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Frequently
Asked Questions
Q.
Can over-brushing or over-use with PetHair Fantastic or HorseVac
harm the hair coat?
A.
PetHair Fantastic and HorseVac won't damage live healthy hair
any more than brushing with a regular grooming brush, curry
comb or hair brush. Both PetHair Fantastic and HorseVac lift
out only the loose, dead hair. The more you use them, the
cleaner the coat because directed airflow also removes dust,
dirt, allergenic skin dander as well as loose hair. More frequent
brushings also increase the coat shine by drawing out natural
oils. I've demonstrated these products at 3-day trade shows
using two of my dogs, Tyson and Bootsie. They were not bathed
or groomed prior to show. Their coats glistened and they love
the people attention.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. Will PetHair Fantastic and HorseVac suction onto skin,
haircoat or woven fabric material?
A.
The tooth depth and shape have been carefully engineered and
designed to provide maximum surface area for: removing loose,
dead hair; separating hair shafts for skin deep cleaning;
picking up loose shed hair from carpets, upholstered furniture,
etc.; opening carpet pile and directed air flow for deep cleaning.
The air has to move through PetHair and/or close or through
fabric upholstery to clean and work effectively and efficiently.
PetHair Fantastic and HorseVac have been designed not to suction
on the pet skin and fabric. The amount of suctioning on should
be minimal if any.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. Do dogs, cats and horses really like to be groomed with
PetHair Fantastic and/or HorseVac?
A.
The best answer is to give an example. Sparkie the spaniel
used to run under the bed in the far bedroom when her owner
reached for the vacuum closet doorknob. After our two week
conditioning program, when her owner approached the vacuum
closet door, Sparkie would run over and roll on her back to
get her belly brushed.
Pets that like to be brushed and groomed, like the massaging
action and gently air flow whirlpool effect. Some pets have
to be reconditioned to like grooming. Owner patience and persistence
are the determining factors of success.
Many pet owners have purchased our products simply because
they want to get the pethair off the sofa, car seats, carpets,
etc. They work great!! Check out our customer comment section
for testimonials.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. What if PetHair Fantastic doesn't fit my vacuum?
A.
Adapters are available from most vacuum repair shops, many
vacuum dealers and from Dr. Smith's Pet Products. Consult
our website for information. We need to know:
1. The make and model of your vacuum cleaner.
2. Whether your hose end is male or female.
3. The outside diameter for male hose ends or the inside diameter
for female hose ends.
Ordering instructions are on the website
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. Why does PetHair Fantastic work better than regular
vacuum attachment tools?
A.
Most regular vacuum attachment tools use nylon bristles with
low friction coefficient. Instead of picking pethair up, nylon
tends to push it down on carpet and upholstery. Because they
have low friction coefficient they don't separate the carpet
fibers, or hair shafts on pets for deep cleaning. Secondly,
the air flow dynamics on most vacuum attachments is poor.
Deep cleaning of carpets, car carpets, car seats and woven
upholstery to remove loose dust, dirt and skin dander is far
less efficient than using PetHair Fantastic even when using
carpet cleaning power heads. In contrast, PetHair Fantastic
teeth have a high friction coefficient to easily pick up pethair
for easy suction removal especially with directed airflow
dynamics. The same sticky teeth separate carpet pile and pethair
shafts for deep cleaning. Directed airflow simply makes the
cleaning process faster, deeper and quicker on a wide variety
of surfaces ranging from sofas, car seats, velour, car carpets,
carpets, clothes, dogs, cats, horses, etc.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. How long does PetHair Fantastic brush last? How can
they breakdown?
A.
The sticky teeth will wear if repeatedly scrubbed or rubbed
hard on rough surfaces. Generally they last for years with
normal use and wear. We have shipped a couple of HorseVac's
to the Isle of Malta every year to the same owner for the
last several years. I guess that indicates a satisfied customer.
