It started with those innocent, loving dark eyes looking back at him from the computer screen. Matthew Bakich wasn’t a dog person but after prodding from his wife, he figured what would it hurt to drive over to the rescue and look at this puppy that recently arrived from Texas. Things were set in motion.
Even that cute puppy from the Lone Star State knew it…sitting in the yard when Matthew and his wife, Molly, arrived… she was going home. That’s the beauty of dogs, their adorableness has the power to turn non-dog people, like Matthew, into dog lovers.
In this case, adorableness trumped everything. Heck, Matthew even concedes they weren’t ready to add a dog…the yard wasn’t even fenced in yet… but those puppy dog eyes. So within minutes of arriving at the Milwaukee-area foster home connected to Hoping Fur a Home Dog Rescue, the couple knew that Scout, a female border collie mix, was a fit for their family. That was July of 2018.
This slide into becoming a dog person is quite the slippery slope, as Matthew soon found out. In a few short months, Scout had brought so much joy to their new house that it only seemed right to reward their fur baby with … a sibling. So, in December of 2018, off they went back to Hoping Fur a Home and back they came with Miles, a lab-collie mix
The love was mutual, as the dogs became fast friends and are now inseparable. And why not? They share much in common – both were found in Texas – Scout on the side of the road and Miles in a box at a church.
“Scout loves people,” Matthew said. “At the dog park she doesn’t care about the other dogs, she focuses on the people. Miles is the opposite. He will follow Scout wherever she goes and is always looking to get her attention. As soon as she gets up to play, he also gets up.”
So much love came with so much … hair. This was something that had to be addressed.
“I grew up in a very clean house, a very clean environment,” Matthew explained. “White carpet, white furniture, the works.”
Needless to say, it was a big change for Matthew to now have pet hair all around his home. The dogs both shed a lot, which Matthew tried to control with blankets on the couch, blankets on the bed, special towels, etc. But as dog lovers know, it can often be a constant battle, this fur fight.
“Hair is just everywhere,” Matthew exclaimed. “They’re a welcome addition to our family – they’re funny, cuddly and really sweet…but they’re so hairy.”
To try and maintain some semblance of cleanliness, Matthew and Molly washed multiple loads of laundry each week to try and get rid of the fur. They also vacuum, a lot, he added.
After months of lots of loads of laundry, Matthew started to feel frustrated because there wasn’t a great solution in the laundry arena for getting rid of pet hair. But as a product business partner for Speed Queen, this converted dog lover could tackle the problem head-on. He brought his frustration to the team to see if anyone else shared his grievances with their furry friends. The answer was an overwhelming yes.
These shared frustrations were a catalyst to the creation of Speed Queen’s newest dryer features – the Pet Plus™ cycles for pet hair removal and drying of pet-related items. These features are now available for all dog lovers (and fur haters) on the DR7 model.
After testing out the DR7’s new pet cycles, Matthew’s laundering frustrations as he knew them were over. To learn more about the creation of these cycles, read this blog.