A warning to all dog owners

[rg_girlca]

I received this in an e-mail today.

I don't know if this has been posted before or not about Foxtail Barley being a threat to dogs, but I thought it was important enough to post it for those as a reminder and for people who haven't heard about this.

http://www.ecclectica.ca/issues/2004/1/smith.asp

[IRescue452]

Its good to post a reminder every once in a while for newcomers to see. I pick it down at the dog park and throw it over the fence. It makes me so mad that they let it grow. I really should print a warning paper and post it there.

[Freedom]

Not heard of foxtail barley. Ugh! Good thing to share, thanks.

[sasvermont]

Remember when one of Glacier's pups ate a weed and it was a horrible for the dog? I think it was this weed. Maybe she'll read this and chime in.

Thankfully, Prue, my dog, doesn't eat much around the yard. She does munch on grass when she sees the cat doing it. They are very competitive outside.

Thanks for the information.

[Freckles]

I found it.
http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=131890&highlight=foxtail

Interesting reading.

[Glacier]

Yup, it was Tehya that ate a bunch of foxtails. They got stuck on her tonsils. Her throat was aggravated for weeks. We've had a few foxtail incidents....they get stuck in noses, imbedded between toes. They are nasty nasty nasty things!

Foxtails are invasive species here. They've taken over huge areas, including my yard. We are trying to figure out how to kill them without risking the dogs. Unless we can manage to rip up every single root, it's going to take powerful chemicals to kill foxtail!

[wolf_Q]

Yeah those are awful...I'm a groomer and we get dogs all the time with foxtails stuck in their skin. I've groomed dogs with literally hundreds of foxtails imbedded in the skin all over. The other day I groomed a dog that had one stuck in the corner of her eye. Keva got one stuck up her nose once and I had to take her the emergency vet. It's good to post though I'm surprised how many people don't know about them. I always try to tell owners when I find foxtails in their dog so they can watch out for them and most people don't have a clue what they are. They are really bad to get stuck in between toes and get infected that is pretty common.

[Asiel]

That stuff grows wild just about all over out here and so many dogs do get in trouble with it. My friend's dog got one in her nose but no one noticed it. She happened to sneeze and blood splattered all over the wall. It took the vet only a few minutes to realize what the problem was, seems this wasn't the first time he saw that. It is very nasty stuff.

[Karen]

I was curious as to the distribution, as your original post links to a Canadian page, and I wondered how widespread it is in the US.

Went to the US Department of Agriculture website, and found the following map:

http://plants.usda.gov/maps/large/HO/HOJU.png

So unless you are in the southeast corner of the country, it's somewhere near you!

[sana]

Thank God there aren't here where I live.. I haven't seen them at least :)

[Roxyluvsme13]

Well, apparently this stuff exists in Tennessee according to that map, but I don't think I've ever seen it. I hadn't even heard of it till just reading this.

Lily doesn't really go outside much anyways unless she's going out to potty, so I don't think I have too much to worry about.

Thanks for the warning though, it's better to know about it than not know and be in a bad situation!

[pomtzu]

I remember foxtail from when I was a kid growing up in New England. It would stick to clothes and Mom would have a fit when it came in the house with us. :eek: I know it grows here in DE too, but I have never seen it in this particular area that I live in. Good thing too, since Sparky finds everything that he shouldn't. :p

[krazyaboutkatz]

I've never seen any but I know we have them here. When I'm at the vets they have some information about them in most of the rooms. It's good to know even though I don't have a dog.

[IRescue452]

Pretty much any grass awns can be potentially dangerous. They're quite sharp and arrow shaped. Its best not to let dogs romp in areas where gras has gone to see unless you're going to check them over well.