I bought this dog hairbrush for my now 102lbs long legged friend a few years back after adopting him from a local shelter. The friend I’m referring to is Hank. He’s a yellow lab mixed with an American hunting hound. On all fours he stands just over 3 feet tall from toes to head. Long leggedness s is not an understatement. It looks like amber flakes of snow falling when he sheds as strands of his yellow golden coat gently blanket the floor around him. When purchasing the brush I thought I knew what I was looking for as I grew up around dogs in my house.
The brush seemed to work well. It was by design removing the loose hairs from his coat as I could see his hair accumulate on the brush after each passing stroke. Seemingly the brush is getting the job done, but I’m still here brushing. The hair clumps up and then I have to pick at the clumped hair to get it off the teeth of the brush. This cycle repeats itself for about twenty minutes. I keep brushing and the hair keeps coming. When do I stop? How much hair is really on this dog? There’s got to be skin down there somewhere. Is he producing hair at a faster rate than I can brush it off? I’m picturing the scene of Tim Allen in The Santa Clause trying to shave. I’d like to get dinner started, but I’m still brushing. I paid $20 for this damn brush. Is this brush creating more hair? I clean off the brush, and I brush more. There’s more hair. The hair doesn’t stop. This dog is related to Cousin Itt.
Frustrated and annoyed at this $20 piece of plastic hair removing failure I search out alternative methods. I try the shop vac method but the patient is adamantly opposed to that. I take him to the groomers, it costs $120 and while he does come back clean and refreshed the efforts are completely diminished after three days. I’d rather spend $120 a week on a house cleaner but then I’m still sitting in dog hair 4 days a week.
Finally I break down and go to a local pet store instead of the big box stores I had started with. I was warmly greeted upon entrance and promptly asked what brought me in. A dog brush I replied, and the person who I later found out to be the store’s proprietor began to ask me a series of questions whereas I was simply expecting an isle number response. What kind of dog do you have? How old is your dog? Does you dog have any underlying health issues? Really? I thought to myself. I’ve had many dogs growing up. Lots of experience with them, we even had a litter of puppies once in my house. I thought I knew enough, I did not.
I began to answer the questions of the passionate pet storeowner and before long I was pointed to a $60.00 furminator dog brush. I had seen this brush before. It has been around longer than Hank has. In fact I saw this option at the big box store when I first purchased my useless $20 brush. I dismissed it for it’s bold pricing. It’s not like I have a show dog with papers. I’m not taking him bowling. I adopted him from a shelter. He runs with me through trails and creeks, I’m not trying to glamour shot this pup up for best in show. (RIP Fred Willard).
A few years ago a $60 dog brush seemed like a lot at the time. I saw my options and felt that I could get the same accomplished for much less. Turns out I was wrong. The dog hair guru of Treats Unleashed explained to me how this brush gets out the undercoat of the dog, which are the very follicles of hair that trespass across my kitchen floor daily like tumbleweeds in the opening scene of an old western film. With one clean sweep this thing sucks hair out of Hank’s coat like a magnet over paperclips. It removes the loose hair very efficiently taking me roughly 7 minutes to brush this dog out. There’s even a lever where it’s sort of self-cleaning to discard the removed hair in an orderly fashion. I’m saving time and getting better results. Honestly at this point I’d probably pay a bit more knowing now how serviceable this brush is.
So what I thought I knew turned out to be wrong. My initial assumptions got the best of me. After having someone well versed in the turbulent nature of pet grooming ask me specific questions about my situation I am now better off and thankful for it. I’m also relieved that it only cost me $80.00. $20 for the failed brush that I now despise with the heat of a 1,000 suns and $60.00 for the answer to my problems, the Furminator! Had I known before what I know now I probably would have paid $80 for.
The point I’m trying to make here is that you have many options when selling your property. You can start with what you know and still get results. But are you asking yourself the right questions? What hair or money are you leaving on the table by not fully understanding your options? Selling real estate is a bit more complicated than buying a dog brush. There are many avenues to property disposition. My approach is to consult with you by listening to you and your needs, asking you the right questions to better understand your situation, and to illustrate a path to successfully reach your goals.