Seems I saw something several years back where a woman spins her own yarn from animal shed hair(dogs/cats) She then knits a coat for the dog or a hat/scarf for the owner.

During nesting season, we put the excess dog hair out in the yard for the birds. They use it to make nests.

If you have deer, woodchucks, feral cats and other predators in your vegetable and flower gardens, make furballs! Take the toe of a nylon stocking, stuff it with dog fur, and tie it to a stake near the plants being damaged. We had at least 10 furballs in our garden, and everything stayed away (except the chickens, but we all know how intelligent hens are).
Furballs need to be replaced after a rain or monthly, whichever comes first (in Texas, it won't be the rain). The smell of "predator" really deters the pests!

There was a book on the market a few years ago titled "Knitting with Dog Hair: Better a Sweater From a Dog You Know and Love Than From a Sheep You'll Never Meet". I knew a kid back in the 70s whose mom saved bags of their St. Bernard's sheddings until she had enough that a lady could spin it and knit a hat with it. It was a very pretty hat, though sounds like a tremendous amount of work. Nowadays you can find someone to pay to do just about anything fiber related. If you knit or crochet, you could save the fur and have someone else spin it into yarn for you.

I just looked that book up. It seems it's out of print and the price for used is a little high for my tastes ($30). I always loved the title of that book though.

Ditto on the nesting material post. I keep a spare peanut-style bird feeder around (the tubular kind made of wire mesh with fairly large openings), and fill it as I groom out my dog's shedding coat. I then hang it outside in very late winter, and it's amazing how quickly the birds will empty it.

Many people with American Eskimo dogs do "knit" the fur like hair - and others stuff pillows with it. I am not one of those! Actually our almost 6 year old Eskie does not blow his coat to the extent that many do - we just have the tumbleweeds everywhere and my black coats are "tweed". Which of course means more grooming of said Eskie.

The amount of fur my three big monsters "chunk" could insulate a house. I've never tried to do anything with it but get rid of it.

However, one halloween, my husband and his dad took some of Rusty's shedding fur, and glued it to a shower cap. They then wrapped "the wig" in a shoebox, and gave it to husband's bald brother for a "present". LOL

Never in my life have I heard of spinning dog fur until this post. I learned something new & it's a great idea! I looked online and need a different sort of dog brush to collect the fur? It seems they want the longer furs, but not the thick fur....

Great ideas!! Thank you!

I vacuum up a lot of fur and when my kitchen garden was farther away from the house I would empty the vacuum cup around the perimeter of my small garden in hopes to deter rabbits.I guess it worked,I never had any rabbit damage and we do have lots of rabbits on our property.Debbie

I had heard of the spinning dog fur into yarn before, but I probably read it on this forum.

I put our hair brushings and sweepings into the compost pile. I do spread it out across the top of the pile, so if the birds want to come take some they are welcome to it.

And I have seen a bird nest in the yard, lined with yellow hair that matches my dog... so I know they are using it. :-)

Dog hair mittens are simply the best. Dog hair does not freeze and makes for very warm and comfy mittens.

There is even a book written on how to knit with dog hair.

Dog hair, as was already pointed out, is a wonderful pests deterrent. If rodents (and that sure includes squirrels) chew a hole through a wall or wood trim to get into your house, you can effectively fill that hole with a plug of dog hair filled mortar or wood filler. Critters will chew through steel wool but not through dog hair.

Finally, in Spring, when song birds are nesting, I take my terrier's clipping outside and birds use it as nesting material. They seem to like it.