Video summary
The video features Ali Smith, an experienced pet trainer and owner of the company Remarkable, who joins to discuss strategies for managing pet hair and accidents in the home. With over 1,000 dogs trained under her belt, Ali emphasizes that effective cleaning depends heavily on understanding the specific coat type of a dog's breed. She explains that double-coated breeds like German Shepherds, Huskies, and Golden Retrievers are designed to withstand outdoor elements and naturally shed dirt along with their fur, often resulting in more mess during seasonal changes. In contrast, hair-based coats such as those of Yorkshire Terriers or Labradoodles require different grooming approaches, while short-coated breeds like Greyhounds have distinct needs that must be addressed separately.
To manage these varying coat types effectively, Ali recommends using specialized tools tailored to specific fur textures rather than relying on a single method for all situations. For double-coated dogs and fluffy breeds, she suggests using a rubber curry comb to remove long guard hairs and a buttercomb brush to gently lift undercoat close to the skin without stressing the animal. She also highlights the utility of a pet teaser brush, which is excellent for removing loose fur from dense coats. Additionally, she notes that vacuum cleaners with specific features, such as the Shark Lift Away or an RBA model, perform better on different hair types, with slick-coated hound hairs often requiring a vacuum optimized for fine, slippery fur.
Seasonal shedding presents a significant challenge, particularly during spring and autumn when temperatures fluctuate between hot and cold, triggering heavy shedding in double-coated dogs. Ali advises homeowners to anticipate these peak shedding periods and schedule extra cleaning time to address the increased volume of hair, which can easily get under carpets and stick to various surfaces. This timing also coincides with cobweb season, making it an ideal opportunity for deep cleaning sessions that tackle both pet hair and other seasonal intruders like spiders and bugs trying to enter or exit the home as weather patterns shift.
Finally, Ali stresses the importance of making grooming a manageable and positive part of a regular routine rather than a daunting task. She suggests breaking down grooming sessions into small, realistic goals, such as brushing just one leg or a specific body part each day, to keep dogs comfortable and prevent stress. By spreading the workload over the week, owners can maintain cleaner homes with less effort while ensuring their pets enjoy the process. This balanced approach not only helps control pet hair but also strengthens the bond between the owner and their animal, making home maintenance a more rewarding experience for everyone involved.
Read the full video transcript
sometimes pets have accidents and
sometimes they leave a mess behind and
the owners are embarrassed and the dogs
are embarrassed and then what do you do
so I was really excited when I found Ali
Smith today and that she was going to be
able to come on our show and the reason
I was excited is because she has trained
over
1,00 dogs so she used to be a pet sitter
and then she moved into being a pet
trainer and she's got one of the best
dog blogs that is up and running right
now now and so she's got a wealth of
information for us and she's the owner
of a company called remarkable isn't
that a cool name so please help me
welcome Ali Smith to our show how are
you today you're good thank you very
much for having me I'm really like
excited to get the opportunity to talk
to your audience because I think you
know we all love our animals and we want
the bested for them well aside from
talking about cleaning up messes and
things can we talk about fur for a
minute because many dogs have lots of
fur one of the questions get asked a lot
from both homeowners and professional
house cleaners is how on Earth are we
supposed to clean up all the fur and it
seems like there are times of the year
when dogs even shed more fur than other
times of the year can you tell us a
little bit about that and how we're
supposed to manage that so this one's
going to really be down to you knowing a
client and knowing their dogs
essentially because different dog breeds
have different styles of coats so your
Yorkshire terer coat is not the same as
your beagle's coat which is not the same
as your German Shepherd's coat or your
Huskies coat or any of those so there's
double coated breeds which is your
German Shepherd your husky your Labrador
your golden retriever and they're the
breeds that you will not see really go
to the groomer that often because
they're meant to be your wear and tear
dogs they're meant to go out into the
bush or out into the wild whatever
you're doing and come back and they will
shed the dirt naturally as they shed
their fur or anything like that those
dogs tend to be a bit grubbier to live
with just because of that fact then
you've got your hair based coats like
your Yorkshire Terrier your West
Highland Terrier your most labradoodles
