A Christmas Story

Do you remember how Ralphie felt when he got his BB gun for Christmas; well I felt the same way when my Dyson arrived. But I had a much better experience with my Dyson, than Ralphie did with his BB gun.

I have done so much research on this product and read as many reviews as I could. Most of the reviews were great and there were a few really bad ones. The good ones out weighed the bad ones so I decided to take the plunge. After looking in stores for the Dyson DC14 Animal and coming up empty, my husband found the Animal at Target.com with a 10% off coupon!! He ordered it Thursday morning and we had it Friday afternoon. Well, when I can home from work a nice surprise awaited me on my kitchen island (cue music). There it was, the Animal, in all it's purple glory assembled and awaiting to suck up all the pet hair and dirt in my house. I was so excited I did a little dance for my 2 dogs. But the vacuuming had to wait dinner at a neighbor's was already planned.

After dinner I read through the direction and decided to tackle the family room first. My husband said he vacuumed two days ago, so I was eager to see if the Animal could stand up to all the hype. As I mentioned above we have two dogs that of course shed and shed and shed. So there is always a ton dog hair on our cream colored carpets. So I turned on the vacuum and vacuumed a 3x7 foot area, turned off the vacuum and was shocked to see the amount of hair in the canister. Amazed and yet disgusted by all the dog hair I continued to vacuum the living room, then the kitchen, then the dining room and so on and so on. After completing the downstairs at 11:30pm I took the vacuum to the upstairs but first had to dump the canister. It couldn't have been any easier. I put the canister in the garbage bin, pushed the button and out came all the dog hair and dirt. I went back upstairs to see how much dog hair could be sucked up this time. After finishing the hallway and office, I was once again emptying the canister. Wow, who knew there was that much dog hair in the carpets? I finally finished off with the master bedroom. I was so excited that I would finally vacuum under the bed, night tables and dresser! The floor attachment was great. Just pop it onto the hose and vacuum away. Who knew vacuuming could be so fun!

I have listed below my like and dislikes of the Animal:
Likes:
- This vacuum is like no other vacuum I've owned. The amount of dog hair and dirt still amazes me. Granted you see what your vacuum is sucking up but the fact that I had to dump the canister 3x in my first use amazed me. It would take about 2½ months or so before I had to change the bag in my other vacuum.
- The telescopic hose. I cleaned my stairs without having to worry if the vacuum was going to fall down the staircase.
- The Animal is light and easily maneuverable. I can carry the vacuum upstairs and downstairs with ease. My old vacuum took a little bit of work to move it around carpeted area.
- Doesn't eat my doormats! I'm sure you can all relate to that burnt rubber smell the moment your vacuum eats your doormat. With the Animal you can clean your doormats with no worries of having to turn of the Animal and pull out your damaged doormat. Just be careful with shag bathroom mats, almost had a little accident.

Dislikes:
- The price. The vacuum is a cool color, if you like purple. But it doesn't look like a $500 vacuum. It seem sturdy enough but at first glance your first thought is who would pay $500 for that.
- The vacuum's large front doesn't get into spaces my old vacuum does. I have to put on the attachments or use the hose to get under the lip of my cabinets.
- Turbine head is doesn't work as well as I thought. I tried to use it on my stairs with no luck. Used one of the attachments instead. Will give it a try in the car and hope for the best.
- No storage area for the floor attachment. Granted it is probably too big to attach to the vacuum but having to remember to bring the floor attachment with you is annoying.
- No light. For $500 you would think Dyson could spring for a light.

Trust me, if you're thinking about buying an Animal do it. It really is worth it. The good out weights the bad and you won't regret it. I've now had the Animal a whole two weeks and just finished cleaning, boy do my dogs shed a lot! I should have been changing my old vacuum bags at least once ever 3 weeks with the amount of dog hair that is in the canister.