The one in my surgery prep room has lasted for over six years.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. I'm a groomer. How would groomers potentially use PetHair
Fantastic?
A.
Groomers can use PetHair Fantastic at two points during most
grooming procedures. The first is after your rough cut before
bathing. Use PetHair Fantastic to get as much loose and cut
hair off as possible to reduce drain clogging. Secondly, after
finishing your pet, most groomers use a blower to blow the
clipping fines off the pet. The hair fines go all over the
grooming area. If you use PetHair Fantastic instead, the pethair
fines end up in a vacuum cleaner and you save yourself clean
up time. Many groomers sell PetHair Fantastic to their clients
to handle their pethair problem at home.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. My dog is afraid of the vacuum cleaner. Do you have
any suggestions how I could get him used to being vacuumed?
A.
We had a lady with a Springer Spaniel who ran to the far bedroom
and hid under the bed when she reached for the closet door
that housed the vacuum. Here is the program we used for her:
- Day
1-4: Brush the pet with PetHair Fantastic for 2-5 minutes
starting in the lumbar (loin) area. Brush lightly and gradually
accustom your pet to being brushed with PetHair Fantastic.
Days 5-8: Bring out the vacuum hose without the vacuum.
After brushing with PetHair Fantastic to get your pet to
relax, attach the vacuum hose only and continue to brush.
Brushing time should be 2-5 minutes.
- Days
9-12: Bring out vacuum cleaner. Attach to the hose and just
brush the dog for 2-5 minutes to get him to relax.
- Days
10-13: After conditioning the dog to PetHair Fantastic,
the vacuum hose, and the vacuum cleaner, it would be better
to have a second person the pet knows to gently rub his
ears and distract him. After brushing for a couple of minutes,
start the vacuum and lightly brush your pet over the lumbar
area. Most pets startle at first, but relax in a couple
of minutes. Always start in the lumbar area. It may take
several sessions to extend to the shoulder and neck area.
This particular lady phoned us on day 18. When she went near
the closet where her vacuum was kept, her Springer was going
to the closet and rolling on her back waiting for her tummy
massage. She had also trained two of her cats to get vacuumed.
Not all pets can be vacuumed but many can be trained. If you
can't vacuum your pet, you can still vacuum the furniture,
carpets, etc.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. I'm afraid the vacuum cleaner noise may spook my horse.
Do you have any suggestions?
A.
There are several options and tips.
Gradually accustom your horse to the vacuum cleaner noise
over 4-10 days. This could mean putting him in cross ties
and start grooming and brushing sometimes using the HorseVac
tool. When he relaxes, you could turn on the vacuum 20-40
feet down the corridor ahead of him and just let it run while
you're grooming. Over a period of 4-12 days gradually move
the vacuum cleaner closer to him so he gets used to it. When
you think he's calm enough to try vacuuming, start grooming
with the HorseVac not attached to the machine; let him relax;
turn on the machine but continue grooming with the HorseVac
not attached to the vacuum. When he's relaxed, you could attach
the hose end to the HorseVac and lightly brush. Always start
behind the withers (shoulder) area, brushing lightly to start
and gradually work forward and back. Proceed according to
your horses' sensitivity. Sometimes it's helpful to have somebody
your horse is familiar with at your horses' head. This approach
is used for sensitive horses. It's better to be slow and cautious.
Most horses take to vacuums in one or two sessions. They like
the whirl pool effect of directed airflow going through and
cleaning their coats.
We use a similar approach to teaching dogs and cats to like
vacuuming if they are afraid of the vacuum.
Option 2 is to use a hose extension of 10-30 feet to keep
the vacuum cleaner farther away from your horse. The hose
extension works very similar to central vac hose except the
end is much easier to use than a metal hose end.
Option 3 is to use a central vac and a 30 foot hose extension.
