Review (3/5): Nice brush if your dog has fairly easy to comb fur
[[VIDEOID:d8c4188c3a8b20cec0a8f90c9a1aa483]] So, this is a dog brush with a gimmick. Namely, it has a little push button on the back to clear the fur from the comb. The attached video shows you how it works.
I have a Cavachon (a cross between a Bichon and a Cavalier) which has hair, not fur. The hair is fairly fine and as it grows long, it tangles. The longer it gets, the more snarls it gets so we thought this brush would be great to make picking the fine hair clumps out much easier.
The Good:
1) The push-button cleaner actually does a good job, it lifts the back above the bristles and you can whisk away the trapped hair with your fingers.
2) The soft rubber tips on the end of the bristles are a lot less "poke-y" than metal bristles that are just cut wire.
3) The rubber handle is easy to grip and does not slip in your hand.
4) After just one brushing, my dog's hair is super soft, so it seems to work.
The Bad:
1) This is a pretty expensive brush to be as flexible as it is. The brush always feels like it is just about to break when I pull on snarl. There is no piece of metal or wood in the handle, and it is super flexible to the point that it feels kinda cheaply made. Without stiffness in the handle, you don't get much leverage on the tangles, so it seems to pull more on the hair rather than pulling through the hairball. I seemed to have to tug on it more, which might cause more discomfort to the dog than my wooden handle brush.
2) I don't really need to clean my brush that often, so having to pull out the hair in my old brush just wasn't that hard. I am more comfortable with my stiffer wooden brush with similar teeth for less $$$
The Ugly:
1) After the second brushing, a wire got bent to the point that when I used the cleaning thingee, the bristle got stuck beneath the cleaning thing and bent even worse as the cleaning thing retracted. I figure after several uses, there is a good chance that the cleaning gimmick will be useless.
Overall rating: B- I really wanted to love this brush. All the sadder that it failed to live up to my hopes. However, if you have a dog with fairly straight fur that sheds a lot but doesn't get too tangled, this might just be the perfect brush for you.