Dyson DC14 Animal Upright Cleaner

The day my vaccuum went out was probably the best day ever for my house! I would vaccuum weekly and *thought* I was getting everything out of the carpet. It looked clean and freshly vaccuumed. I did alot of research on Dyson, and especially the animal since I own 2 cats and 2 dogs. Pet hair is a major pet peeve of mine!

I decided that the animal was worth the investment and went to my local Target and purchased it. I was so excited to take it out of the box and try it out! Well, after vaccuuming half 1/4 of the living room, the canister needed changed. After vaccuuming the whole house it had emptied the canister 15 times! Mind you, I had just vaccuumed a few days prior. Disgusting! I never knew how much dirt and dog hair I wasn't getting out of the floor!

I decided to take the vaccuum over to my mom's house. The house was only 4 years old and there had never been any animals living in the house. She vaccuum's daily! I was still able to get 2 full canister changes out of her carpet! She was impressed!

I highly recommend the Dyson Animal. It is well worth the $500 investment and will be the only vaccuum you will ever own!

Okay so everyone has seen the Dyson commercials and unless you live on another planet, you know Dyson's claim to fame........unending suction!! As we were sitting down and watching tv one night, one of the Discovery Channels had a program on about the Dyson factory. That was all that she needed to see before the words "Honey, I think I would REALLY like to have one" came from the other side of the couch. My first thought was "this is going to hurt.." I remember the first time I saw a Dyson in Lowe's. I thought you have to be crazy to spend that kind of money on a vacuum. You know they say love makes you do crazy things.....so my search for the Dyson began.

"Hmmm....let's see which one do I want? The DC07, DC14, DC 15, all floors, anilam, complete, etc...." After hours of reading reviews and surfing the web for information, I settled on either a DC14 or DC15 Animal. Why, it only makes sense, we have a dog and a cat. The animal is designed with attachments that are specially made to pick up pet hair. Okay, now which one? DC14 or DC15....price difference $100, well hell after spending this kind of dough what's another $100?

So, we went to Sears where you can actually put your hands on these units, we "test drove" one of each model and my wife found the DC15 ball a little difficult to manuever and after a few minutes her wrist started to hurt. Ok, DC14 Animal it is!! :o) Whew, that was difficult!! Now, as most people who are shopping for something like, it is ALWAYS cheaper on the internet, thank you Sears sales lady but I have to think about it for awhile.....off to Ebay I go.

Now when I thought all the decisions were made....to buy a new one or save about $130 and buy a remanufactured unit? This is important!!!! A new unit comes with a 5 YEAR warranty, a remanufactured unit 90 DAYS!!! If I am going to spend over $300 on a vacuum, this damn thing better run forever....but since it is machinery, I know that is wishful thinking!!

So within a few days, our new vacuum cleaner arrives!!! After a very easy assembly, my wife decided to test this thing by first vacuuming our floor with our old Bissell bagless, okay the floor has to be clean right? WRONG!!! After going over the same area with the Dyson, we thought we had a 2nd dog in our family!!! It was completely gross to see the crap our old vacuum left behind!! We are completely hooked on this vacuum. Many of the reviews that I read stated the Dyson was too loud when in use, not sure if maybe they had their hearing aids turned up too loud but this vacuum was actually quieter than any other of our previous ones!!

I would highly recommend this to anyone, yes it is very scary taking the plunge to spend this kind of money on a vacuum but you will soon find out that it was worth every single penny!!!

I have been very happy all in all with my Dyson Animal. As the owner of a MASSIVELY fluffy dog and one equally fluffy yet somehow not so voluminous cat, I can tell you that this thing will HORRIFY you when you see what it extracts from your carpet! Yes, the same carpet you vacuum all the time and think is very clean but in reality, isn't!

This thing has lasted me about 3 years now, and the few complaints I do have are as follows:

The handle wand has very poor suction when using for edges etc. You really have to take the wand off and use the hose with the tools. This defeats the purpose of the handle, unless you are doing ceilings or something.

The vacuum is VERY heavy, and not a good choice for those with a second story. Not only is it hard to do the stairs, but lugging that thing up and down is a workout!

