Before we moved to California,
I assumed a fox tail was the tail of a fox, you know, like a rabbit's foot - which is pretty gross when you think about it.
Anyway, it took a single summer day with my golden retriever, Rosie, to learn about fox tails.
Right now, thanks to the heavy rains, the wild grasses are waist high. Jake has to hop to get through them and like most dogs, he loves running through the green grass - two weeks from now, that will be verbotten.
Removing literally hundreds of grass seeds from Rosie's coat and dealing with a dozen fox tails embedded in her skin, taught me that lesson. Once California's emerald green winter/spring grasses begin to dry up, my dog can no longer romp. Smooth-coated dogs have fewer problems, but fox tails are deadly for long-haired dogs. The grass seeds burrow beneath the dog's skin, causing infections and abscesses, muscle destruction, they can even work their way into the heart muscle. The worst is when they get between a dog's toes, or in the hunting breeds especially, in their nose.
If vet's out here were smart, they'd sell fox tail insurance!
I assumed a fox tail was the tail of a fox, you know, like a rabbit's foot - which is pretty gross when you think about it.
Anyway, it took a single summer day with my golden retriever, Rosie, to learn about fox tails.
Right now, thanks to the heavy rains, the wild grasses are waist high. Jake has to hop to get through them and like most dogs, he loves running through the green grass - two weeks from now, that will be verbotten.
Removing literally hundreds of grass seeds from Rosie's coat and dealing with a dozen fox tails embedded in her skin, taught me that lesson. Once California's emerald green winter/spring grasses begin to dry up, my dog can no longer romp. Smooth-coated dogs have fewer problems, but fox tails are deadly for long-haired dogs. The grass seeds burrow beneath the dog's skin, causing infections and abscesses, muscle destruction, they can even work their way into the heart muscle. The worst is when they get between a dog's toes, or in the hunting breeds especially, in their nose.
If vet's out here were smart, they'd sell fox tail insurance!
3 comments:
Wow! I've heard of fox tail weed grass, but never knew its horrible qualities. Good thing to know, thanks!
I'd never heard of that, Julia, thanks for putting new info into my 'data bank'.
You all don't have it out east.
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