Hair of the dog.

Anyone who has a pet will appreciate the problems of their fur getting everywhere, especially where you don’t want it.
Those of us in the 49% Club (allowing our pet to sleep on our bed) no doubt get a face full and fed up of brushing it off the bedding. Even if you supply a blanket on top of yours for your four legged friend, this is usually ignored in favour of your pillow, duvet, or even your head.

Maggie never used to moult, in fact she never seemed to get a Winter coat until we moved to Lincolnshire in 2007 and had snow in April 2008. Since then, she hasn’t stopped.
Hubby or I can brush her and get handfuls of soft down out, then she stands up, shakes herself and we have a mini ‘black snowstorm’ of fur and are right back where we started.

Years ago, we purchased a Magic Clothes Brush for the princely sum of £1. It was brilliant for picking up the fur, and by either rotating the head with the lever or brushing the other way, the offending hairs would come off en masse.
The handle broke a few months before we moved out of the house, and the replacement we purchased shortly after buying the boat was too shallow, the ‘pick up’ bit being lower than the surrounding plastic head in which it was set.
I saw some Magic Brushes before Christmas and meant to get one, but either didn’t have my purse on me when I saw them or forgot to look next time we were shopping.
I could order one from the internet but P&P is more expensive than the actual article!

We’re all familiar with these though, and we could pick up a dual pack for just under £2.
With something like 50 metres of sticky tape/paper per roller, they would do the job, but we would be cutting off the used bit every five minutes and couldn’t see it lasting all that long with her ladyship shedding left, right and centre 24/7.

In the house, we hoovered every day, so it wasn’t so much of a problem as it is here.
We have less space but the same dog, so fur accumulates in thicker layers throughout the boat, and although our little dustpan and brush does the job of cleaning the floor every day, getting it off the furniture has become a frustrating and never-ending chore.

Short of shaving the dog (never!) Hubby was almost at his wit’s end yesterday, and when in town, we specifically looked for a Magic Brush. It would appear that shops on the High Street don’t sell them anymore, and believe me, we went in LOADS!

An understanding shop assistant who herself has a dog and understood our dilemma, recommended a particular product and as with anything we find that works for something specific, I am passing it on.
Let me introduce you to The Gel Roller aka Stick Buddy (or similar name).
The packaging boasts it being forever sticky, and in the pack we bought, we got the dinky little baby one for a purse or pocket. Looking for an image for this post, it would appear you can have yellow, blue, red or green (like ours) depending on the distributor/brand.
OK, it’s not cheap by our standards at almost £7, but, as soon as it loses it’s stickiness being covered with fluff (or in our case dog fur), you just rinse it in lukewarm water and everything falls away, with the stickiness restored!
It really works, and storage is in a nifty and tidy little plastic cylindrical container.

We will never be completely dog fur free, but this little gem (or should I say gel) is worth the money and gave Hubby several hours of pure pleasurable enjoyment as he rolled and rinsed his frustrations away (it doesn’t take a lot to make him happy) !

Advertisement