The "pet hair" tool thing, does work very well when it stays on. But, it is a constant battle to keep it on, as the "lock" doesn't seem to work. With carpal tunnel, it causes discomfort using it for very long. A stair "pet hair thing" tool would be a great addition as well, as this one is hard to use on stairs, and tho not designed for that, my fluffball does seem to track alot on the stairs.

If you buy this vacuum, make sure you get it cleaned out once a year, it is about $50, but, otherwise, it DOES lose a bit of suction just from the dust getting stuck in the holes.

I hope this is helpful, I'd be happy to answer any ?'s about this.

I RECENTLY PURCHASED MY DYSON DC 14 ANIMAL ON EBAY, GOT A GREAT PRICE TOO! I CAN SAY THAT I HAVE NEVER EXPRESSED THE TERM "LOVE" FOR ANY VACUUM BEFORE, BUT I LOVE MY DYSON! IT IS LIGHTWEIGHT, EASY TO PUSH AND QUIET. IT PICKS UP MY PETS HAIR, DUST AND DIRT WITH EASE. YOU WILL BE SURPRISED EVERYTIME YOU USE IT WHEN YOU SEE WHAT CAME OUT OF YOUR CARPET. MY DOGS ALSO LOVE TO GET ON MY FURNITURE EVEN THOUGH THEY KNOW THEY AREN'T SUPPOSED TO, SO I LOVE THE ATTACHMENTS FOR PET HAIR REMOVAL FROM FURNITURE. THE SUCTION IS POWERFUL. I KNOW MY HUSBAND MUST GET TIRED OF ME SHOWING HIM THE DIRT THAT IT PICKED UP, BUT I HAVE TO BECAUSE IT IS STILL SO AMAZING TO ME. HE JUST SMILES AND SAYS "OK, SWEETHEART!" BELIEVE ME, WHEN YOU TRY A DYSON YOU WILL NEVER GO BACK TO ANY OTHER VACUUM. IF THIS ONE EVER QUITS ON ME, I'M GETTING ANOTHER ONE!

Only buy this if you want a clean & healthy home and save money. In my opinion, no other upright vacuum can clean as well as the Dyson. Excellent cleaning, customer service, no belts or bags, low maintenance, long power cord. Constant Airflow!

Take the time and read my review!!

Mr. Dyson says his vacuum never loses suction. He is absolutely right, but all vacuums don't ever lose suction. What makes the Dyson different then 99% of the others is it will never lose 100% of its airflow. Only a small amount of the dust in a Dyson gets to the hepa filter so it loses only a very slight amount of airflow. I think he would have been more correct if he had said his vacuum keeps 98% of the airflow. I think he said "suction" instead of "airflow" because most people don't know the difference.

The conventional bag vacuum, and now bagless ones, loses by far the majority, up to 98%, of their airflow. Why all the chatter about airflow and not suction? Suction doesn’t clean, airflow does. Let me explain.

Does a toilet plunger have suction? Yes. Could you use a toilet plunger to clean your carpet? No. Why? Because there is no airflow. As soon as you lift the toilet plunger off of the carpet any dirt that might have been caught in the suction would just fall back to the carpet. Still don’t believe me?

Take a regular drinking glass and put it on a table. Drop something very light into it like a piece of a mini marshmallow or a very small piece of paper. Put your mouth over the opening in the glass sealing it around your mouth and suck. You can suck so hard it feels like your lips are going to be ripped off of your face but the marshmallow or piece of paper will not move. Why? There is plenty of suction! The reason is because there is no airflow.

Without airflow there is no air movement to carry away the dirt in a carpet, or a marshmallow in a drinking glass. Suction has no air movement. In order to pick up dirt, a vacuum cleaner has to have air freely flowing in from the head or brush bar area through the porous paper bag or bagless dirt collector and freely out of the vacuum cleaner. The dirt that is picked up from the carpet from a bag vacuum cleaner is carried (actually pushed) by the air all the way through the vacuum cleaner to the inside walls or sides of the bag, where because of the small bag holes, it is stopped.