The central vac or vacuum cleaner could be placed in an adjoining
room to decrease noise.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. I'm a veterinarian. Would PetHair Fantastic be of any use
in my veterinary hospital?
A.
We use PetHair Fantastic every day during our surgical preparation
to remove loose hair from the clipped surgical area and from
the surrounding pethair to reduce loose hair landing on our
surgical site. This tool is especially adept at removal of
the fine bristle hair from fine trimming that sticks to the
skin and resists cleaning. One or two quick passes over the
surgical site leaves skin hairless and ready for scrubbing.
Another pass or two over the hair on either side of the surgery
site greatly reduces loose hair getting in the way. It's so
fast and easy we take it for granted and wouldn't be without
it.
The other thing you can do is to sell it to your clients that
have a pet shedding problem. As you know, we can reduce shedding
by dietary changes and supplements, but most dogs still shed
somewhat. We have many repeat customers because they are pleased
with the product. Retailer pricing is available.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. How well does PetHair Fantastic work on long cat hair?
Our Persian seems to leave a consistent layer of pethair on
the sofa.
A.
The longer the hair, the easier it is for PetHair Fantastic
to pick it up. The high friction coefficient teeth easily
lift Persian, Himalayan and Golden Retriever hair of sofas,
carpets or any woven fabric upholstery for easy suction removal.
In fact long hair is much easier to remove than the short
bristly type hair from breeds like Doberman Pinschers, German
shorthairs, etc. Check out our endorsements from professional
automobile cleaners.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. Can I use PetHair Fantastic with my central vac?
A.
PetHair Fantastic fits most central vacs with industry standard
1 ¼ inch male hose ends. The exception is Filter Queen
central vac that requires an adapter. To be on the safe side,
go through our order check list and look for your vacuum make,
model; whether you have a male or female hose end (see our
website diagrams); hose end diameter.
We use PetHair Fantastic on our central vacs both at home
and at the office.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. How did you happen to invent PetHair Fantastic?
A.
Necessity would be the appropriate word. With three dogs in
the house at the time (there are five now) and an infant son
in leotards crawling through pethair attracting it like a
magnet, I was taking a lot of flak from my wife. Even vacuuming
the floor twice daily wasn't cutting the mustard. I thought
that if I quickly vacuumed the dogs to remove the loose hair
before it shed onto the floor, the problem would be solved.
There were no good products on the market, so I developed
PetHair Fantastic to vacuum pets. It soon became apparent
it worked as well if not better on sofa's, carpets, car carpets,
etc. That's how PetHair Fantastic got started.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. What's the difference between PetHair Fantastic™
and HorseVac™? I love the HorseVac because it's fast
and quicker than conventional curry combs and brushes. I was
wondering if it would work on my dog?
A.
The difference between PetHair Fantastic™ and HorseVac™
is…….the label!!! They are exactly the same product.
The horse industry wanted a name that identified with their
industry so we tested the product on horses and called it
HorseVac. We've received great unsolicited reviews from Michael
Plumb's Horse Journal (July 1996) and John Lyons The Perfect
Horse. You will still need a brush on the lower legs from
the knees and hock down to more thoroughly clean grooves and
the flexor tendons and suspensories.
HorseVac can turn a lot of old vacuums into horse cleaning
machines for faster quicker grooming. The horses seem to love
the air flowing through their hair. It's like an air whirl
pool effect. It works extremely well on Electrogrooms, Vac
n Blow, Groomer machines, etc.
If you are going to use HorseVac on your dog, or upholstered
furniture, wash it off with soap and water to get the horse
smell off first.
Shawn Smith, DVM
Q. My vacuum cleaner has a metal hose end which I find
cumbersome. Do I have any other options to make using PetHair
Fantastic or HorseVac easier?
A.
A 10-foot custom length hose extension will help. One end
attaches to the metal hose end of your vacuum cleaner and
the other to PetHair Fantastic. It makes PetHair Fantastic
much easier to use. Give it a try.
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