To want to live in a fur free home?

[Yulia989]

Background: Three years ago me and my partner got together. He has a dog. THere was no question of the dog leaving despite my allergy, but I didn't mind as I could deal with it with antihistamine, as long as the dog was kept downstairs and off the furniture. A year ago we had our son and moved to a different house. Recently the amount of fur shed by the dog is ridiculous. We've got a dyson pet hoover, but even hoovering every day, within hours the floor is covered in fur again. The fur gets everywhere - on the furniture, the kitchen counters, the beds - just from being moved around. With our son crawling this is causing me real upset, as every time I pick him up he's covered in fur, and I'm ashamed to say that sometimes it makes me not want to pick him up because of my allergies and the hygiene issue. I'm afraid to bring it up with my partner because last time it turned into a big row over the dog leaving my car covered in fur and me "acting like the dog is a burden". I just want to live in a clean, fur-free home, and have my son play on the floor and come up without fur all over him. AIBU?

You don't simply get rid of or put an animal down purely due to incontinence. You weigh up it's quality of life, attitude, appetite, any other health issues and how it reacts to these incontinence periods.

There's also treatment options which is an avenue to go down.

Where did you get the stat from that it's one of the most common reasons btw I'm interested in the other reasons.

Furminators are brilliant. But you sound very rude.

Also lets not pretend OP was going to do it for the benefit of the animal, she just can't wait to get shut thus the 'get rid' (note not put to sleep)

It's a pity they won't stand there and let us Hoover them really.

My childhood spaniel loved being vacuumed. He used to come up to be hoovered when he heard the sound of it.

VeryBitchy (name suits you by the way)

people who are allergic notice fur a lot more than those who are not.

I am allergic. Going on my own experience alone, the amount of fur is somewhat relevant. But I fully accept that may vary from person to person.

I am sure she's not making it up just to annoy her partner and garner sympathy on Mumsnet.

Never suggested for a moment she was.

it's a Jack Russell. A little thing. It will take five mins to brush. OP can't do it as is allergic, husband can as no-one is THAT busy.

puzzled why it isn't that simple. OP and partner are parents, surely this trivial non-problem can be sorted with 30 secs of adult discussion?

or is it that partner is going to go ballistic about it?

but no, OP, you don't get to decide who posts.

"I'm wondering just how much fur a totey wee JR/corgi cross can possibly shed??"

Judging from my in-laws' Jack Russell, enough to make another couple of dogs! If you've got a dog that sheds, then they need regular brushing and stripping, particularly when they're moulting. Changing their diet can also increase/decrease shedding. If the dog is getting bald spots, then it needs a visit to the vet to see if it's suffering from any illness or allergies.

Failing that...

www.k9topcoat.com/product.asp?specific=jnnproo4

The amount of fur may be relevant to each individual allergic person, yes, but is not relevant to advising the OP here- she has said it is too much for her and that's all that matters. What you said was obviously a PA dig at her, suggesting she was overreacting, and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

Your DH needs to clear up after his dog properly, or it needs to live outside.

Wow, seriously?

No. Your partner needs to brush his dog, and if that doesn't help matters then perhaps you need to discuss limiting where the dog goes; setting part of the house aside to be dog-free so your son can play there without getting 'covered' in fur, but that also includes accepting that the dog will be in other parts of the house. None of this is something the dog ought to be punished for.

What if the dog started going to toilet in the kitchen? Would I have to just accept it because I know he had a dog when we moved in together?

Yes. Plainly and simply, yes. Not that this is the current problem, but it's something that could happen to any pet for any number of reasons. Part of owning an animal is looking after it and dealing with any associated issues. Anyone who has toilet-trained a puppy whilst also having young children will have worked out how best to keep their house clean and safe. I have had many a morning of waking up and mopping the kitchen floor where my young dog has not managed to hold his wee over night. It is part of owning a dog, just as changing nappies is part of having a child.

The amount of fur may be relevant to each individual allergic person, yes, but is not relevant to advising the OP here- she has said it is too much for her and that's all that matters. What you said was obviously a PA dig at her, suggesting she was overreacting, and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

Except I was not attempting to advise OP. I was responding to OP's description of fur "everywhere", "covered in fur" etc, etc. I was imagining an English sheepdog from the description until I saw it was a JR/corgi cross.

