Burs

This pic is worth a thousand words. It took me an hour and lots of detangler to free him.

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I feel for you. Nothing worse after a long day hunting to know that is waiting for you. I used to cut them out of my golden and she looked like a butchered mess after hunting season but it all grows back. I used to call her hair her armour and therefore removable. I haven’t had to deal with it much after I stopped pheasant hunting in Minnesota. Shockingly we don’t see too much of it where we hunt in Iowa. It could be worse. Two words-sand burrs!!!!

Burs are definitely no fun! Although it doesn’t cover everywhere, I’ve found using a skid plate significantly reduces the number of burs my golden picks up in her coat.

Unscented baby oil before hitting the field goes a long way with burr removal.

This style has worked well for me. You get under the burrs and roll the blades out and away from the skin.

https://www.amazon.com/Petseeker-Dematting-Remove-Detangle-Grooming/dp/B01L00JOPK

KwickStick wrote:

This style has worked well for me. You get under the burrs and roll the blades out and away from the skin.

https://www.amazon.com/Petseeker-Dematting-Remove-Detangle-Grooming/dp/B01L00JOPK

Hmmm I might have to look into that. Not for my boys – my GSPs don’t really have this issue. But we borrowed a friend’s Brittany while pheasant hunting last weekend and apparently Billy signed me up for bur removal and a bath before we returned him… He looked about as bad a Ripley when we started!! Is it better to remove the burs when they’re mostly dry, or start bathing them first and then remove the burs?

Poor buddy! I remember having a Springer many years ago and it was a huge headache.
We would shave his ears, chest and back of legs to cut down on a lot of it.
That was the last hairy dog I had. I didn’t think the wire-haired breeds had that trouble with burs, but clearly they do. No fun.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I didn’t think the wire-haired breeds had that trouble with burs, but clearly they do.

I’d imagine it would have been even worse with a soft-coated dog!

Sharon wrote:

Hmmm I might have to look into that.

You can buy detangler that helps get them out (somewhat). They make a dog version, but horse tail and mane detangler is the same and cheaper.

I go to town with a metal comb and a stripping knife. Kind of depends where they are as to which works better. Sometimes, the fingers are the best tool.

Dish soap works well, I here. You rub it in,then wash them. Then brush them.

I spent about 10 minutes per beard on my Drahts working out burs Sunday. I didn’t have my tool along, so I just went at it with my fingers on the tailgate. They know the drill!

KwickStick wrote:

They know the drill!

I tell Ripley it’s the price he pays for having fun.

Tom Sawvell wrote:

Unscented baby oil before hitting the field goes a long way with burr removal.

Next time we hunt with our friend’s dog I might have to give this a try! Maybe the slick fur will mean he’ll move faster in the brush too.

Life’s too short to live/hunt with an ugly dog so any respectable breed should have some nice fur:) but……burrs are a major pain in the arse. I’ve got setters and after a few seasons of constant de-tangling early in my hunting life, I finally just started giving them a buzz cut before bird season with a touch up or two as the season progresses. It’s so much easier to deal with burrs, mud, etc. They look like English Pointers rather than Setters during the season, but I’m OK with that.

to_setter wrote:

I finally just started giving them a buzz cut before bird season…

Booo! I refuse to cut a Spinone.

@ralphwiggum That is a great clip of Willie and I totally read that in his voice.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>to_setter wrote:</div>
I finally just started giving them a buzz cut before bird season…

Booo! I refuse to cut a Spinone.

I know….I know…. it seems like a terrible thing to do! Over time though, I decided it was not only easier for me, but also a lot less painful for the dogs. One pass through a patch of SD cockleburs can equate to an hour or more of trying to get those damn things out with the dog whimpering the whole time.

My pooches got a pass the last two years as I was living and hunting in CA and mainly hunting crops with NO burrs of any kind anywhere. But……we’re back in Wisco now, so they got the buzz cut this year.

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to_setter wrote:

Over time though, I decided it was not only easier for me, but also a lot less painful for the dogs. One pass through a patch of SD cockleburs can equate to an hour or more of trying to get those damn things out with the dog whimpering the whole time.

+1 – it seems hard to do at first, but after having to put your dog through lots of pain removing burs, a few snips of hair here and there plus a skid plate makes a huge difference and is well worth it for both you and the dog. Heck, I’ve had a couple times in SD that the burs were so bad, we had to take a time out from hunting to get the suckers out because the dog was in pain and was starting to notice it in her hunting. The burrs here in MN don’t seem to be nearly as bad as SD though.

Weird thing. We dont have burr problems hunting Iowa. Ever. Only the occasional cockle bur that can be removed by hand. No of the little evil ones. That was one of the reasons I quit hunting western MN.