Not only is the dirt stopped, because of the small holes in the bag, but the dirt stops-up or clogs-up the small holes causing the vacuum cleaner to lose its airflow. A vacuum cleaner has to use a porous bag in order to let out the air. Could you imagine what would happen if your vacuum cleaner had a plastic dirt bag? You’re right, nothing. Why? Because the air could not escape. With the air not escaping there is no airflow. See what I mean?

The motor is still turning and trying to blow air out the holes in the porous bag (or in a bagless vacuum through the air filters) but because the holes are clogged with dirt two things happen.

First, pressure builds up and forces the smaller dirt, dust, bacteria, germs, carpet mites and anything else small enough, through the holes so the air can escape. Congratulations! You have just moved all the filth from your carpet to the air in your house. Now breathe deeply. Smell that “vacuum smell”? Now you know what gives it its smell, filth.

Secondly, because all of the holes are clogged with this nasty stuff, the air flow is so restricted that only the lightest carpet

I have had many vacuum cleaners over the years. I have always needed something powerful and with Hepa filtration due to my son's chronic asthma and allergies. When my last vacuum cleaner was on it's last leg and being held together with duct tape, an out of the country houseguest surprised my with the Dyson DC14 Animal as a thank you gift.

I had ogled this beautiful piece of machinery in the advertisements. It enticed me with it's seductive promises of power, it's sleek lines, it's delicious color and the fact that I would never have to drive all over town again in search of "type U" vacuum cleaner bags. This vacuum was a housewives fantasy. I was in sheer Heaven when I unwrapped the box and got my new Dyson ready to use.

Now I knew my household would definitely put my new vacuum cleaner to the test. After all, I have two labrador retrievers who run in and out of the back door all day, an 8 year old who enjoys teeny tiny beads, sparkling fluff balls and feather boas and a husband who works in a plastics separation plant and drags in all sorts of small platic chips.

Not only did the Dyson DC14 Animal clean, it suctioned to the floor so strongly that it pulled things out of the carpet after the third pass! It pulled out enough dog hair to build five more large doggy sculptures! The ease in which the collection canister detaches and reattaches is a dream and the crevice and attachment tool is conveniently located in the handle. This thing can even chase dust bunnies on hard wood floors after a simple click of a switch.

Another thing I like about the Dyson DC14 Animal is that all of the filters are cleanable! That's right, the instruction manuel shows you step by step how to remove and clean the fliters and even the surrounding suction holes. With proper maintenance following the guidelines in the manuel, this vacuum will last us a very long time!

I am pleased with the Dyson DC14 Animal and I highly recommend it to anyone shopping for a new vacuum cleaner.

This review was initially written in 2006.
Just wanted to update: It's May 2008 and still very happy with this Dyson.
Another update: March 2009 - the Dyson is still going strong...no service issues at all

For some reason, cat hair possibly being at least part of the culprit, I could never a vaccuum to work reliably for more than a year or two without all sorts of maintenance problems & decreasing effectiveness. The lastest one was a Panasonic. I always liked Panasonic products & this one had a good rating. But seems I was replacing belts (not an easy task) as fast as bags, and constantly stinking up the house with a burnt rubber smell. Suction was intermittent.

So, time for a new vac again. Saw the Dyson commercials, but was skeptical. This time I posted on one of the eBay boards to see if anyone had a vac they were actually happpy with & would recommend. Hand's down, the overwhelming majority were happy with their Dysons. Normally I don't spend more than $200-250 for a vac & the Dyson's are twice the cost. But even my husband was tired of constantly fixing vacs, and we figured we'd give it a try.

I usually make most of my purchases online that I can, but didn't want to purchase the Dyson online, as I was still a bit skeptical and wanted to be able to easily return it ASAP if I didn't like it. Plus, many of the ones I saw online were re-conditioned, and I wanted a new one with full warranty. Was a big sale at Target, & our only local store was sold out of every model I had considered & no rainchecks. Luckily found a special 3 day promotion at Bed Bath & Beyond, where you got a $100 gift card for later use when you bought the vac. Not as good as a $100 off, but figured at least could use the gift card for some household items down the road.

