I have never actually had to buy a vacuum cleaner, as the first couple I used were my parents old cast off's. and when the original Dyson 01 they had given us was on its absolute last legs after my husband used it for hoovering up rubble, my very kind Aunt decided she would buy us a new one. So, with no choice in the matter at all, she chose us a Dyson DC14 Animal vacuum cleaner. She told me this was her first choice because we had just got 2 kittens at the time, and she thought this would be good for picking up any fur they left lying around. (Personally speaking, I have more problems with my shoulder length hair getting everywhere, and I am pleased to report it deals well with that too.)

My first impressions of this machine when we received it for Christmas in 2005 was that it is a nice looking machine in shades of silver and purple. Design wise, it didn't seem that different in appearance to the DC01 I had been using.

It came with 3 attachments that you usually get with vacuum cleaners. A crevice tool, a dusting brush and a stair tool. I find that I use these quite a lot. The brush is good for using on my curtain poles, my leather settee, and all the woodwork in the house. It also works well on electrical items. The crevice tool is fantastic for getting around the edges of the rooms next to the skirting board, where I find the Dyson leaves about an inch gap where it does not pick up. The stair tool I am not that bothered about. I don't find it that good on the stairs, preferring to use the crevice tool, although I do tend to use it to vacuum my mattress when I change my bedding, and it also hoovers the small gap down the side of my bed where the big dyson won't fit.

It also came with an extra attachment - a min-turbine head which is meant to be great for using in small spaces and for picking up the pet hair, but as I have found the main dyson does the job adequately, I can't say I have given it much thought. I could use it upstairs where we have more carpets but when I am already carrying the dyson up the stairs, I don't really need to be picking up extra weight.

The Dyson DC14 is an upright model, which is very simple to use. The on/off button is located just above the dustbucket handle on the front of the machine. There are two modes of use. You tap the front of the machine above the brush heads with your foot to activate the lever, which makes it function as a push along machine, or if you leave it at a 90 degree angle as shown in the picture in the catalogue, the suction is through the handle part. Pushing in the ribbed purple section on the front of the handle allows you to release the telescopic wand, where you can then attach whichever attachment you want to use, and you have a long reach then to tackle room edges and dusty covings. This gives you quite a lot of distance. If I stand my dyson at the bottom of the stairs and release the telescopic wand, I have just enough stretch in it to do the whole flight of 13 stairs. This saves me balancing on the stairs holding the whole weight of the hoover, but is a little tricky as if you don't hold it tightly, you would end up it pinging back down the stairs.

There is a little sliding switch above the brush heads which alters the height of the roller allowing you to tackle different types of surfaces. In my house the Dyson has to deal with tiled kitchen and bathroom floors, a laminated wooden floor throughout my living room and dining room, a fairly old and a bit raggy carpet on the stairs, and plush shagpile carpets in the bedrooms. It seems to cope equally well with all of these surfaces.

In 7 years use, it has been altered in the manner described at least weekly, and I have never had any problem with cracks in the pipes, loose switches, or in fact any failure whatsoever. In fact, I fully believe if my husband had not cleaned up building rubble during DIY then my first Dyson would still be going strongly.

We make sure that we maintain the hoover to keep it performing at its optimum. We empty the collection bucket whenever it gets to 3/4 full. I make sure I get right in there as sometimes my hair can get clogged around the air holes in the top of the cyclone section, and if this happens more fluff and dust is trapped there until suction becomes very poor.

The filters are still the original ones. On this machine it is a big round one, which gets clogged up with really fine dust particles. I tackle this job every 6 months. I make sure when I do this that it is fully dry before going back in the machine otherwise it is pretty pointless. In winter, this can take about 24 hours leaving it on the radiator. You would not believe the muck that comes out when we do this.

Really I should probably replace these as they originally were there with the purpose of HEPA filtration, and designed to remove allergens from pet hair from the home. None of us suffer from that though, and none of us are asthmatic, so I have never seen the need. They are on sale from amazon at a cost of £10.99.

The last job is we find that the brush heads also get quite clogged with my hair. Every now and then, I turn the machine upside down so that I can see this, and I use a small pair of scissors to cut through the hair and remove it all from the brush heads, so they can go back to peak performance.

The only other thing that can affect suction is if you pick up something you shouldn't like a small toy. There is a small removable section to one side of the machine where heavier items like this seem to collect. It is really easy to slide this out and in again.

Sometimes if the hoover is in need of maintenance, it can make a whiny sound when trying to push it along. I find that if I return it to a 90 degree angle, and then put my hand over the top of the telescopic hand, the suction seems to break the air lock and it stops making the whiny noise and picks up a lot better.

I do really like this machine and it makes a good job of picking up fluff and debris from pets, but I do find it has a couple of negatives. Sometimes it might be nice to have a bit less suction. Eg. cleaning my mattress or giving the curtains a freshen up. I find it hard to get close to objects, so it leaves a gap around the edge of the room where you have to swap to the crevice tool. It is also really quite heavy at around ten kilograms when I need to take it upstairs. It is not so much the weight, as I regularly carry the kids and they weigh more than that. However, I find that you can only really pick it up using the handle above the dust bucket as this is the only comfy place to grab it. It then means all the weight is being held weirdly in one place. I think if I were shorter than I am at 5 foot six inches, I would have to get my husband to carry it upstairs for me which is not convenient.