Al Hansen
Well-known member
About 10 to 12 years ago, Bev and I took a couple of our dogs, jumped in the truck and took off for Escondida Lake which is just north of Socorro, NM. Our dogs new exactly what they were going to be doing and were getting excited the closer we got to the lake. Once there we all had fun. Bev was doing the training and I was trying to take pictures. On one toss she had thrown two bumpers and we were anticipating some challenges of who might go after which bumper. We had my old hunting dog Chili and a new chocolate that we had been working with called Cayenne. She came out of northern Missouri and I liked her a lot.
As Cayenne came to shore with the bumper in her mouth, she rushed by me and headed for Bev. Just before she got to Bev she dropped the bumper and sneezed. Then she sneezed again and again and again. My God, she didn't stop sneezing, even when we literally ran to the truck, loaded everyone in and took off for the vet's office. Thank goodness it was only 4 miles away. If I had to guess I would say that Cayenne sneezed a 100 times and that would not have been an exaggeration.
I brought Cayenne in and Dean looked at her and said, "I am betting that she inhaled a Foxtail seed. We will have to sedate her and when we are done I'll give you a call so you can come pick her up." Bev and I drove home and I put Chili in her kennel. When I got into the house I decided to look up Foxtail just to see what Dean might be saying to me. Here is a recent Google of what I found. Not much has changed but I am fully aware of my environment now.
Google: "Foxtail plants can be risky for your dog. The barbed seed heads of the foxtail plant can work their way into any part of your dog or cat, from the nose to between the toes and inside the ears, eyes, and mouth. They can even simply dig themselves directly into a patch of skin." This was just the beginning of that particular Google that I checked out.
We were finally notified that our dog was ready to go home, Dean took the time to tell me how they had to sedate her so that they could check her nostrils first. That is where they found the barbed seed that was doing all the damage. It made me think of how lucky we were that this was a work day of a normal week. What if it had been on a 3 day holiday, say perhaps, Memorial Day weekend? I do know that we would have had to drive about 70 miles to get to the nearest vet that stays open after hours.
Well, last week, it happened to be Chip and Belize that were with me. Since our run off has pushed the Rio Grande to run at a steady 4,000cfs for almost 3 weeks, I know of a couple of spots where some dandy ponds are created. We arrived at one of them and I stopped the Mule, told the two excited dogs next to me to "stay" because I saw a couple of Mexican ducks. I wanted a picture first and then I would let them out to mess around a little before I began the retriever practice.
I grabbed the bumpers and had my camera hanging around my neck as I walked over to the edge of the pond. Both dogs were at heel and ready to go. It was like a bolt of lightning striking way too close when I saw what looked like a planted field of foxtail on the far side of the pond. I continued my scan and saw that it was surrounding the pond. I turned around and we headed for the Mule to go home. Yes, I got that look from my dogs!
I care not to ever have another dog of ours to be affected like Cayenne was so many years ago. That was frightening for what she went through.
If you have never experienced anything like what I have been talking about, please take the time to check it out if you are a hunter and love your four legged critter that runs through nasty stuff to bring you birds. No bird in the world is worth it if your dog inhales or accidentally swallows some of these Foxtail seeds.
Al
A couple of pictures of what I have been talking about. Now envision pulling on the birds and watching them fall into that huge patch of foxtail and lets say that one of them is a cripple. Hopefully common sense will take over!
View attachment _MG_9067.JPGView attachment _MG_9078.JPG
These two pictures below, I took 10 days earlier and there were no seed heads showing at that time. Belize was just having fun and I had no idea what was beginning to grow in this area. Is there anyone else that has had a run in with this plant?
View attachment _MG_6489.JPGView attachment _MG_6588.JPG
As Cayenne came to shore with the bumper in her mouth, she rushed by me and headed for Bev. Just before she got to Bev she dropped the bumper and sneezed. Then she sneezed again and again and again. My God, she didn't stop sneezing, even when we literally ran to the truck, loaded everyone in and took off for the vet's office. Thank goodness it was only 4 miles away. If I had to guess I would say that Cayenne sneezed a 100 times and that would not have been an exaggeration.
I brought Cayenne in and Dean looked at her and said, "I am betting that she inhaled a Foxtail seed. We will have to sedate her and when we are done I'll give you a call so you can come pick her up." Bev and I drove home and I put Chili in her kennel. When I got into the house I decided to look up Foxtail just to see what Dean might be saying to me. Here is a recent Google of what I found. Not much has changed but I am fully aware of my environment now.
Google: "Foxtail plants can be risky for your dog. The barbed seed heads of the foxtail plant can work their way into any part of your dog or cat, from the nose to between the toes and inside the ears, eyes, and mouth. They can even simply dig themselves directly into a patch of skin." This was just the beginning of that particular Google that I checked out.
We were finally notified that our dog was ready to go home, Dean took the time to tell me how they had to sedate her so that they could check her nostrils first. That is where they found the barbed seed that was doing all the damage. It made me think of how lucky we were that this was a work day of a normal week. What if it had been on a 3 day holiday, say perhaps, Memorial Day weekend? I do know that we would have had to drive about 70 miles to get to the nearest vet that stays open after hours.
Well, last week, it happened to be Chip and Belize that were with me. Since our run off has pushed the Rio Grande to run at a steady 4,000cfs for almost 3 weeks, I know of a couple of spots where some dandy ponds are created. We arrived at one of them and I stopped the Mule, told the two excited dogs next to me to "stay" because I saw a couple of Mexican ducks. I wanted a picture first and then I would let them out to mess around a little before I began the retriever practice.
I grabbed the bumpers and had my camera hanging around my neck as I walked over to the edge of the pond. Both dogs were at heel and ready to go. It was like a bolt of lightning striking way too close when I saw what looked like a planted field of foxtail on the far side of the pond. I continued my scan and saw that it was surrounding the pond. I turned around and we headed for the Mule to go home. Yes, I got that look from my dogs!
I care not to ever have another dog of ours to be affected like Cayenne was so many years ago. That was frightening for what she went through.
If you have never experienced anything like what I have been talking about, please take the time to check it out if you are a hunter and love your four legged critter that runs through nasty stuff to bring you birds. No bird in the world is worth it if your dog inhales or accidentally swallows some of these Foxtail seeds.
Al
A couple of pictures of what I have been talking about. Now envision pulling on the birds and watching them fall into that huge patch of foxtail and lets say that one of them is a cripple. Hopefully common sense will take over!
View attachment _MG_9067.JPGView attachment _MG_9078.JPG
These two pictures below, I took 10 days earlier and there were no seed heads showing at that time. Belize was just having fun and I had no idea what was beginning to grow in this area. Is there anyone else that has had a run in with this plant?
View attachment _MG_6489.JPGView attachment _MG_6588.JPG