2021 Best Pet and Dog Hair Vacuum Reviews: Our Top Picks

Overview

Dog hair can put excessive wear and tear on a vacuum. When possible, try and limit the amount of pet hair and fur in the home by placing blankets on furniture and by frequently brushing and combing your dog, particularly during shedding season. One tip listed by the American Kennel Club is to sprinkle baking soda on couches where dog's lay down. The baking soda will make it easier to vacuum the dog hair when using a crevice tool or brush tool.

Top Dog Hair Vacuum Picks

To learn more about different models we looked at and view our top choices in each category, click on the links below. We've picked our favorites from each category and included on this page.

• Canister Models
• Upright Models
• Small and Stick Models

Best Bagged Canister Dog Vacuum

Our top bagged canister dog hair vacuum pick is the Miele Complete C3 Marin, which is closely followed by lower cost Miele Complete C3 Alize models. These Miele vacuums are not only an excellent pet hair vacuum, but it gets high marks for product reliability, owner satisfaction, bare floors and hose suction. It also does well on embedded dirt in carpets. The vacuum has micro-filtration and was referred to in a leading consumer magazine as being only one of a few vacuums to earn an "excellent" rating. It has no negatives and is packed with features such as height adjustment, and attachments such as a drape cleaning tool with suction control, one of the best vacuum's for dog hair on furniture, and has a rotating brush that can be turned on and off to protect hardwood floors all over the house. The vacuum is also an Amazon Choice and the top rated CR bagged canister vacuum. Both models have a HEPA Filter and tools for vacuuming upholstery and for reaching hard to access places. It also has teh suction power, motor, and maneuverability you would expect from a vacuum cleaner in this price range.

Best Bagless Canister Dog Hair Vacuum

Our bagless best vacuum for dog hair is also a Kenmore canister model (22614). The vacuum has all of the popular features found in canister vacs while providing excellent dog hair pickup. It is very good on carpet and rates an excellent for bare floors. According to Consumer Reports "the pet hair test reveals no traces of pet hair left behind and very little pet hair caught in the brush roll."

A close runner up to the Kenmore 22614 is the Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog. This model have better reliability ratings, but at more than twice the price, we suggest sticking with the Kenmore.

Best Upright Vacuum

We have two top upright picks to add to our list as the best vacuum for dog hair. The reason is the our top pick, the Miele Dynamic U1 Cat & Dog is twice the cost of the Hoover WindTunnel Max (UH30600). While the Miele offers more high end features, both vacuums get excellent ratings as a dog hair vacuum.

Best Handheld Dog Hair Hand Vacuum

There was only one hand held vacuum brand that we are awarding excellent ratings for pet hair. We recommend the cord free Shark Ion W1 WV201. The Shark gets high marks from Consumer Reports and is a good choice for anyone with a dog. It may be small, but it earned its place as a best vacuum for dog hair.  The Ion is also an Amazon Choice.

Best Stick Vacuums For Dog Hair

Like its hand held cousin, we also give high marks to the corded Shark Apex Uplight Life-Away Duo Clean vacuum. We do not recommend any cordless models due to reliability problems as reported by a leading consumer publication.  The Shark Apex Uplight made our best vacuum for dog hair due to its excellent performance, not to mention excellent performance on carpets and wood floors. Consumer Reports calls this vacuum "a top performer." A close second is the Shark APEX DuoClean Corded ZS362.

Robot Vacuums

Our favorite robot vacuum is the iRobot Roomba S9+ or S9 models. Both do an excellent job of pet hair, bare floors, and carpet. They also do well around the edges of each room. The iRobot is designed to loosen, lift, and vacuum up pet hair, particles and debris that is lodged deep into your carpets or on hardwood floors. The built in smart technology learns the layout of your home and creates its' own map. It's an effortless way to clean up messes in hard to reach corners, dust, and allergens from all over the house.

The vacuum also learns your cleaning habits and offers customized schedules. You can also send the vacuum to a mess via a map of your home. You can instruct the Roomba to stay away from certain objects and is great for homes with dogs, cats, or other pets. The dual multi-surface rubber brushes are designed to trap 99% of dog & cat allergens. Brushes are designed to not get tangled with pet hair.

The cleaning head also is self adjusting. Customization features enable you to set the vacuum for extra suction in specific areas.

Best Dog Grooming Vacuum

Dog grooming tools attach to a regular vacuum. The tool removes loose dog hair from the coat before it is shed into the home. Some tools are universal and come as part of a kit such as the Penn-Plax, and others are brand specific such as this Dyson Groom shown below.

Dyson Attachment for Dog Grooming

Learn More: Amazon

Penn-Plax VacGroom - Our Best Vacuum Attachment for Dog Grooming

Our top pick for best dog grooming vacuum is the Penn-Plax kit. The kit comes with a grooming tool, 3 interchangeable combs, and a 46" extension hose. The tool is perfect for when you start to see clumps of fur, debris or loose hair.  The Penn-Plan as the added benefit of being able to be sued to clean pet hair from furniture and upholstery.  It has a universal adapter that will fit any vacuum cleaner that has a circular intake channel, making it compatible with most Miele, Rainbow, Kirby, Shop-Vac, Bissell, Hoover, Dyson, and Shark vacuum models.

Learn More, Read Reviews and to Watch Videos: Penn-Plax VacGroom

Reference for Best Vacuum for Dog Hair

Consumer Reports

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