Friday, September 21, 2007

Burrs of Outrageous Fortune

BurrOver the past couple of weeks, each time Pappy and I return from a walk I find dozens of sticklike burrs on his head and flanks accompanied by the occasional green triangular burr. I had no idea what plants they were coming from. Pappy loves to tunnel through the foliage on either side of the path, so burr prevention is a tough battle to win.

During this evening's walk I went on a burr hunting safari and found one of the guilty plants. I believe I know where they are concentrated along our route. We are striving for a burr-free world. Victory at all costs.

7 comments:

Molly the Airedale said...

We've got the same problem here, Pappy! Mom found that my slicker brush works wonders on those little green suckers! They're a pain, aren't they?!

Love ya lots,
Maggie

Nat said...

M&M,
Yeah, I'm thinking of shaving Pappy. I mean, they don't stick to me.

Jackson's J1 and J2 said...

Burrs suck. I hate em. Jx

Stella and Annie said...

We have a huge problem with burrs here in Michigan also. Poor Stella with all that long hair on her face (like Pappy) runs and hides whenever she see's me with a comb in my hands!

Nat said...

Jackson, Stella and Annie,
The truely remarkable thing about Pappy is that he is fearless when it comes to combing out great tangled masses of hair. It makes the burr excision process a little less troublesome, but I'm always a little horrified when I come away with a great hank of hair.

Gus said...

You are probably only pulling "undercoat" when you get hands full of hair. As long as Pappy is tolerant you shouldn't worry

Nat said...

Gus,
Pappy doesn't have much of an undercoat, at least not like I've seen from other dogs when I pet them and plumes of fuzz start rising up. I see a few fine hairs after giving him a bath, but other than that he's pretty much nekkid without his regular coat-- if you lift up his fur you can easily see his skin. I haven't really been around enough WFT, Airedales, or Schnauzers to check out their coats for similarities.

Sorry, that was boring...