Pet Dander Control

Pet Dander Control:  How to Minimize the Dust

Put the Kybosh on Your Pooch's Particles

We love our dogs to death.  But let's be honest, we do not love the dirt associated with them.  The tumbleweed-esque dust bunnies and dander floating in the air like fairy dust are not perks to pet owning.  The doodle breeding industry is booming due to the client base who want non-shedders  (not all doodles are shed free, although that is a subject for another time).  As a doggy boarding and daycare owner, I deal with ten times the dirt and dust in my house that normal pet owners do, and so I developed some neat tricks.

The first is change your furnace filters more often.  I see recommendations to switch them out every 1-3 months.  I do it every two weeks.  If you are environmentally conscious or just plain thrifty, you can buy a washable filter.  I have two- one I can wash while the other is in the air handler.

Here are a couple if you are online ordering aficionados:

6 STAGE ELECTROSTATIC WASHABLE PERMANENT HOME AIR FILTER Not 5 stage like others STOPS POLLEN DUST ALLERGENS LIFETIME FILTER! (20X25X1)

WEB Eco Filter Plus Adjustable Air Filter 14x20x1 up to 20x25x1

I just went to Walmart and bought the green one.  Easy peasy.

I have no carpet in my house.  I have to sanitize the floors every day, and with all the house breaking clients I have, it would not be clean or feasible to keep up carpet floors.  Carpets, however, soak up dust (yeah that's a yummy thought.  I also think they are similar to socks you never wash).  Without the carpet to soak up the dust, it is just out and about.  I wage a valiant battle against dog hair and dust every single day.  And I do it with this:

 plus this: 

The high-powered shop-vac sucks up dog hair like no one's business, and the filter pal helps it suck up fine particles like dust better.  It also increases the life of your filter, and it is washable.  Make sure to get one that fits the size of the filter for your shop-vac.

The last, and probably most important contraption I make to control pet dust is this:

Yep, that is a box fan with a furnace filter duct taped to it.  I tried all the fancy air purifiers but none were as heavy duty as this cheap little fix. I was so tired of cleaning out those expensive air filters every five minutes.  Place these in rooms in which you want to lower the dust levels, and voila.  Cheap and easy.  All you need is a 20 inch box fan, a filter to fit, and some duct tape.  When it gets dirty after a few weeks, rip it off and tape a new one on.  Like my fancy gold duct tape?

Just to dispel a common myth: there is no food, shampoo, or supplement that will cause your dog to shed less.  There are supplements, like canned salmon, fish oil, and just a good kibble that will give your dog's skin its optimum health.  When your dog's skin is healthy they produce less dust from dry skin.  Regular brushing (yes even for short coated dogs) and a bath once every two weeks will help too.  But there is no miracle cure to stop your dog from shedding, nor would you want to.  His coat turn over is a natural phenomenon.  We just have to do a bit extra to get his shedding in the right places (trash can) and not the wrong places (up your nose).

Cheers,
Sammy the Dog Trainer