Ah, spring, when a dog owner’s thoughts lightly turn to dog hair. It may not be officially spring, but the dogs think it’s time to get rid of their winter undercoat. Gael, especially, grows a very dense coat and it’s hard to get it all out. Regular brushing becomes a necessity if I don’t want dust bunnies to turn into dust mastodons.

Currently, our grooming table is permanently set up in our laundry room. It’s a tight fit, and the table needs to be shifted every time I want something from the freezer, but it’s still easier than putting the table up and down. At one time I did just put a non-skid mat on top of the clothes dryer and put the dogs on that, but the dogs like the table better and so, the table it is.

Corgis aren’t hard to groom, and aren’t prone to mats, so if I keep brushing, the dust bunnies are kept in check. If you have a dog with a thick coat and it gets away from you, especially if mats start to form, make an appointment with a groomer sooner rather than later. A groomer will get rid of all that hair and your dog will look and feel better.

One year I read that birds loved to gather shed dog hair and use it to line their nests. The idea appealed to me. Rather than waste all that nice, soft fur, I’d contribute it to nature. Help the itchy dogs; help the wild birds. The idea was to put the fur in little clumps in the branches of trees or bushes.

At that time, our fenced yard contained no trees or bushes to festoon with fur but this didn’t deter me. I thought the fur would just waft away, eventually catching in shrubs and making itself available to the birds. I set up my grooming table in the back yard, and starting brushing.

I kept really huge clumps of fur on the table for later disposal, but the lighter wisps blew away quickly. The breeze was fresh, the sun was warm, and there was lots of hair. I brushed and brushed, and the hair flew in the breeze. The problem was that it didn’t fly far. It didn’t drift over the fence and into the field. It settled in bunches in the grass and against the fence. Oh, well, I thought, sooner or later, it will all blow away, or the birds will find it and carry it off.

Maybe this would have happened in time, but, unfortunately, that night it rained. In the morning, the lawn was covered with soggy clumps of matted fur. Snags of it hung dripping from the fence wire. No self-respecting bird was going to get within a mile of that fur and it left a lot to be desired in the way of lawn ornamentation.

Now, I do my grooming indoors. If we’re out playing in the yard and I notice tufts of fur working loose in the dogs’ coats, I pluck that and let it fly, hoping some bird will find it. Otherwise, the birds are out of luck.

Of course, not all the fur gets brushed off. Fur still sticks to the furniture and the carpet. I keep a large throw on our love seat and a towel on Tegan’s favorite chair, which he shares with me. For the carpet, we have the Dyson pet model, and I’m amazed at the amount of hair that machine sucks up. No matter what kind of vacuum cleaner you have, keep it emptied and in good condition. A woman on my dog writers’ list wrote that her five-year-old cannister vacuum got fed up with cat and dog hair and blew up, scattering dust, hair, and fur everywhere.

For areas of upholstery that can’t be vacuumed, use rubber gloves to gather the fur. A lightly dampened sponge also works. While you’re at it, clean the dog beds as well. A lot of that fur comes off while your dog is at rest.

After many years, I’ve figured out the best ways for me to deal with shedding fur but as the days get warmer, my next challenge will be mud. I’m not a fan of winter, but frozen ground can be a real plus. I do have a system for wiping the mud off the dogs, but sometimes, the idea of paving our entire yard has real appeal.