Take Control of Your Dog Grooming with the Flowbee for Dogs

They fidget, they are inpatient and it is a race to finish the haircut before they totally freak out.

Having a pet grooming clipper that takes the anxiety out of it means you’ll likely groom your dog more often.

Enter the flowbee for dogs!

Yes, you are probably familiar with it since they had infomercials all over late night TV for years.

Well, that was for humans. I think it works much better for dog grooming.

In this article I will go over all the ways that you can benefit from using the flowbee for dogs and what other tools you need to finish the haircut to perfection.

Read on to see how it works!

What is a Pet Flowbee?

There is no difference between the Flowbee for humans and Flowbee for dogs. So if you have one you bought one night when you had had a few beers and it is sitting in your closet you can dust it off and use the same one.

If you don’t have one already, then you can click the button above and maybe even use it on yourself or your kids in addition to your pet.

Essentially, if you are not familiar with how it works, it is an attachment for your vacuum.

The way it works is that the suction of the vacuum pulls the hair into the hose where a blade is ready to cut it. So all you have to do is vacuum the hair.

The length can be changed by adjusting the blade so you aren’t stuck with a length you aren’t happy with.

There used to be a pet version of a Flowbee designed specifically for animals, but for some reason, it was discontinued. That’s fine though as this one will work great for pets as well as humans.

Pros and Cons

No product is perfect. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The Flowbee for dogs is no different so let’s go over a few of the benefits and negatives so you can idea of if it will work for you.

Pros

• No Clean Up – Since you are hooking up a hose with the clipper blade, the hair gets sucked right into the vacuum. There is no hair to sweep up and no hair to wash off of yourself or your dog. This saves a lot of time and aggravation.
• Saves Money – Think of how much it costs to take your dog to the groomer. You’ll save tons of money by using the Flowbee.
• Time Saver – Not only does it save time on the clean up, it saves time from the actual haircutting. Using clippers and comb or scissors and combs takes time. And to make sure everything is even you end up having to check your work and potentially be going over the same spot multiples times. Just one pass over the hair and it cuts quickly, evenly and effectively.
• No Learning Curve – When you are doing your pet grooming at home it does take a certain amount of skill for things to come out looking good. You don’t need to train like a professional, but you can’t just wing it either. The Flowbee for dogs makes it easy enough even a kid can do it. It literally is just like vacuuming. If you just take your time it is going to come out looking great even the first time you attempt an at home grooming session.
• Even Cuts – Since the hair gets pulled up evenly into the hose, the cut is going to always be the same length all over. There is no guessing involved and no checking the work. If you are using the 6 inch length, for instance, then it will always cut it to 6 inches guaranteed.

Cons

• Scares Dogs – The biggest con to using the Flowbee for dogs is that most dogs are afraid of vacuums. Pretty much every dog I have ever had would run to the other room and hide. If your dog is the same, it will take some time for them to get used to the idea of being so close to the vacuum cleaner. Though, the same thing can be said of many dog clippers out there as dogs don’t like the sound of them either.
• Not Great on Curly, Thick Coats – If your dog has a very thick coat, one which is difficult to brush, then it may not do well with the Flowbee for dogs. The hair needs to be pulled up evenly to then be cut. Thick fur may not be suctioned well enough to cut it at all.

Is It Safe to Use?

Aside from the aforementioned dog frightening abilities, it is very safe to use.

In fact, it is far safer to use a Flowbee for dogs than other clippers that can pinch the dog’s skin or pull its hair.

There are no exposed blades so there is no way to cut or nick your pet, or human. It’s also very safe for the user, too.

When your dog is moving around and you have to try to hold them still with one hand and use your free hand to clip them, you can often be not paying attention for a split second and end up cutting yourself. Especially when you are using scissors.

Since all you’re essentially doing is running a vacuum head over their body, then you can do this one handed.

How To Use

Before you get started with cutting your dog’s hair, familiarize yourself with the spacers. These are the key to the whole operation as they allow you to cut to various lengths.