We purchased a Dyson DC14 Animal. This one has all the extra attachments. Just beware, you will see some lower priced, but then the attachments are not included & costs more overall if you want to buy them later. Got it home & I put it together (actually easier than most I've had). I will admit it is huge & very strange looking. I was concerned about the weight, because in a bi-level home I am always going up & down. Actually it isn't any heavier than my old vac, and because of the long hose, unlike with my old vac, I can keep the vac at the bottom of the steps & go the entire flight of stairs without juggling it mid-way. And is pushes easier than my old vac.

I was also concerned about having to empty a bagless vac. Had a bagless years ago & was quite a messy affair. The Dyson is very well designed & is much easier with less dust poofing out to empty than changing bag on my old Panasonic was. I just take the canister outside, hold it over a trash bag, hit one button & poof it's gone. Then you just snap the bottom back on & pop it back on the vac.

But was impressed me the most was all the stuff this thing is pulling out of my carpet. The first run with it, the canister filled up quickly, sucking unidentified "yuck" out of my carpet that evidently the old vac had been leaving behind. I am still getting used to how the attachments all work, (you definitely wanna read those instructions!) but I am getting the hang of it. I couldn't be more pleased with the current performance of my DC14 Animal. It's too early to say how reliable it will be in the long haul, but at least initially, I have to give my Dyson DC14 Animal a big "thumb's up" and would highly recommend.

I needed to get a new vacuum right away my friend said get a dyson they are great. Well before I spent that much money I wanted to try one first. My friend lent me hers and I have to say I am still looking for a vacuum. The machine has a loud (whine) engine. The tools did not have alot of suction ecspecially the small beater bar attachment. As far as removing pet hair did not touch the hair around the dogs bed or kennel, however it did get it up off the hardwood floors. It is a very heavy machine and do not believe the no mess emptying, I suffer allergies and the dust that comes out and up from the garbage can was not good. I guess for the price of the machine I expected alot more!

I chose to get a dyson vacuum because my baby is going to be crawling any day now, and I REALLY needed a good vaccum that would get our floors spotless! I chose the Dyson because I had heard nothing but good reveiws of it, and I also wanted a vacuum that would LAST and not lose suction!! After researching online to find the best price I decided to get it here on Ebay, because it was $250 less getting ir refurbished than buying it brand new (and refurbished is just like brand new) and unlike the refurbished ones on the Dyson website, it came with ALL the atachments I wanted and a 3 year warrantee!! I would most definitely recommend this vacuum to others - when it arrived I was SO impressed!! I was easy to assemble, vacuumes like a dream and it is SO easy to empty the canister! it takes less than 30 seconds to take it off, empty it, and put it back in! VERY different from the 30+ minutes I spent trying to change the bag on my old vacuum! I love the long hose and the attachments! As well as the fact that it adjusts for carpet and bare floor... overall its an AWESOME product!

The best part of having this bagless vacuum is there's no odor anymore! You don't smell the doggies at all and no dust in the air! I shold have bought one of these years ago. Great product.

It's the vacuum you can't afford not to have! My wife and I bought the DC14 Animal, it came with a warranty and accessories. WE LOVE IT!! It has breathed new life into our carpet, it looks like it did when we first got our home. We have lived here 8 years and have two dogs. Thats saying something there! We had a Hoover Upright that we thought did a good job but there's no comparison. BUY ONE, YOU'LL LOVE IT!!! We sure do.

This is my second Dyson purchase from ebay - I needed a second vacuum cleaner for a house I am renting while the other vacuum stays at my real house. I was very happy with the first dyson (DC07 low reach) especially as I was comparing with a terrible el cheapo dirt devil that spat out dust instead of sucking it up. I didn't try any other brands first, but I believed most of the reviews that I read. I have had #1 for about four years now, but lost the low-reach floor tool in a move. Never really used it anyway - it was still too big to reach under the sofa and I used the stair wand tool to clean under the bed (hardwood floors). I decided to use it to clean up after some renovations, and the filter clogged up with construction dust, but a good wash every once in a while works wonders. From now on, I use the shopvac for things like that. I had a problem at first with the scary ratcheting noise when I changed to the carpet setting, but figured out if I was gentler in lowering the front of the vacuum with my foot, there was no problem.

