The most indispensable appliance

I've been asked why Steve and I raise CCI puppies. For me it evokes the larger question: why have any kind of dogs at all? Multiple answers spring to my mind: they make me laugh, I appreciate being the recipient of their unconditional love, learning how to train them is more interesting than working on crossword puzzles, CCI graduate dogs can change people's lives. It's not so easy to pick the biggest benefit -- the single best thing about living with them. 

But the worst thing about living with dogs is easy for me to finger: the hair. Unless you go the Way of the Poodle (or the presidential Portuguese Water Dog or some similar non-shedding breed), you live in a constant cloud of the stuff, particularly if you have more than one dog and if those dogs are large. Our house usually gets thoroughly vacuumed every Monday morning, and by Wednesday or Thursday, the dog hair begins piling up again, in drifts. I'm no clean freak, but it can get pretty disgusting. If you live with dogs, the vacuum cleaner is thus THE most indispensable household appliance. 

So the recent erratic behavior of our Hoover has been cause for considerable concern. Steve reluctantly began doing preliminary research for a replacement several weeks ago. He finally decide that Electroluxes aren't worth their high price tags, and Hoovers have become junky. Online reviews convinced him that a Kenmore was probably our best best. So yesterday afternoon, he and Dionne set off for the nearest Sears outlet.

Although one hears stories about dogs who are terrified of vacuum cleaners, we've never had such a dog. Dionne doesn't pay much attention to them, running or silent. Steve reported that she was calm and well-mannered as he talked to the salesperson and then test-drove several models in succession. 

Vacuum-cleaning shopping can be exhausting.

Eventually, the two of them settled on a promising model. They paid for it and brought it home. It will start getting vigorous workouts immediately.