. I am no help there.

But it is understandable that you do not like to have pet hairs on your babies clothes, I would be upset too whenever I found Taison laying on some of the clean clothes of ours. <<~~ I am bad about taking clothes out of the dryer only to leave them on the couch for days, halfway folded but not put away.

It would be interesting to read what other people have done in a similiar case to you, when they had pets with hair that sheds. That way if we ever get a long haired dog, I would know what to do.

My3LilMonkeys replied: We have 2 cats and a dog so there is always pet hair everywhere! It doesn't really bother me though, I grew up in a house with 4 dogs so I've lived with it my whole life. I just try to vacuum real good so that Madison can't find it and eat it. I'm pretty laid back about this sort of thing though.

holley79 replied:
I grew up with pets also and it never bothered me. My clothes were always full of horse or dog hair. Just depended what time of day it was. LOL. Maybe I'll settle down in a couple of weeks. I think right now my biggest problem is the "I want to do everything right" mentality.

mom21kid2dogs replied: Holley, you are cracking me up! There is no right or wrong way to do this mommy thing, as you'll come to realize in a few more months!! Motherhood is just insanely overwhelming in the first few months or so! I hear you about the hair, especially with your big dog (isn't she a lab or a GSD?), being everywhere! I used to wet and dry mop all the downstairs floors everyday when Bailey was alive. Tile & hardwood are not easier~it's just easier to see the hair on it. Think of how crazy that would make you!!

I would caution you to maybe change as little else as possible with the dogs and not alienate them from Annika. Although it's very important for the "furkids" to get that they are not on a higher plane than the human kids, you really don't want to set up a pattern of rejection/alienation. If paying attention to the furkids (or cleaning up after them) is too overwhelming why not ask your husband to assume some of that. Stephen became the cheif dog walker for the first year of O's life until I felt I could reassume that part of things. It really helped alot.

Your doing fine and pet fur or not, so will Annika!! It's just a big adjustment for everyone!!

MomToMany replied: I grew up with lots of pets in the house. Didn't bother me then, but it sure does now! Especially since we have a brand new house. I won't have ANY pets in the house that could potentially shed. Pet hair drives me nuts, and the smell a house gets from pets is too much for me. I don't spend much time at my mom's; she has about 12 Chihuahuas and 3 cats in the house. And DH wants to get Hannah a little dog like that since she loves them so much, but I said NO. She can get a bigger dog for outside in the spring.

Funny how things change you once you become a mother .

LilaGrace'sMom replied: I can relate! We have 3 large dogs...1 Great Dane and 2 German Shepherds. Add 2 cats in there and you can see how much pet hair we have to deal with.

We will never get rid of the dogs or place them outside. They are our family and since we adopted them before our wonderful surprise present came along (our DD), it's not our pets fault so we will just have to work hard to maintain. It's not a big deal for me. I would rather maintain then not have them around.


Daily brushing with what is called a "rake" works wonders to cut down the amount of hair. The more you do it, the less time it takes. I brush both Shepherds only about 2 minutes each now. Our Dane I dont worry about too much b/c he is 9 years old and hardly moves from his couch these days. I have to keep in my mind that there are certain times of year they shed much more than others, so if I can keep my sanity during the ultra shedding times Ill be okay.

Good luck. I think in time you will be less worried about it.

luvmykids replied: We have a shitzu with really long hair who doesn't shed and a lab with really short hair who does. They stay outside a lot during the day, which helps a little, not only with hair but dirt, but mainly I just try to keep them away from beds and laundry. We feel like they're just as much a part of the family as the kids so I guess I expect some mess out of the whole bunch.

kimberley replied: yes life changes drastically for furbabies when we have kids. my poor cat was banished from the bedrooms for a long time. thankfully i had hardwoods so the fur was easier to contain. only downside to my story is that i later found out my beloved kitty was the cause of my son's horrible eczema and asthma. had i tested him younger or had a clue, i would have parted with her years before she passed. plus the kids tortured her in their toddler years

MyLuvBugs replied: I think it's just a phase. I remember feeling that way about the cats when we brought Lorelei home, but after awhile.....I gave up and realized that the hair isn't that big of a deal. Be happy that the pets aren't barfing on the baby stuff.

~Roo'sMama~ replied: Oooh I feel your pain. And I only have one dog. A word to the wise - getting rid of your carpet won't help... I have all hardwood floors and the hair still drives me batty. It gathers in clumps and is generally scattered everywhere. I just recently got an area rug for my living room that I have to vacuum every day - and we're bad too and let the dog on the couch and our bed so that's fun.

