cockleburrs and briars

[harley]

Hey guys:

It seems all the good pheasant cover is just choked with all types of prickly and stickly little items to work their way down to a dogs skin and into the paw pads. Now some dogs have a slick skin and not a lot of hair to pick this stuff up, but what about the setters, springers, and retrievers that have all that beautiful feathering on their coats? We took my daughters cocker out in the bush and buy the time we got back he was so stiff with briars his ears stuck straight out from his head, took us 3 hours to shave him with the horse clippers!! He was embarrest and cold for a month.What do you guys with the longer haired dogs do to prevent this? Tx

[freddogs]

:grin: I used to own American water Spaniels and they picked up burrs like you mentioned. Sometimes their ears would be stuck together. I tried to trim them back before season. I cut off long hair on legs and head and legpits {arnpits?}. It sorta worked. Some long hair doesn't pick up burrs as bad as other. Curly hair seem the worst.

[Hud]

Sell'em cheap and get short haired dogs. Really. Labs are soooo much easier to clean up after a day in the woods. The long haired ones are great hunters and look nice, but they are just too much work to clean up.

Hud

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Spray 'em down with PAM prior to combing them out.....it keeps eggs from sticking to frying pans and keeps burrs from sticking to your dog!
  Seriously, spray the dog down then comb the coat.....give really sticky burrs a heavy dose, and tease them out....you'll get rid of 95% of the burrs.  I used to have an American water spaniel also, and this is what we used to do.  
  One final note....make sure you bath the dog after combing them out before letting them jump on the furniture :cry:

[harley]

Thanks 16 !!
That's a great idea, seems like a little spray and comb BEFORE going out might help as well.That way if you don't shoot dinner hes all basted up and ready for the Weber!!

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Harley;
  You can try spraying them before, and if the cover is dry, it might work.  However, my experience has  been that if the cover has any moisture whatsoever, the PAM usually washes off relatively quickly.  Add to this that my spaniel would jump into any water he could find....even a puddle....and you can see the problem I had with him   Good luck!

[Dwayne TX]

Try vaseline.  I watched a buddy do this with his Brittany.  Worked really well with cuckleburrs and won't wash off.  Briars are a different story, they get twirled up in the longer hair - cut them out.