Code2High
One hour past Nowhere, CA
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Francesca Knowles wrote:Code2High wrote:NO WATER. Seeds like that use water to move forward and dig themselves into the soil. They can go in through the skin and migrate from there.
This I never heard of- are you saying that the seeds actually actively dig through flesh???
Yes. Can, and do, and once inside they migrate.
susan
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a wabbit, Fuzzy Wuzzy had a dandelion habit! RIP little Wuz... don't go far.
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raindove
Pennsylvania
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I'd be shaving the dog down. Hair will grow back.
I don't know if the burrs will require as much tugging and pulling as it does to get mats out, but I don't think that's fair to a dog. I know when you make mats wet, it can make them tighter so they are even harder to brush out.
I never used the Cowboy Magic, but did use The Stuff when we were showing. I think the stuff is a similar product to the CB Magic.
If those burrs can penetrate the skin and cause problems like others are saying, I would have my clippers out as I'm typing here... It's not worth all the prospective issues, just to save the hair.
I did hear of a dog getting a serious problem with their ear related to a burr, but don't know that it's the same type of burr you speak of. I have no experience with the burrs.
Just wish I had $1 for every cocker spaniel I brushed out and trimmed over the years.
Good luck with this "less than pleasant" task. Something for me to keep in mind if we ever go to TX.
Would it help if you put a snood on the cocker? That would keep the burrs out of the ears and neck. Just a thought.
* This post was
edited 09/02/12 05:09pm by raindove *
Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.
Wanda
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raindove
Pennsylvania
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What kind of burrs are these and what areas are they prevalent in?
Are you hiking with your dogs through brush or are they picking up these burrs just walking them around the campground?
I don't mean to sound stupid, but would like to be better informed about this issue. We would like to travel out west, maybe next year.
* This post was
edited 09/02/12 05:26pm by raindove *
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LadyRVer
Florida
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The burrs my cocker picked up in TX were tiny ones, about the size of a pencil eraser. He got them walking in the campgrounds. I didn't even see them in the grass or on plants. The feathers on my spaniels' legs are a silky texture and the burrs just stuck! The skirt on his sides also picked them up along with his ears on the outside. After I trimmed him down, it really was much easier to comb them out. Not sure what the other campers thought when they saw me clipping him, tho.
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corgi-traveler
Bakersfield, CA
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Here in California the problem is the foxtail
Not sure if that is what the OP is dealing with or not, but these nasty little guys WILL burrow right into the skin and cause all sorts of infections.
Samantha (the poster)
Tim, spouse and driver of the Corgi-Bus
Buddy, Diva, and Pippin - Pembroke Welsh Corgis
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Retired Wileys
Lake Jackson, Tx USA
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My mother in law lived in west and central Texas and she called those beggars lice. It is so hard to get them out of fur. I would cut the feathering off my dog before we went and give the dog a detangle shampoo bath before and after a visit. Please check the toes very carefully.
Herschal & Pam Wiley
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dturm
Munster, IN
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We see "weed awns" pretty frequently, foxtail are notoriously bad. It is amazing how far these things can migrate under the skin. When ever we see a draining tract, that's one thing we consider as a cause.
The movement is not so much active by the burr or weed seed. It's more a passive process aided by the seed design. Any muscle activity, body movement or compression propels the thing in one direction due to the microscopic spicules on the surface of the seed. These are the same projections that allow it to get stuck in the hair in the first place.
Pretty ingenious design.
Doug, DVM
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Deb and Ed M
SW MI, USA
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dturm wrote:
The movement is not so much active by the burr or weed seed. It's more a passive process aided by the seed design. Any muscle activity, body movement or compression propels the thing in one direction due to the microscopic spicules on the surface of the seed. These are the same projections that allow it to get stuck in the hair in the first place.
Pretty ingenious design.
Sounds like the same design as a porcupine quill?
A few years ago, we stopped at a fairly-empty RV park and were told to park "wherever". Found a spot, took the dogs out on their leashes - and they didn't make it 5 feet before both sat down and started pulling burrs out of their feet (those spiky make-kids-bike-tires-go-flat kind). Dragged them back in the RV, combed them out; moved to a different spot. Still infested with burrs. Finally found a 3rd spot where we dared let the dogs out... do you suppose the emptiness of the park had anything to do with the burr infestation???!!! Geesh - if that was my park I would have Round-Upped the entire place...
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Code2High
One hour past Nowhere, CA
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There's a wild geranium that's even worse.... it actually has a curled tail that, when wet, unwinds and acts as a little screwdriver to push the tiny seed at the top into the soil or whatever else. Fascinating, but not something you want around your dogs.
Sand burrs/goat heads are a whole 'nother topic, man those things are obnoxious. I first encountered them when I moved up here. Just miserable, although at least they don't get in the dog unnoticed and wreak havoc.
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ClassBGirl
Memphis, TN
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Years ago my husband had a beautiful black Lab that we almost lost to a foxtail, just like the one in the picture. My husband had been dove hunting in Mississippi. Joe limped slightly when they first came home and then seemed OK the next day. About a week or so later Joe developed a large lump on the side of his neck and clearly started feeling lousy. Off to the vet. The vet ended up doing surgery and found a fox tail inside the badly infected lump. He guessed the foxtail entered though his webbed paw pad, traveled up the leg, and stopped in the neck area causing the massive infection in his neck. He did recover after several rounds of antibiotics.
ClassBGirl, Hubby, and "Bogie" the Basset Hound
2012 Triple E Regency - GT24MB (Grand Touring - 24 ft. - Murphy Bed)
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