Foxtails suck ;-(

[Little Bo Boop]

I've never had a problem with them before (never even knew what they were ; -( ) Back in March Spree started running really off, not taking my whistles, crossing over at trials. At one point she was up close and I was givng her commands and she was looking all around like she couldn't see her sheep...very strange, very unlike her, as she's usually a working machine ;-( well then I noticed at home when she was on the back porch I could open the door, and she wouldn't even look around, I don't think she heard me. Took her in, vet finds a Foxtail lodged in her eardrum ;-( takes it out. Few weeks later she's still not right, take her back, he finds another Foxtail (and she'd not been anywhere to pick one up) so this one must have worked its way down. Anyway, its on her eardrum again, and there is some infection, he has to knock her out to get it out, antibiotics and 3 or 4 days later she's pretty much back to normal (thank god) Well I took her in today, he looks in her ear and dang if there isn't something else on the same eardrum ;-( He flushed a lot of stuff out, but says that there is still something far back on the ED, plus some scar tissue from the previous FT's. These things are a bugger! We have a trial this weekend, so I have to take her back in next week and he's going to go in and see if he can get whatever is in there, out. Oh, and I took Liz in today too (figure they've both been to the same places) and darned if she didn't have one in her ear too! So are there any precautions you can take to prevent these nasty little things? Am I going to have to start putting ear muffs on my dogs or start flushing them whenever we come back from working?

[kelpiegirl]

That sounds pretty severe- is she picking these up on fields, etc? Only thing I can think of would be to stay out of areas like that... Of course ear covers would be good, but I don't think they're available. At this point, it has happened enough, I would seriously try and keep her training ground free of this stuff as much as possible... I am an easterner, so I know nuttin', but from what I have read, they are a REAL problem.

[Laurae]

Foxtails DO suck. I'm really sorry you guys are going through this. Foxtails are the reason I lost my training field--I had to just stop using it because even clipped and wearing t-shirts the dogs were coming off the field with hundreds of them embedded. The ears are a bad area for them to lodge into. My dogs have quite hairy airplane ears, so I think those hairs and the ear shape guard against the foxtails. I imagine prick-eared dogs would have more trouble. This might be off the wall, but I wonder if you could spritz some leave-in hair conditioner on their ears, which might create a slicker environment so the foxtails are less likely to embed and travel down. Maybe worth a shot.

[stockdogranch]

try and keep her training ground free of this stuff as much as possible

 

Ha! Fat chance!! In places where they grow, they'll usually pretty SOLID (as in my entire pasture). If I were to stay out of areas with them, my dogs would not get worked about 6 months out of the year. I knew of someone once who made little ear covers for his prick-eared dog--kind of like the fly masks for horses that also have ear covers. Worked OK, I guess. You can mow 'em, once you're sure you'll not have any more moisture, as if they get any encouragement, rain-wise, they'll just re-head, only at 2 inches tall. Then you've got twice as many--the ones you mowed lying on the ground waiting to be picked up by the dog (although usually not in the ears at that point, but in the nose, which is even more dangerous, or between the toes, which can get nasty and infected), plus the new ones that will reach whatever height. As they get drier, they become less of an issue--the heads fall off, and through general wear and tear (being walked on, etc.) their barbs are less sharp, and hence, less prone to stick in some poor dog's body parts. I really think they are a conspiracy by small animal vets to keep them in business in the spring and summer months.

 

As for getting them in ears, usually the dog will suddenly start shaking its head and walking around with the head tilted to one side. A bit of oil in the ear can help soften them up so they don't puncture the eardrum, and make it a bit more comfortable till you can get to the vet. Or if you have a good otoscope and a good pair of grabbie-things (I forget their technical name), AND you dog will hold still, you can snag 'em out yourself and not donate to your local vet (for people like me who have spent way too much money over the years on foxtail removal),

 

A

 

ETA: For dogs with coat, Show Sheen helps a lot. But that's one of the main reasons mine are all smoothies!