I have called Dyson for help when something apparently broke on the vacuum and it wouldn't go back into the upright standing position. They were very helpful, and told me what to do and it fixed the problem. This seems to be a very sensible vacuum - and not easy to break (having said that, I did break my stair tool.

My new DC14 is being used in a house full of pale pink carpet (no accounting for taste) and is doing a good job. The carpet is still shedding, and my pets always shed, but dog and cat hair and carpet fluff is not a problem for the Dyson. I like being able to empty the canister instead of filling up bags and having to buy more - it makes me feel as though I am saving money and vacuuming more thoroughly - because I know I would not be very regular with changing the bags. I bought the animal version because it came with the carpet cleaning kit and all the tools - but again, I haven't used the low reach tool yet. The carpet cleaning stuff I tried on some stains and it didn't work very well.

One issue that I have read people complain about it the vacuum's weight - it is not light, but I manage. It is a bit of a pain in the ass to carry up and down the stairs, but the handles are well positioned for it, and I have no idea whether comparable brands are any lighter.

Anyway, the bottom line is that now I quite enjoy vacuuming whereas before Dyson I dreaded it, so to me it is a good vacuum and worth the money.

My new Dyson DC14 Animal vacuum cleaner is everything I hoped it would be! It is easy to operate and very effective! I have a lot of pet hair in my house and this vacuum cleaner has not been a disappointment! I'm amazed at how well it removes the pet hair from my furniture! This product is definitely worth every penny spent!

The animal DC14 is a very good model. A friend has a very hairy golden retriver that sheds like you can't believe and this puppy (the vac, not the dog!) just sucks it all up. It's a very impressive vac. I also like the way it's easy to take apart in case anything does jam up (like pine needles post christmas). And not having to purchase bags is a huge plus. And let's face it--it's just more fun to clean with a purple vac! ;-)

I have purchased 3 vacuum's in 3 years. I have a dog that sheds constantly and my vacuums just kept burning out. So I purchased a Dyson. I did this when they first came out so I paid a huge price. It does do a much better job with the hair and ground in dirt then my Hoover Wind Tunnel, Kenmore, and Hoover Wind Tunnel Canister Vac. I have had the Dyson over a year now and I can say that it still works as well as it did when I first got it. For the price, I did expect this amazing vacuum so I was a little disappointed. I thought I could just go over top a pile of dog hair once and the pile would be gone. It takes 2-3 swipes to remove the hair. So I guess I would say that as long as you dont expect it to suck up everything in one amazing swipe, it gets the job done with out losing its ability. The hose on it is pretty amazing. That thing can stretch pretty darn far!

I have had this vacuum for about 6 months now and love it. I have not had to use it on any yucky, yucky messes yet. but had worked great for me so far. is the only vacuum that i have had that will pull stuff from the edge of the wall or from under the edges of furniture without you taking the hose loose to grab it. a little brush sweeps stuff into the path of the vacuum. love this. the handle easily detaches to clean the couch or get behind stuff. I failed to read all the instructions when i first got it and ended up dumping the dust i had just vacuumed in the middle of my kitchen floor. i did'nt laught at the time. but it does empty easily (once you figure out how to do it) and if you put it in a bag dust doesnt fly everywhere. overall have had no problems with. would recommend. would buy again

I liked the concept of having a vacuum for pet hair and dander. We purchased this Dyson and were pleased with the amount of dust and hair it picked up from our carpet. The inner filter-- inside the part you empty--was usually thick with fine dust and needed to be emptied often. When it worked, it did a great job.
The downfalls: when you empty the junk from the vacuum--it flies out from your garbage. That's what happens naturally when you don't have it contained in a bag. But you don't have to purchase bags, which cost money.
Another problem--the attachment piece which comes off of the upright handle does not have good suction.You'll need another vacuum for baseboards and small spaces. Furthermore, the vacuum is large and can not fit under the bed or under tight places very well.
We had ours two years and it stopped working. We took it in to get repaired and it broke again within a month. I clean--(flylady) every Monday and do additional cleaning as needed during the week--so we used it often. We purchased a new vacuum and did not buy a Dyson again.

