Small green burrs :(

[luvmynwfy]

Hi
I know certain times of the year give us certain problems for our Newfs...May is black flies, July- August heat waves and right now - small little green burrs that attach my Newf by the millions! I am trying to avoid the areas 'I know' have these little green destroyers but doesn't River still come up with them after every walk! - just hundredrs of them all through her belly, chest, legs and ears. By the time Newf Stock is here I'm wondering how much of her coat she'll have left? I want our girl to look her best of course. She is really patient to let me try and pull out each one by hand but the clumps that have managed to get right to her skin I have to cut out. So frustrating to deal with every night.
How do you take care of zillions of little burrs? I need a new plan of attack.
Marina

 

[Jeannie]

We took our dogs for a walk yesterday and they got those burrs also. I find if you comb them out right away they don't stick in the coat so badly. Once they get set in the coat they are a bear to get out. Treat them as you would any matt, working them out starting at the bottom.

 

[Leonard and his bud Snuffles]

I carry a slicker brush and get them as soon as I see them. Check out pictures in Why I carry a slicker brush You are not alone.

 

[luvmynwfy]

Good idea to carry a brush with us. So true that they are easy to get out when they first attach. It's those darn belly/groin area ones that attach to that softer, whispier fur that make me nuts. Poor River is such a mess right now to look at but, she is a happy girl on her walks through the forest.
Marina

 

[BlackLightning]

Marina I sooo feel your pain. Those things are a complete nightmare!!!! Luckily for us Boum is a total wuss and cannot find it in himself to carry on with his walk if he has even one burr stuck in him!! He literally plants his tushy on the ground and states "Mama, I cannot go on until that prickly thing is removed". Makes for some sloooow walks at this time of year!! When I know they are going to be bad, I walk with a comb. You can also try a detangling spray like ice on ice to help deal with the bad ones. I also find patience is key, working on them like a mat like Jeannie said.

I DESPISE those little green monsters of fury!!!!!

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

I don't know how this would work for you, but my Clydesdale (that had very heavy leg feathering) used to get burrs in his feathers while out and about, often. It was a nightmare. Until one of my draft horse friends told me about using oil to help get them out. Any oil would do, baby oil, olive oil, anything...just run it through his feathers and they would come out very easily. Sure enough, it made it sooooo much easier to get them out. Sure, I'd have to bathe his legs afterwards, but the whole process including that still was less time-consuming than before.

Using that logic, maybe you could use something like a Chris Christensen Ice-on-Ice type product to help get them out easier? (Obviously oil of any kind would be a disaster)

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

Oops, just read Kaila's response!

 

[Joan Fisher]

Tiika and Splash get them every morning.I can't imagine taking them out by hand! But they come out easily with the rake. Then they all stick together with the hair.

 

[ardeagold]

Hunters take a can of PAM cooking spray (not flavored LOL) and a brush with them when they take their Retrievers out to hunts. That gets them out. Cowboy Magic makes a spray with silicone that would work. Ice on Ice works too but it doesn't have silicone so it's a bit more work.

 

[luvmynwfy]

Hi
I really do try my best with the rake but I find that only works if there are less than 5 in a bunch. When she manages to snag 12 or more altogether it is such a mess. I haven't tried the oil suggestion - I do have a detangler mane and tail or something...even olive oil? I am going to super really try to not cut out anymore. My girl needs to look her best next month, not like she's got mange!
thanks for the suggestions, I'm on it!
Marina

 

[ardeagold]

Use a slicker brush...not a rake.

 

[luvmynwfy]

OH NEVER MIND THE BURRS! River had not one but two little grasshoppers all tangled in her fur (at least they looked like grasshoppers). Yes, they were still alive and completely tangled in her fur. I was trying to get them out, sort of gently but the whole thing freaked me out and I couldn't do it hair by hair....so I just grabbed her towel, smoothered them and pull hard to remove them. They came out but didn't survive my technique. Some gardener I turned out to be.
Never mind about the burrs...I'll willingly deal with picking out burrs as they don't literally fight back. aarrrgghhhhhhhh
thanks all,
Marina

 

[NewfieMama]

OH NEVER MIND THE BURRS! River had not one but two little grasshoppers all tangled in her fur (at least they looked like grasshoppers). Yes, they were still alive and completely tangled in her fur. I was trying to get them out, sort of gently but the whole thing freaked me out and I couldn't do it hair by hair....so I just grabbed her towel, smoothered them and pull hard to remove them. They came out but didn't survive my technique. Some gardener I turned out to be.
Never mind about the burrs...I'll willingly deal with picking out burrs as they don't literally fight back. aarrrgghhhhhhhh
thanks all,
Marina

Omg burrs that fight back? Were you hiking too close to Hogwarts again?

I think the little green burrs are satan spawn. Also the 2-pronged pitchfork shaped things that come in in clumps, and the sharp ones that look like bits of Rosemary that shoot out at you (and way into the fur) in our meadow.

I'll take the burrs though and leave the slugs - will never forget the time Cooper went off into the brush in the woods in NH and returned with little slugs all over his head. Ew.

 

[ozzysma]

i always find they are easier to take out the next day as they seem to turn brown quickly. but we have never had alot at one time.

 

[Erika]

Im a nut I take a brush on walks with us for those nasty rascals

 

[Codes]

Are those also called Burdocks?? We have burdocks here and I had my first encounter with them a couple yeas ago. Stormie came in with these huge brown clumps in her fur. She had gobs and gobs of themWhen I went to pull them out, they exploded everywhere! ReallPITA to get out too! Sure learned quickly after that not to yank them out..