[Little Bo Boop]

Well I 'think' I know where they got them. I have a huge field out behind my house, that I practice distance work on, and I'm pretty sure thats where they must have picked these things up. But I've not worked them there since we found the first FT, and my pasture is just coastal grass, and pretty short (way short actually) and no FTs. So these FT's must have been in there for a while, and must be migrating as we find them ;-( My dogs aren't prick eared, and they are pretty hairy...but I thought the same thing, maybe some silicon or even whats the horse stuff for tail knots, Cowboy magic? Its mostly silicon based...but I need to do something thats for sure.

[ShoresDog]

So sorry to hear about your foxtail problems. They are truly awful. I honestly don't think there is any way to prevent them embedding in ears, paws, and groin areas if they are present in the field where the dog is working. They can get in the dogs skin on its flank and actually work their way into lungs. Where it's dry in the summer out west, there are some fields where they are the dominant plant. Aaccckkk. We've had a $500 nose removal already this year. I HATE them!

[Laurae]

Thanks for the Show Sheen tip, Anna--I'll pick some up.

[Little Bo Boop]

Ha! Fat chance!! In places where they grow, they'll usually pretty SOLID (as in my entire pasture). If I were to stay out of areas with them, my dogs would not get worked about 6 months out of the year. I knew of someone once who made little ear covers for his prick-eared dog--kind of like the fly masks for horses that also have ear covers. Worked OK, I guess. You can mow 'em, once you're sure you'll not have any more moisture, as if they get any encouragement, rain-wise, they'll just re-head, only at 2 inches tall. Then you've got twice as many--the ones you mowed lying on the ground waiting to be picked up by the dog (although usually not in the ears at that point, but in the nose, which is even more dangerous, or between the toes, which can get nasty and infected), plus the new ones that will reach whatever height. As they get drier, they become less of an issue--the heads fall off, and through general wear and tear (being walked on, etc.) their barbs are less sharp, and hence, less prone to stick in some poor dog's body parts. I really think they are a conspiracy by small animal vets to keep them in business in the spring and summer months.

 

As for getting them in ears, usually the dog will suddenly start shaking its head and walking around with the head tilted to one side. A bit of oil in the ear can help soften them up so they don't puncture the eardrum, and make it a bit more comfortable till you can get to the vet. Or if you have a good otoscope and a good pair of grabbie-things (I forget their technical name), AND you dog will hold still, you can snag 'em out yourself and not donate to your local vet (for people like me who have spent way too much money over the years on foxtail removal),

 

A

 

ETA: For dogs with coat, Show Sheen helps a lot. But that's one of the main reasons mine are all smoothies!

 

 

She had no head shaking or anything, just the totally out of character working. In addition to not hearing very well, I would imagine it would be painful as well ;-(

LOL yeah there's no getting rid of them, I know that! I'm in deep sand country, and we're big time sand burr farmers LOL no way you can get rid of those things either ;-( I think I will look into getting the scope though, and some forceps, but as deep in the ear canal as these things have been, its pretty much going to have to be the doc getting them out, as she's going to have to be sedated. Luckily my vets a pretty good guy, only charged me $46 for both dogs today, and that included two ear flushes, checking her perianal fistula problem, and (don't ask) palpating for pregnancy ;-( and thank god she wasn't!

[btrent]

If you bathe your dogs, soak them down really well afterwards (while wet) with Show Sheen or Cowboy Magic. Then spray liberally when you are ready to go work. That helps a little.

 

Rigorous and thorough checking while working and afterwards will also help. I am at the point where I check ears, mouth, nose, eyes etc. in between every outrun, etc., in other words every time I can have the dog take a little break. After we get home from working then they get another big check of every orifice and between the toes, etc.

 

Someone I know takes a pair of pantyhose and fashions them into ear protectors. You will have to use your imagination on that one but the legs (cut off) become the ear covers.