I don't like having to pick dog hair off of Andrew or pry it out of his hands throughout the day, but I guess it's not going to kill him. I'm just thankful we only have the one dog now because the other one we use to have had lots of white hair that she shed everywhere.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
That reminds me - my dog barfed all over my new rug this morning - I almost blew a gasket. And then I felt bad because I yelled at him, and it wasn't his fault, poor puppy.

A&A'smommy replied: we have a little dog he doesn't shed that much he just makes the house stink DRIVES me crazy!!

jcc64 replied: FWIW- I recently heard about a study that concluded that kids who grow up in houses with animals have stronger immune allergic systems than kids who don't. At various times, we have had up to 4 cats and 2 dogs (as well as a guinea pig). Now we're down to 2 dogs and 1 cat. I used to have a sitter who was NOT an animal person and she relentlessly harassed me about dog hair coming into contact with my baby. Needless to say, she's no longer employed here.
I know you're a new mom, and just trying to figure things out. But it's good to remember that there is no perfect, right way to do things, and you cannot raise your child in a hermetically sealed, completely risk free world. A little pet hair never killed anyone. Unless your child starts to exhibit signs of animal allergy, I wouldn't freak yourself out. How many kids have been raised in homes with pets???? Do you think their parents were able to eliminate every hair off of every surface 24/7? NOT!
Go give your doggies a kiss and chill. It'll be fine.

Oscar replied: [FONT=Optima][SIZE=7][COLOR=red]

Ok I can totally relate, on top of the eight people now living under one roof, there are also 5 dogs and 2 cats and if I had my way they'd be gone!
Oscar

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:

I completely agree with this statement! We have one dog who is a shedder but not to the point where it gets in large clumps everywhere, nor does he smell up the house (I am of course immune to the smell from living here, but a friend just told me this the other day. She told me that it doesn't even seem like I have a dog in my house.) Owen isn't allowed on beds and rarely does he go in Wil's room. I vaccuum maybe twice a week. At first I was like you, I couldn't handle even one dog hair touching Wil, but as gross as it may sound to some people, you get used to it. And my little guy is doing fine! Wil and the dog roll around on the floor together and play and I think it's good to let him explore and enjoy time with his pet like we do. Wil's face did break out from dog saliva when he was an infant, so I would watch that, but unless you really want to get rid of the dogs, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

fashionmumofboys replied: We don't have any pets at our house, but my parents have a little toy poodle cute little thing. He doesn't really shed, only if his hair gets a little long. I really didn't have any problems with the shedding at my mom's house.

holley79 replied:

We grew up with pets in the house also and we did survive. I think a lot of it is that I am up WAY too much and sit pondering this stuff. Peanut is a short haired diabetic fox terrier. He doesn't shed too much. Gypsy on the other hand is a shorted haired black lab that sheds on everything she touches. I have been vacuuming her. She has skin allergies and likes to be vacuumed. I have been trying to be more mommy to everyone today. I think I have neglected my furkids and don't want them resenting Annika in their last years. They are both old and deserve better then how I have been acting. They are both in the computer room with me right now and Annika is asleep on my lap.

Thank you all for the encouragement to not making me feel like the freaked out person that I have been.

CantWait replied: We have had a golden lab for the past 4 years, so a little longer then we've had Anthony. I'm constantly cleaning up after him, but he's my best friend and would do anything for us. I started before Anthony was born with banning him from the furniture, not that he always listens now. I think if you start banning the dogs now, they're likely to get jealous and possibly lash out at the baby.

As much as I hate cleaning up after the dog constantly, I love him to much to give him away. Once Anthony started walking, I started to clean a little less. I didn't fret to much over a some fur on the blankets, or on clothes..I just tried to make sure that clumps of fur were cleaned up.

luvmykids replied: Funny the stuff you find to ponder during those sleepless baby nights!

I love the idea of vacuuming your lab, we have a yellow one and his hair seems to show on everything.

WelcomesBabies replied: My Grandkids are allergic to all pet dander so we had to find homes for our beloved pets. But I used to really cut down on the hair loss (especially when they started shedding their heavier winter coats) with a lint brush; the tape on a roll kind. I would lint roll them and they loved it. I would get so much hair off them it really helped decrease the hair in the house. They were happier and so were we!

holley79 replied:
I will have to remember that. Thank you for that little tip.

TANNER'S MOM replied: Well I have a small house dog who sheds very little..but when she does I can't stand it. She goes thru phases, getting her winter coat and at spring time. She spends alot of time outside durning those times.

I bath her almost daily when she is shedding alot. I also talked to the vet and we feed her a food that is really good for coats. It makes them shiney and less shedding. I am one of those people who really doesn't like pet hair. I would die if someone sat on my furniture and got up with pet hair. So I do pay more for her food.

Good Luck..and get your one of those brushes that when you pet them.it also combs them.

Mel