Tips for Keeping the Pet Hair Mess Under Control

I know many of us have beautiful pets that we love dearly and love to have travel with us. However, if you're like us, it seems like anywhere your pet goes it leaves behind a mess of hair - or maybe it's just the number of pets at our house that make it seem this way. Either way, here are some of our best tips for keeping the pet hair under control.

• Regular brushing: probably the simplest form of control. I know most of you are saying "well duh" but you'd be surprised how many people don't think about how much regular maintenance brushing can help our pets and us.
• A healthy diet: giving our animals a natural, balanced diet helps them not only feel and look better but also to shed less. We'll be posting more about the homemade pet food we use at the Kerr house soon.
• Let the professionals help: we take our animals to the professionals about every six months. Although we work hard to maintain it helps to have the professionals help us out every once in a while. This is extra important to us in the spring when the shedding is the worst.
• Make the messes easier to clean: this is simpler then it sounds. For us it means using things like couch covers to help keep messes off the furniture. It's much easier to through a cover in our washer to get clean then it is to wash the whole couch. We also use rugs over hardwood floors that can be taken outside for a good beating. And in the car we use a waterproof seat cover that is easy to remove and hose down even after we've enjoyed a day in the mud.

What do you use to make it easier to keep your home clean with pets? Do you have a favorite tool for grooming? Tell us about it!