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Incredible for Pet Owners, But Also Outstanding on Dirt!

Dyson DC15 Animal Cyclone Upright Vacuum Cleaner

I have a Katrina survivor dog that I adopted that can simply be described as a “hair machine.” Minutes after vacuuming with my old vac, I’d still see “hair tumbleweeds” here and there. I knew I had to do something, so I ordered the Dyson DC-15. It arrived one day before I arrived at home, and my wife opened it and used it. “That new vacuum is amazing!,” she said. I figured “amazing” meant “better than the old one.” I took it into a carpeted room that she hadn’t vacuumed yet, turned it on, and watched in amazement when after about 3 linear feet of movement produced a swirling hairball in the collector. At first I thought it must be residual hair from where she had used it earlier. This was NOT a section of the floor where I could even SEE any hair. The floor looked relatively clean when I started. So, I emptied the collector and started over. Same thing. Incredible! And not just hair, but dirt!

After about 3 weeks with this “Animal,” I’m sold. Easy to empty, and every day it does it’s thing — never ceasing to amaze me. I use it daily, and the entire house smells cleaner than it did.

The attachments are nice — I don’t use the mini-turbine head, although I may later. The extension wand makes it easy to get under furniture with as little as 2″ clearance (maybe even less). I have a kitchen island that weighs about 400 pounds that I used to have to move to clean underneath (it’s on rollers). Now I just vacuum under it. The cool thing about the tools is that everything you need is on the vacuum… including the hose — but unlike a lot of vacs (like my old Electrolux), you don’t have to stop the vac, pull out a hose, attach it to the machine, and revert to upright later. The hose is already attached. You just pull the wand up, press a button, and you’ve got all you need to get under furniture. This part of the machine is truly a clever design.

This thing has tons of suction, too. Very impressive!

Here are the “cons” to the unit:
1) The hard plastic used on the collector seems like it might be easily broken — although this hasn’t happened yet. I’m not thinking “shatter” here, more like the latch might break. The jury’s still out on this one.

2) The manual could have been better. I read. I don’t appreciate the “diagram-only” approach to some of the instructions.

That’s it, though… and the second one is minor.

Everything else is a “go” on this machine. Get one and you’ll see what I mean.

Another thing… some of the reviews I’ve read complain about the “high pitched whine” or the color of the machine. The machine is pretty quiet. Much quieter than my old Electrolux, but it is A POWERFUL VACUUM and therefore will sound like a vacuum cleaner running! And the color? Where do you keep this thing, in a display case? My advice? If you don’t like the color, take it to a body shop and let ‘em paint it for you — but don’t let the color cause you to miss what I consider to be one of the best deals going in the vacuum cleaner market.

“While You Are Gone” is a collection of instrumental music mixed with short stories designed for the pets we love. Over one hour of relaxing music laced with soft animal sounds to create a peaceful environment for pets who are left alone or when the owner needs quiet time. Created by a professional composer experiencing problems with his own pet who suffered from separation anxiety…until he discovered the benefits of music.

I have to admit that I did not have the highest of expectations from this CD. After all, who are THEY to know what kind of music my dogs love? The simple fact is, though, that I have now played it for my dogs five times — three times while I was home, twice while I was going out — and each time my guys seemed more overtly relaxed and happy after about 5 minutes. Of course, I have no way of KNOWING it’s the CD that made them happy, but they also weren’t lying there with their paws over their ears.

Again, it’s hard to know for sure, but if it has a chance of making the pups feel better, it’s worth the few bucks to try. And, hey, I rather like the music myself. Go for it.

I have 2 mini chihuahuas, and we all know how nervous they can be. When I go to work, I turn the CD player on and let my darlings enjoy their music in solitude laying on my—or should I say “their”—terry bath robe. There is definitely a difference in Sasha and Nuggie’s temperment at the end of the day when they listen to this outstanding collection of soothing music. You won’t go wrong buying this audio piece for a pet or for yourself…….It’s very relaxing and easy to listen to.