I purchased a factory refurbished Dyson DC14 Animal a few months ago because I had heard many great reviews for Dyson vacuum cleaners. I was initially hesitant to purchase a refurbished vacuum but after a few months of weekly use with no problems those hesitations are now non-existent. This vacuum removes dirt, hair, and anything else that has imbedded itself in your carpet. I am very impressed with the Dyson DC14. I thoroughly vacuumed a room with my Eureka Uno and gathered a 1/4 dirt/debris in the bin. I then went over the same area with the Dyson DC14 and gathered a ¼ more dirt/debris in the bin. Needless to say I was very impressed! I would recommend this unit to anyone who wishes to keep a cleaner home. The extra money is worth it when choosing between competitor vacuums. The tools that are included with the DC 14 Animal have made it easier to clean the staircases in my house as well as under beds and tables.

This truly is a great vacuum!

I am very pleased with this vacuum. It has good suction power and it really isn't to heavy to carry up and down stair. Love the extention for the stairs as well. Very pleased.

Dislike-Nothing-Love everything-With a Himalayan cat, we definitely have a problem w/shedding. This vac picks up the cat hair on1st pass-love the push button you use to empty the container-All hands free-Just hold it over a trash can, we use the one in the garage, and push the button, all comes dirt, dust, and cat hair! On the few time a little of the fur stuck I just shook the cannister or used a wooden rules and loosened it and out it comes. My brother and his wife who are very neat and keep their house very clean (opposite of me) loved mine so much they got one from e-bay. Were they surprised when they used the dyson for the 1st time. They have no pets and it is is just the 2 of them unless their kids or grandson is visiting. so what they thought were clean carpets, filled the dirt cannister. They just could not believe how much more dirt they picked up after using the DYson. They had just vacuumed 5 days before. Anyway whether you are very tidy person, a regular clean house person,or have a lived in look, like I do, or in need of MS Nicey and the Clean House cres (which at times I could use) the Dyson family of vac is for you. It makes a clean house cleaner, and a lived in one great to live in-allegeries down, dust down. Oh and did I mention, it was so quiet I thought it wasn't working. And some music on turned the vac on and couldn't here the vac running. And, it is so very light-When you first open the box do not think it is a piece of junk because it is light. My first though was this can't be any good, it doesn't weight anything, just another cheap piece of overprice plastic. Boy way I wrong-it is very sturdy, despite the light weight, and moves with a touch a the finger. It seem to be self-propelled-The accessories are great, cleans my microsuede oversize chair wonderfully, automatically switches carpet heights, and when switching to non=carpeted floors, it is wonderful-picks up all the little strings and crumbs a broom might miss. Also, great for cleaning blinds and the grills on the returns for the heating and a/c-One caution, use the brush, I used the crevice tool at first., and the suction was so strong, it sucked some of the little air freshener strips I had attached to the filter out. : ) That was too funny but did show how powerful the vac is.
I guess you can say both the really neat family and the not so "domestic goddess" family love their DYSON and will not ever use anything else. And any new products that come from Dyson, we will be interested in and believe the ads. glennmeri

Unbelievable what this vacuum pulls out of your carpet. No vacuum can compare. My wife was upset for me spending the money on this vacuum, until she used it for the fist time. Now she says it's the best purchase WE ever made.

My mother in law owns one of these and she would just rant and rave about it! So for Christmas I told my husband I wanted one! Kind of an old request for Christmas, huh? So anyways I absolutely LOVE it! I really thought my old vacuum did a great job, but was I WRONG! We have 2 full size dogs and they shed a lot, and my other vacuum would pick up the hair and what I thought was a lot of dirt! So I put this one to the test! I went over my floors with the old vacuum, and then went over them again with the Dyson. I was so grossed out when I seen all the dirt and hair the Dyson picked up! So far it has been worth every penny we spent on it! I will never go back to any other vacuum!

This is the third Dyson Animal that I've purchased. I purchased one for myself and both of my daughters. All three of us couldn't be happier!

Dyson is light-weight but powerful. We have dogs who shed (alot!) and the Animal is wonderful on both carpets and hardwood floors. The height is adjustable (hardwood vs. carpet) with the flick of a thumb. It empties by pulling a lever--no residue; no bags.

I would HIGHLY recommend this vacuum whether or not you have pets.