and poles and beish On free all those
and then you've got your short coat
slick coated dogs like Greyhounds your
most hound breeds basically and they all
require like different grooming
practices so for your slick coated dogs
something like a rubber Curry com it's
not paid product placement at all this
is literally just stuff that I use with
mine this is a Kong Zoom Groom and it's
basically just a rubber curry comb like
you'd use on a horse really good for
short fur and really good for guard
hairs so if you've got a German Shepherd
as well that will take out the long
guard hairs the fluffier stuff the
undercoat on your double coated dogs you
want something like that which is a
buttercomb that'll also work really well
for your Doodles and your poodles and
your all your hair based breeds because
it's designed to go in close to the skin
and lift do it gently please don't
stress your dogs out too much the other
one that's really great for fluffy coats
is something like that which is just a
pet teaser and it's the same one that
humans use it's just been redesigned
with a few little cute dog designs on
the back exact same but it works really
well as you can see for the fluffy coats
which I literally was using this a
little while ago because I decided it
probably was best to come on this stream
with my dog def floof so yeah the tools
you use are really important and you
know then your haired breeds probably go
to the groomer more often too so they're
probably going to create less floof and
then certain tools will pick up certain
hair types better so like my Shark Lift
Away again there is no pay product
placement here please don't think that
but that for me works really well on my
German Shepherd's hair but my RBA is
really really good at getting up the
Hound hairs which are a slip coat so
yeah it just depends and sometimes it is
like tinkering with the formula as to
what works where so you know in a house
that's like mine where you've got a mix
of coats you're going to want a mix of
approaches but if you know that you're
going into a home who's got fre huskys
and you walk in there and you know that
they're shedding book in more time
because it will get under the ciphers it
will stick on all the surfaces it will
do all of that and I think if you
actually say to the homeowner hey I know
the season change is coming up do you
want to keep me posted about fur levels
I will just book in an extra hour if
that's okay and make sure that I can go
through it thoroughly because most of us
dog parents don't like the flu that our
dogs put out and we all kind of
understand that you know they do do that
seasonal shed so the seasonality with
your double coated dogs again your
German Shepherd your laidor your huskys
Etc they will shed on the switch between
hot and cold and cold and hot so spring
and Autumn tend to be like your Peak
Seasons
forer so we are like right in one right
now house cleaning side of that at the
time the animals are shedding that's
also cobweb season so the spiders will
try to come in when the seasons change
from hot to cold and cold to hot okay so
that's a really good time to book in a
deep cleaning where you're going to need
some extra time for the shedding of the
animals and then also for cobwebs and
then other things which lots of other
bugs will then try to either come in out
of the cold or get out because it's too
hot or something like that can you speak
to us for a second about how frequently
you might coma dog with those special
brushes that you showed us so I tend to
do once a week but again it depends so
your lab Doodles and things all of those
sorts of coats you're going to want to
do almost daily but you might just do
like a
leg every day it can be leg well it can
be really stressful on the dogs because
most dogs don't like being groomed right
they they don't really enjoy it so if
you sort of set a realistic like
achievement and it's not you know okay
you've now got a stand and still f for
the next hour whilst I comb you to
Oblivion it can feel much more realistic
for you and dogs so you can actually
make the process more rewarding part of
your normal schedule and if you just do
like their back leg this day they're
back that day their stomach this day you
fill out the week and then that way
they're only getting like 10 15 minutes
of actual grooming so it just makes it a
little bit easier on the dog but you
know the more you groom them and the
more you get out of them particularly
like on the season changes the easier is
going to be to keep it clean this has
been really highly interesting thank you
so much Ally for joining us today for
having this conversation I want to thank
all of you guys that joined us and have
all of your comments here if there's
anything we missed because we do have
some here about anxiety and what happens
with your dog we will answer those
questions for everybody that's watching
the replay and also for those of you
that joined us that we didn't get your
questions answer thanks again for today
until we meet again oh my gosh this is
awesome leave the world a cleaner place
than when you found it thanks very much
for having me