Genuinely very curious about the level of shed because I would have thought a JR/corgi type would shed very little.

I do however think the amount of fur shed is relevant to formulating advice, for me, at least.

Why has this thread kicked off?

Christ, i love my dogs to space and back but i HATE their fecking fur everywhere! I could also see me posting "i just want to live in a fur free house" sometimes - but obviously not as much as i want to live in a dog filled house

The OP hasn't said anything against the dog, just asked what she can do about the fur. My DP is cat allergic, we cant have cats so we don't have one, but if I had one before him, then we would have had to make a plan. Fortunately anti-histamines are enough for the OP to be able to live with the dog.

Advice for the OP (if the poor thing is still listening, this thread is like the school playground on a bad day).

1. Get your DP to brush the dog
2. Keep on top of fleas as often allergies are towards flea dirt rather than the actual dogs fur (not always but sometimes).
3. Get a hoover with a HEPA filter, preferably one with bags like a henry (i believe the hepa version is called george but i could be wrong).

One of my JRTs sheds more than the other - and believe me, i could make a new dog every few days. Having an allergy is bloody grim, I am allergic to horses and it got to the point where i had to give up riding which was really sad. I sympathise OP

But the OP already told you about the level of shed. You asked again, on a PA way, because you did not believe her. You're doing it again with your quotation marks on "everywhere" etc! Do you genuinely not see how this is accusing her of lying?

As far as I am aware, it is not the fur that causes the allergy, it is the dander.

Either way the dog needs regular grooming and bathing.

You should get it professionally done every now and again and your DP (the dog's owner) should make time as often as necessary. Done frequently it won't take so long.

He can also help with the vacuuming.

That's correct Nanny0gg (experienced allergic here). However the dander sticks to to fur and so lots of fur about the place usually means lots of dander too.

But the OP already told you about the level of shed. You asked again, on a PA way, because you did not believe her. You're doing it again with your quotation marks on "everywhere" etc! Do you genuinely not see how this is accusing her of lying?

There are quotation marks on "everywhere" because it's a quote from her. That tends to be what people do when they quote the OP.

Asking for confirmation of something does not amount to accusation of lying. She might yet come and say, "yes JRs do indeed shed up a storm you wouldn't believe", and I'd have to take her word for it, since I've never had one.

But slight exaggeration by posters is not entirely unheard of either, and it wouldn't be entirely beyond the bounds of possiblity OP might come back and say, "yes, I over egged the cake on that, it just feels like it."

Regular hair cuts - our two dogs go for a hair cut etc every 8 weeks-ish. It's definitely worth the investment. It's tacked onto a visit to doggy day care. They look so smart and I am much less stressed by the hair. We have a 'runner carpet' up the centre of the stairs, and the hairs that start to gather in the corners of each stair in between the weekly vacuum are my 'barometer' for when they need to go back to the groomers again. Life is too short to be clearing up hair all the time.

YABU op if you think the dog should go. You moved in with someone with a dog, you knew this would be an issue.
However he needs to be brushing it, or limiting where it goes in the house. I wouldn't put it outside, it's cruel for a lone animal that's always been a housepet.

Well this escalated...

Robot Hoover?

I think if you own a dog and live with someone then it is common curtesy to try and minimise the hair from shedding. The OPs DP should just brush the damn dog and vacuum daily. I agree with pp who said pets are a burden. My cats are a burden, they shed, they leave muddy footprints on the kitchen table, one of them does not stfu for a second. I clean up after them and vacuum daily (got a robot), I don't just pretend that having a hairy floor and baby is totes fine and to suggest otherwise is a terrible denial of the human-animal bond.

one of my cats shit in my dryer and I turned it on with clothes in it...the smell dear god the smell...
anyway still got the cat ...
just saying...

wowis... yikes!

Yabu about the dog - you seem to want a fur-free house -assume you mean the dog has to go (or live in the shed or something).

Yabu to call a dyson a hoover. It isn't.

Its spring so he's probably having his big spring shed, plus both those breeds are heavy shedders.
Brush the dog twice a day with a comb, then a rubber mitt, then a damp cloth.

I couldnt live with someone who barely tolerated Dog, and this is why.

Spring?

It's the depth of bloody winter here!