 

Coal had two in his rear end this year that has brought our vet total up to four visits, two anesthesias, four rounds of antibiotics and $850. I am hoping that we are done.

[jdarling]

We've got 'em here too. I took Zip in for one in his foot that got completely infected. A friend of mine came over and we raked and burned, and mowed, and burned, and raked some more and got the small patch of them knocked down and mulched up. There are still little pieces of them all over my pasture though. And yes, like Anna says, with any encouragement, little ones pop up. I joked about going out to work dogs with a workbelt on, loaded with a torch, a lighter, a can of hairspray, and a backpack of propane. I am almost to the point of considering a smoothie for my next dog ... almost!

 

Thanks for the Show Sheen tip, Anna. I'm going to try that.

 

Jodi

[stockdogranch]

You guys are all getting off pretty cheap for your foxtail vet visits. Seems like here anything requiring anesthesia is $500. to start. Of course, Tikkle's episode last year with one up her nose, wrong anesthesia and too much of it, which led to cardiac arrest (a year old dog!!), then resurrection with resulting blindness and brain damage (99.9% recovered fairly quickly) was $5000. No wonder I have no money.

 

A

[Little Bo Boop]

You guys are all getting off pretty cheap for your foxtail vet visits. Seems like here anything requiring anesthesia is $500. to start. Of course, Tikkle's episode last year with one up her nose, wrong anesthesia and too much of it, which led to cardiac arrest (a year old dog!!), then resurrection with resulting blindness and brain damage (99.9% recovered fairly quickly) was $5000. No wonder I have no money.

 

A

 

WOW OMG I'm so sorry, how scary is that! So glad your dog came out all right, I can't imagine how scary that would be. Guess I will keep a close eye on the girls from now on.

[sluj]

A

 

ETA: For dogs with coat, Show Sheen helps a lot. But that's one of the main reasons mine are all smoothies!

 

How much of a difference does coat make? Foxtails are the dominant forms of grass up here too, but we can avoid them somewhat, being city folk and having sidewalks. I've only picked a couple off my slick-coat, but I keep worrying whether there are more I'm missing.

[SoloRiver]

Coat makes a HUGE difference. As far as I can tell, Fly has either never gotten a foxtail in her life, or only gotten a couple that fell off by themselves. She is what I call smoothish -- her hair is short, but it's kind of plush like a Lab's and quite coarse to the touch. Solo, who is very heavily coated with lots of woolly undercoat, picks up foxtails by looking at them. I picked something like 65 or 85 off him at one sitting, and this was after he'd been running through a field of foxtails for something like ten minutes. It was insane.

[ShoresDog]

Coat makes a HUGE difference.

Oh yes, you are right. Daisy's coat is like Solo's, and it's like the foxtails see her coming and leap up to attach to her. I LOATHE them!! Juno's shorter fur is much safer.

[1sheepdoggal]

The worst thing about fox tails is that they can and do kill. I am forever this time of the year, having to shave down dogs that are litterally covered in them, and then pick out the ones I can. (very time consuming)They work like an arrow, they work themselves in and through the body creating havoc where ever they land. Ive known dogs that had them embedded in thier heads, testies, feet, arm pits, rectum, all sorts of lovely places. Ive known of 2 cases where the fox tail ended a couple of dogs lives, and ones promissing show career. (had to be neutered) I am forever sending clients to the vet because of these things, and Ive seen the damage they can do first hand, as Im the one that takes off the coat and see's whats under it. Ive seen a lot of suffering caused by fox tails. A good brushing after they come in, and then a hands on inspection is the best way to make sure ya get them all, and remember to check between toes, in pads, and arm pits, as well as ears.

[Mona Howard]

When I was in Arizona I was constantly pulling them from between my dog's toes.

Make sure you check the sheath on your male dogs too. I don't miss the foxtails

one bit.