# Cockleburs



## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

I don't know where you live, but I know how horrible they were in East Texas. We would come in from quail hunting and our English Setters would have them stuck all in their tail, feathers, tummy fur, ears, you name it. Oh, I assume we are talking about the same thing. I learned many years ago that different things were called differently in different parts of the states--soda water, pop, soda pop, soft drink even coke all referring to a Coke, pepsi, orange, Rootbeer, etc, etc. The cockle burrs i am referring to resemble a thumbnail size porcupine--or porky pine as we say donw here.

We also had a terrible time with this little flat sticky things about half the size of a kernal of corn. They would stick to the fur and then more and would stick and you would end up with a knot of those things especially in the ear fur. I don't know what they are called--we called them stick-to-me-tights.

I have not been out in the field quail hunting in almost 30 years, and also i now live on the Texas coast. Here we have grassburrs. They are much smaller than those bronw cockle burrs of east Texas, and they start out green, got to purple 9who those purple one hurt when you get one in your foot, and then brown and soften up. Are not near as many spines and not as long as cockle burrs.

I think you will be "doomed" just to have bonding time.


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

3 goldens said:


> I don't know where you live, but I know how horrible they were in East Texas.


Thanks for the response. We live in Central Iowa, along the Des Moines river. 
The little ba$tards we have look like this- http://www.agry.purdue.edu/courses/agry105/poison/IMAGES/cocklebur/cocklebur.jpg and are about the size of your thumbnail. Coke is coke, pepsi is pepsi.

I suppose it is something I should have just expected when I got a golden retriever. We have always had labs or other shorter haired mutts and it was never a problem. 

Maybe I shouldn't be complaining that much. My wife might just have to get used to hearing "Sorry honey, I can't come help you [insert household chore here] right now, I have to take Lucy out to the garage and pick out cockleburs."


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Yep, that is the same ones we have here, little devils. The fur just wraps round and round them and it is almost like a burr in a coccoon. They can't be brushed nor combed out, each has to be hand removed--usually along with a few strand of fur. Our pointers never had a problem with them, just the setters with their long fur.


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## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

I have been told that spraying on that non stick spray stuff for cooking works..but have not tried it..
I have a tool.. wooden handle with like 6 or 7 spikes coming out of it..best tool i have ever had for removing them.. 
but yeah those things are a big enemy to goldens...


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## Goldndust (Jul 30, 2005)

I'm not sure how well it works but I have heard Pam cooking spray works wonders for this, as well as I believe it is called Show Sheen or something like that. I'm not at all sure though it would work for those burrs because there the type that get wrapped in the longer hair. I had an experience last summer with them, or something similiar...they were a bear to get out of his tail. 

I can say with my field golden though, even they slide right off his body do too his shorter coat, but he does have some tail feathering and that is where my problem is with those burrs.


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## goldencrazy (Dec 15, 2005)

We have a stream running through our property and burrs are the number one enemy when we go for walks in the woods in late summer through fall. We put out a lot of effort in keeping trails mowed and cleared so we can walk our golden without spending an hour deburring her we get back.

On the positive side, the inventor of velcro got the idea for the product when he was picking cockleburrs off his sweater. (So I've heard)


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

We have all three types down here in Georgia.The purple ones are the worst,they can push into your skin when you try to get them out of the fur.
We would sit on the deck with our feet hanging over the edge and remove these one at a time.Sometimes with the real big clumps,I'd just cut them out.
That's one of the reasons we had 4 acres fenced for the "kids" to play in.I mowed once a week and kept the grass(and weeds) very low.I also mowed about 30 feet of the property outside the fence on all sides.My neighbors didn't care if I mowed their land and it was only 4 passes for me.(7 1/2 foot cut) This kept the problems down to a mininum.
Shane


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

You are not going to believe this, but if you let a dog get the sticker burr--grassburr-- it does not hurt near as much as when you pull it out.!


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

We don't get much of those up here in the Pacific Northwest..... 

Rick


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## Buffy & Abby's Mom (Nov 27, 2005)

Buffy just now got a tail full of burrs so I'm about to try the non-stick cooking spray. I'll let you know how it works. I'm looking forward to this job so much because she just HATES having her tail messed with. She fusses the whole time when I'm just brushing it.


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## Buffy & Abby's Mom (Nov 27, 2005)

Well the cooking spray seemed to help. It softens up the burrs so that they can just be brushed out. The only problem is then the hair is kind of oily but not bad. I think though that Abby, my other dog, had already started helping Buffy with the burrs because they were a little wet already. We adopted Abby 2 months ago and she was a totally outside dog. She has had plenty of experience with burrs and seems to like taking them out. She had already taken 2 out of her own leg feathers before she started on Buffy. Buffy tries to take them out but just seems to get them more tangled.


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

Thanks! I might have to try the cooking spray. I think all we have now is the butter flavored though, and Lucy will just eat all the burrs if they taste like butter


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