Then, make sure you have a powerful vacuum. There is no minimum suction required, but the stronger it is the better.
Step 1
The very first thing to do is to hook the hose up to the vacuum. The hose on the Flowbee is standard but there are some models of vacuum that it won’t fit snugly with. In this case, there is a rubber tube that will allow for a nice fit that won’t have you lose any suction.
Step 2
Before you start up the vacuum, take the spacers and do a quick check of the length to see exactly how much they will cut.

If you lift the hair with one hand and then hold the spacer with the foot (more on the foot in the next step) flush against the skin, you will see how much of the hair will be cut. If it doesn’t look like it will cut enough, try the shorter spacers until you get to the right length.

Then, make sure you open up the filter chamber and see if it is full. Even if it is half full you should empty it out. You’re going to need the space, especially if you have a big dog.
Step 3
Now, you need to get the cutting head ready. Apply a few drops of lubricating clipper oil to the blades and turn on the clipper without the vacuum being on. This will spread out the oil across the blades.

Now attach the spacer to the foot and then the spacer to the clipper. At this point everything is ready to go.
Step 4
Be strategic about where you will be doing the cutting. I suggest placing the vacuum on one side of a door and then do the cutting on the other side if it is possible. This will cut down on the noise and it should help to keep your dog from freaking out.
Step 5
Turn on the vacuum and then turn on the clipper and place the spacer against your dog. Raise and lower the clipper until you see the fur is cut evenly in a straight line right across. You can see this as you raise the clipper since the spacers are clear. Then when it is cut move to the next section.

If you have a chamber that has a clear window, occasionally check to see if it is getting full of hair. You may need to take a quick break in the middle and empty it before finishing.
Step 6
If you want to have different lengths on different sections, then just swap out the spacers. You can even skip the spacer and just put the foot directly onto the cutting head which will leave the fur cut to a ½ inch.

Other Tools Needed to Properly Groom

It would be amazing if you could do a toe to tail grooming session with only the Flowbee for dogs. In a way you can but if you just want the minimum done.

But, for a properly groomed dog, there is finishing work that needs to be done.

For instance, the face and paws won’t be really an option to trim with the Flowbee.

In this case you’ll need a set of dog clippers to take care of those sensitive areas with more precision.

Besides the dog clippers, you could use a set of ball tipped pet grooming scissors and a wide toothed comb.

Flowbee Alternatives

Flowbee for dogs is not the only game in town. The concept is pretty ingenious so it wouldn’t make sense if nobody else decided to copy or improve upon it.

Currently there are a couple more brands that do the Flowbee style pet grooming with a vacuum.

First there is this one from Amazon.com that I honestly couldn’t even find a brand name for. To be honest, I have never used this one but thought I would include it since it is available.

It gets some mixed reviews, so I am not sure if it really would end up being better than the Flowbee for dogs.

It has basically the same type of attachments as the Flowbee, but with the addition of a buzz cut spacer for tighter haircuts.

I am not sure I could in good faith recommend this product based on the reviews and the fact that it does not have a recognizable brand name, but it is much cheaper than the Flowbee. If you are on a strict budget, maybe it will work out for you. It does have a money back guarantee.

A competitor that gives Flowbee a run for the money is the Robocut. This has been around for a while and does have a recognizable brand name attached with some history behind it.

The one big downside to this when compared to the Flowbee, though is the construction. It simply is not nearly as solid and uses inferior materials. You get what you pay for. Now, that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t buy this one. It just means that when you’re looking to save money, you have to be prepared for some issues that you might not have when you spend more on a more established brand. Your mileage may vary so make sure you read through all the reviews.

Final Thoughts

There is no guarantee that this will work out for you as a home dog grooming tool. It highly depends on your dog’s personality and how they do with vacuums and loud noises in general.

And, it depends on the type of coat.

If you think your dog won’t mind the noise and they have a loose coat, then you will save some cash and have a very easy way to groom your pet.

Do you have any questions about using the Flowbee for your dog or even yourself? Drop a line in the comment box below and I will help you out!