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Product, Dyson Vacuum (DC 14 telescope reach),

The list of vacuums I have gone through since my marriage some 30 years ago are numerous, and some I am sure I have forgotten about, but here are my thoughts on those that I remember and I write this now because the heat is causing so much shedding this time of year and the amount of rain we have had over the weeks has caused all of my dogs to become total dirt balls!

1- oddball Sears Kenmore canister which only lasted five months after I was newly married, and at the time I had only one dog and one cat. I think I threw that vacuum into the creek (or crick as Long Islander’s would call it) across the street from us. Hated it!
1 -Eureka (totally stinks, and is in a dump in eastern Long Island) Hated it!
1- Oreck (stinks, and is in some burial plot in State College PA) Hated it!
1- Fake Electrolux, aka Eureka (stinks, and was sent back to the company with a very nasty review from me!) Hated it twice over!
1 -Electrolux which is still running and being used by my mother. Loved it!


If you have a multiple dog household your vacuum is probably very, very important to you! It is going to be an investment that requires thought and compatibility for your lifestyle, your brood, and your home flooring for years to come. As I entered through the revolving doggie door of constant companions, I had experimented with different vacuums (do I sound like a vacuum junkie?), but as a back up to my experiments, I always had my Electrolux lurking in the background, one of the original ones, not the new ones you see in stores today which are actually made by Eureka but have the Electrolux name on them. For those of you who did not know this, a few years back Eureka bought the ‘Electrolux name’ and have been putting it on their cheap products under the guise of the good name of Electrolux. That’s a whole other story of my fury for a different time! Anyway, you won’t find a true Electrolux vacuum in a store such as Boscov’s or Lowes, you can only find one in an Electrolux store. Since my move to Pennsylvania some 15 years ago the only place I have found near me that sells Electrolux is a place in the Lewisburg flea market. There used to be an older couple that had their vacuum booth in the flea market who used to service my Electrolux when needed, although I am not sure they are still there today. They would drive to my house, pick it up, and deliver it when it was fixed. Usually it needed a new power cord because of all the teething puppies I had! I loved my Electrolux and thought there were none that could compare to it, until I came across the Dyson. After ten years of owning my Electrolux one of the motors finally burned out and needed to be replaced and after twenty years of owning it, the separate hose attachment wasn’t fitting quite as snuggly as it used to and at the same time I was upping the ante in my dog choice going from small to large breed dogs to owning a total of five giant breed dogs that carry much hair and dirt into the house. Needless to say I was going through vacuum bags like crazy. A box of 24 bags used to last me a year with my original group of six dogs, but when the Newfoundland’s came into my life, a box only lasted a few months and it cost about $30.00 a box!

Shortly after I got my Newfs Bentley and Abbey, I had joined a Newfoundland chat forum and the other Newf owners on the site always had great advice on everything as it pertained to Newfoundland’s. So I took a poll one day on the forum to see what vacuum everyone was using, and the name Dyson (or Dyson Animal) came up over and over again, it was basically unanimous. Having only seen the commercials for Dyson, I wanted to actually get my hands on it. I wanted to examine every part, take it apart and put it back together again, read about its functions, and see just how it performed.
While out shopping one day, Pete and I came upon a Dyson in a Boscov’s department store. Well obviously just looking at it was all I could do in Boscov’s. I wasn’t about to sit there in the middle floor and take it apart, but believe me I came as close to doing so as I could!

Since it was the last one they had left until the following month’s delivery, I bought it. It was not the Dyson Animal but the Dyson DC 14 all floor with extension handle. To sum up the Dyson in one word, FANTASTIC! My Electrolux was soon given to my mother who was in need of another vacuum. I felt it should remain in the family, much like a family heirloom! It is after all almost thirty years old.

The Dyson, I found, was a power machine that sucked the scatter carpets right up off the floor! Now mind you, of course I did the test in which I first vacuumed the floors with my Electrolux then went over them once again with the Dyson and the dirt that landed in the Dyson’s basket was amazing! I will never part with my Electrolux as it makes a good back up and for now it serves my mother well. But hands down I would be lost without my Dyson!

Pros: What I really like about the Dyson is that there are no bags to buy, with a simple push of a button the basket releases from the vacuum’s body and with another push of a button the bottom of the basket opens and empties easily into your garbage can. You don’t have to touch the debris or a messy bag with your hands. Just about every piece of the Dyson comes apart for easy cleaning, so should you happen to suck up little Johnny’s soccer socks or your husband’s tie they can be retrieved easy enough. If you have a nickel handy you don’t even need a screwdriver to take off some of the parts. The extension hose is built right into the handle and with a push of a button it easily releases and extends. The extra heads, stair tool, crevice tool, and brush tool for the extension are mounted right to the vacuum so no more searching for them in the vast darkness of the closet in which you saved every old vacuum tool from each vacuum you’ve ever owned. The vacuum can be switched from a rolling brush head used on carpet to just suction for bare floors.


Doing business with the Dyson Company seems easy. At one point I lost the small lint piece off the bottom of the stair tool and I happened to write a letter to Dyson stating that maybe there could be some improvements and made some suggestions. I was not looking for anything from them, just giving some ideas from a person whose vacuum never gets put away. Within a week of sending my letter, a representative from Dyson called me, thanked me for my letter and they sent me out a new stair tool.

Cons: After almost 2 years of very heavy use, the extension hose split at the top near the metal wand, and had to be taped to keep the suction when the wand was in use. So I do think that it would benefit Dyson to make a thicker hose and they should expect it is going to be used on a daily basis by their patrons.

Rather than going directly to the Dyson company though (stupid, stupid, stupid!) ,el cheapo here thought I could save a few bucks by buying a replacement hose on e-bay. Don’t do that! The one from e-bay does not stay on the metal wand making it a pain in the neck to use. Shame on me for putting a lesser priced item on my treasured vacuum! I will use the e-bay hose until it breaks then do the right thing and go through Dyson!

Hint for any vacuum with a roller brush: One thing that I do to make it easier on myself when it comes to cleaning the dog hair that gets wrapped around the roller brush is to keep a pair of needle nose pliers attached to the vacuum itself so I don’t have to scour the garage in search of a pair or be condemned by my husband for touching his stuff and not putting it back when I’m done! These can be attached with Velcro or if you have a Dyson already, a pair of spring loaded needle nose pliers can be stuck into the top of the crevice tool.

Dyson gets two paws up, way up. To me it was worth every penny on my husband's charge card!
The Dyson store http://www.dyson.com/store/

Next time I'll tell you the best dog hair tool I have found for furniture and carpets.