My poor burr covered dog - What can I do?

kamperkat

Hello!!
We have a beautiful 4 year old English Springer Spaniel & when we groom him we usually have to fight with a few burrs which gets him a little bit aggitated.
Today my OH came home from the morning walk and our gorgeous silky coated dog is ABSOLUTELY COVERED in burrs, there are thousands of them, everything is stuck together, when he shakes his head the burrs stick his ears to his forehead, his gorgeous chest wig is just a mass of burrs as are his leg feathers, his belly, and his happy waggy tail!
Despite spending the last hour de-burring him i have had to stop in order to hoover the carpet, the sofa and the curtains as they are also now covered in burrs.
I can't have a go at him with scissors as i would no doubt chop bits off of him - so I have a horrible feeling the kindest thing would be to take him to a proper groomers - we have never had to do that before and i am worried that if we do take him they will shave him and his beautiful soft coat will not grow back as beautiful and soft as it currently is.
Can any springer spaniel owners advise me on what a groomer would do, woudl they shave him or cut it off or do you think i should persevere with the brush?
Many thanks
KKxx

Frugalista

Don't have Springers but do have a long coated breed :cool: - I would continue with the grooming, personally.

Can you get hold of some childrens hair de-tangling spray? I use the Avon one as my sister sells it, but I'm sure you can get something very similar in chemists or supermarkets. If you spray it onto the knots it makes the hair sort of "slippery" and should make it a lot easier to remove the burrs.

I would start in his armpits, groin and under his tail first as these will be the places that will cause him the most discomfort if left unattended. A wide toothed comb will probably be easiest or, possibly, a slicker type brush. The spray, brush and comb should all be available from any large store so you should be able to get them tonight. I would try to get them all out asap as the longer you leave them the more they will tangle into his coat. Unfortunately, cutting them out may be the only option left at that point .

Good luck, its a really time-consuming job - I've got the t-shirt !!

WestonDave

Will he tolerate a bath? It might be easier if he will sit reasonably still in the bath, to run a warm shower on him and rinse them out especially if you can put some suitable shampoo/conditioner on to make his coat slippery. If he is reasonable happy in water it might distract from the discomfort of pulling them out. Obviously if the bath is more distressing or he's going to flick water everywhere then its a non starter!

kamperkat

Thank you both for your replies, have detailed my OH to go shopping on his way home for detangling stuff.
He doesn't mind being showered (the dog that is, not my OH ) he is a springer - showers happen regularly!!! So i will give this a go too - but I was worried i might make it worse if i added water into the equation!
Kkx

Mutter_2

Worst thing is, as soon as you grasp one it splits into a hundred seed heads.

You'll just have to pick it out wearing gloves, then comb. If you know where the plant is, (Dandelion and Burdock drink anyone?) chop it off and chuck to back of verge. Not one person will miss it.

With us it's sticky balls. Every bit of him gets covered. He loves rolling on the lawn, so I don't look forward to sticky ball weeds next year.

greenval

I havent tried this for burrs but I've just bought ' the furminator' grooming tool and it's amazing. The only thing ever to make an impact on my border colllie's downy undercoat.

Frugalista

I wouldn't bathe him yet - it will make it worse :eek::eek:. Give the detangling spray a go and, if you can get the bulk of the burrs out, maybe bathe him tomorrow. Rub loads of conditioner in his coat around the affected areas and comb it through. It's quite possible that you will have to brush/comb him for a few days yet to get any tiny bits out .

We show our dogs and so try to preserve the coat by any means possible - hence my comb, comb, comb policy .

Mutter_2

kamperkat wrote: »

Thank you both for your replies, have detailed my OH to go shopping on his way home for detangling stuff.
He doesn't mind being showered (the dog that is, not my OH ) he is a springer - showers happen regularly!!! So i will give this a go too - but I was worried i might make it worse if i added water into the equation!
Kkx

For anyone to suggest wetting, I can only think they don't know what Burdock is. It's evil and has dozens of barbed hooks. Remove the plant and do all dog walkers a big favour.

Worse thing is when your dog gets one on a walk, sits down asking for help and you have no gloves. Definately ouch!! time.

kamperkat

Mutter wrote: »

With us it's sticky balls. Every bit of him gets covered. He loves rolling on the lawn, so I don't look forward to sticky ball weeds next year.

Oh, yes, we have stickly balls as well as the burrs - unfortunately it is through a hedge that only he can get through...maybe we should control him better

Frugalista

kamperkat wrote: »

Thank you both for your replies, have detailed my OH to go shopping on his way home for detangling stuff.

Don't forget to let us know how you get on!

Mutter_2

kamperkat wrote: »

Oh, yes, we have stickly balls as well as the burrs - unfortunately it is through a hedge that only he can get through...maybe we should control him better

Control? I wish.
This present "Cocker" loves nothing more, than to plough through thicket, which make me believe he is not all Cocker but part working Springer.
Like you I suppose, I let him have his fun and the grooming comes later.

After his latest professional groom, I was daft enough to walk him on the way home. So he had to be de-sticky balled before we even entered the house.:mad: