This morning David and I got up much too early to drive out to hill country in order to collect switchgrass. It was hot, sunny, and muddy, but mission accomplished! On the ride home, we noticed thousands of baby spiders crawling around the back seat, but fortunately, it was his car.
Now to clean up before the afternoon meetings. But first, a question:
During the adventure, our pup got covered in little sticky burrs. I’ve already pulled out several dozen by hand and begun the tedious task of removing the rest with scissors. So I turn to our dog experts out there…
Do you think it’s worth cutting them all out, or will they fall away eventually on their own? Advice welcome and appreciated!
July 29th, 2010 at 10:57 am
If you are planning on traveling far with the dog, you’ve got to get them all out or you may be transporting an invasive species!
July 29th, 2010 at 11:40 am
Get them out. They’re only going to get further embedded if the dog has longish hair.
As for the spiders. Just close up the hot car and you won’t have to worry about them climbing around for long. They’ll be easier to clean up roasted.
July 29th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Yes. You may have to shave her, but best they come out.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Yeah, get ‘em out. Probably worth taking the pooch to the groomer if you’d rather not deal with it yourself
July 29th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
I agree with Jess and Prof-like: They will not come out on their own. They will burrow in and rash up the dog’s skin. I use oversize tweezers, but you may have to cut them out – or shave the dog.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
I use a fine toothed comb to get the easy ones out. The ones that are really embedded in places like tails though you have to almost cut out. And I’d recommend getting as many out as you can. Many dogs will try to bite/lick them off and that could lead to a problem like a hotspot (at least, that’s what’s happened to my dogs a couple of times).
July 29th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Cut! Pull (gently)! Brush!
If left too long they can cause some distress and discomfort for the dog as they will cause the fur to matt and pull together. Painful if this happens near the ears, mouth or legs.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
I agree with the other commenters. But there’s an emotional benefit as well. Grooming promotes social cohesion. So it can be a bonding experience between you and your dog.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
They’re only going to get further embedded if the dog has longish hair, As for the spider, thanx for the share.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Poor Happy!
July 29th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
[...] Blogs / The Intersection « Notes from the Field: A Sticky Situation [...]
July 29th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Hope it all works out.
If a sticky burr is really caught in the hair, try using some oil to help loosen it. You can use detangling spray from pet stores or a little vegetable oil will do the job. If you are having an extremely difficulty time removing the burr, you will probably need to cut the burrs out of the hair. Make sure you are cutting the hair and not the skin. If there are a lot of sticky burrs on your pet, you will need to take it slowly giving yourself and your pet a rest between removing the burrs. Removing burrs can be painful so give your pet a break every ten or fifteen minutes then start the process again.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/47510/how_to_remove_those_sticky_burrs_on.html?cat=53
July 30th, 2010 at 2:08 am
[...] Thanks to readers for all of your great suggestions in comments and over email about burr removal. [...]
July 30th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
I’ve heard of people getting them out by saturating the burrs with oil or peanut butter. I think I tried peanut butter with one of my nieces but it was a long time ago.
August 2nd, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Foxtails are the worst, they only go one way. One of our dogs had one go completely through her foot (went in the bottom side of her foot and was removed from the top of her foot). We didn’t realize there was even a problem with her foot until an abscess formed. It was drained and explored twice. It wasn’t until the 2nd time that the foxtail was found and removed. It took 2-3 weeks from discovery of the abscess to remove it.
August 7th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
I recognize those burrs: they explode into hundreds of small, round, black seeds, each of which is capable of growing a BUSH with thousands of burrs! So take care not to remove these in your backyard or you will have these coming up all over next spring.
I speak from experience, unfortunately.
Also, you can work most of them out by hand, but wear gloves, as the spines on these buggers can be prickly. I had to cut some out of my collie, but most will work out by hand if the dog has enough patience with you.