I have a short-haired dog, an English pointer, and while he doesn’t look at, he’s a prolific shedder.

I have carpets, and I used to have so much trouble keeping the dog hair at bay. Then a few months ago I bought a vacuum cleaner, not even a particularly expensive one, advertised as being very effective for pet hair. It has stiff bristles in the roller that whir at almost jet-engine speed.

I love vacuuming now. I run that sucker over a patch of carpet and it extracts every bit of hair in one pass or two at the most.

And it has become meditative for me now. It’s incredibly satisfying to clean up so effectively. Oh, and the cat? She loves nothing more than to hop up on a high piece of furniture and watch me clean. Lol!