[cmives]

hi there. we went hiking with Maggie this weekend, and she loved it. she didn't, however, love the burrs she got ALL over herself! We spent a ton of time trying to comb and brush them out and got many, but there are so many more! The problem is, there are a lot of them on her face, on her ear (only one side of her got burrs), and all over her belly and tail. i mean, hundreds of them!

i am planning to call a groomer tomorrow, and i guess I am prepared to have her shaved. i simply don't know how else they are going to get them all out! does anyone have a wonder cure for this? should I dump a bottle of conditioner on her and just start picking them out?

i mean, my husband was so distraught when i had Maggie groomed a few months ago (and they didn't shave her) and he is convinced that now as a result of that grooming, her coat is no longer silky waves but tight curls (is that possible or is it because her hair hasn't grown back out all the way? can a grooming actually change a coat??). now he is saying we have to do what we have to do. that could mean having her just shaved all the way down in order to remove the burrs. she doesn't seem all that bothered by them (this happened on Saturday when we were up in the mountains, so tomorrow is the first time we'll be able to get her to the groomer), but I'm afraid she is going to get mats from scratching and trying to get them out. they are nearly impossible to brush or comb out, and they are sharp!

help!!
christine

 

[Keith]

Where did you go hiking around here to obtain burrs?

We have had Bandit out a lot and never gotten burrs.
What type of burrs are they? foxtails, spiny type, or something else?

I couldnt tell ya what the coat changes may or may not due as we have never had Bandit groomed.

Let me know, interested in what trails you were on.

 

[Molly]

baby oil helps to remove them, but is messy. We use in on the horses tails and manes when they run into burrs.

 

[NurseLeslie]

I'm no help...I have spent hours, all totaled, hand-picking burrs out of Calvin's fur when he runs into the woods...I'm looking forward to hearing a quick fix for this...Leslie

 

[cmives]

hi Keith: we were up in Summit County near Dillon. we have a house there and we were up there with my husband's sister and her family. took a hike and of course hubby likes to have doggy off-leash. she was running around like a madwoman, and went off the trail just for a second. next time I looked at her, she had these little greenish very sharp burrs on one side of her body. i think we got out about 100-200 of them but there are several hundred more!

sometimes in our open space (we live near c470 and belleview) my husband will take her out while he mountain bikes or hikes and she'll get larger burrs in her feet and legs. i have told him that he needs to brush her whenever he takes her out. i try brushing her every day or so, but her coat is so thick it is sometimes hard to see any matting until it is pretty bad. which is why i had her groomed a few months ago (in June).

i hesitate to use baby oil because we have nice slate floors and I don't want oil to get on them or in the grout.

i guess i'll have the groomers work their magic, and i'm sure it will cost plenty...

 

[dixiedi]

Avon carries a product that comes in a spray, I can't think of the name of it but I will ask my husband in the morning but it works in the same way as baby oil. We use it on our horses tails and manes. You could try it and then bathe her, it would sure beat having her shaved

 

[A Flb named fuji]

We had the same problem, luckily Fuji only got a cluster on his nose, cheeks, and paw so after almost an hour of picking at them we got them all off. We feel your pain!

 

[Jac]

Sorry, no help here. When our dogs get burrs, I hand pick them out and it takes forever...plus the kind of burrs we have are tiny (like small seeds) and the spines are not easily seen, but man oh man...they stick in my fingers!
I usually don't shave my dogs, even though it would be easier, I take sissors and cut the burrs out...it is very time consuming but my dogs seem to love the attention and although they have a bad haircut for a while, they feel much better.
Be especially careful of the ones near his head...eyes and ears...could be really bad. Also, check between his toes (top and bottom) and near his lip...they get near their lip and really hurt.
Your husband should not worry that grooming changes the dog's coat...it is more likely that the coat that came back was not the puppy coat but the adult coat. If your dog is an F1, he will probably have a coarse coat. (But F1s are much easier to groom!)

 

[Donna]

Jacque has a good point-check between those toes!. Tucker has gotten covered with burrs and little seed things before, the latter which were buried deep between his toes, a dozen or more each toe. We used our hands, scissors and the undercoat brush on his coat. It took my husband and I about 2hrs. But they really were irritating to the skin around his toes so it had to be done. Oh, the price of fun.... I was also eager to see if there was an easier method. Good luck, Donna

 

[2doodsmom]

I have no easier method to suggest.... But you do have the get them out. Not only with they cause mats, but if they work their way down near the skin it can cause a lot of pain and even infection. It will take time to get them out, but thank goodness you know about them. It's the one's we don't find right away that can cause problems.

About the shaving I don't know, but I'm thinking that it's nearly September and it might be getting cold there pretty soon.....

Let us know how it works out. Good luck.

 

[cmives]

Well, Maggie had to be SHAVED

well, we had to shave maggie. not only did she have TONS of burrs (the very small spiny ones. ouch!), but she had so many mats they could simply not comb them out. The groomer went over Maggie with me so I could feel the mats. i feel so horrible! i had been brushing her but her coat is SO thick that i guess I wasn't getting all the way down to the skin.

the other thing I think that happened is that she was given a bath when we boarded her several weeks ago, and i seriously think they did not brush her out before or after the bath.

since I had her slightly groomed in June (meaning not shaved, but my husband thought I ruined her), i had been pretty diligent about brushing her and going through her thick coat to keep the mats away.

Anyway, if I knew how to post a picture I'd do it. she looks COMPLETELY different than before. she had almost a sheepdog look to her before, but now she definitely looks like a poodle. my hubby almost died when he saw her last night. i actually like it. the groomer said that the wiry coated doodles are MUCH easier to keep groomed, but the fleecy coated ones (like Maggie) are very high maintenance. i wish our breeder had told us that. i might have picked one of the wiry coated doods out of the litter (not that I don't love Maggie). the reason we picked her was because of her very soft wavy coat. Novices.

anyway, it's good to know she isn't overweight (70+ pounds at 9 months) because she looks like a greyhound with those long skinny legs holding up her body!

She does seem more happy and maybe from now on, my husband will keep her ON HER LEASH when we are out hiking!
Christine

 

[Jac]

Well, Christine, you are not alone...every doodle owner has been surprised by matting sometime...it is easy to miss some places and if your dog is like mine, they don't hold still long enough to completely brush them.
I would love to see the pics!
About the wiry coat...your groomer is right, they are very easy to groom (I have 2 doods with that type of coat) BUT they usually shed! So, it is the soft, Poodly coat that is low shedding...but danged hard to groom!