And now Mia has no ear fringe

Laurelin

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#1
*sigh*

This afternoon we had a meet up at a park with some of the nosework people. It went well, we did several rounds of hides. Mia was superb! She did fantastically.

I decided to bring Summer since we were so far out from my house and near a huge lake and lots of trails. So I figured we'd go walk for a while after the nosework was done.

I drove over to the lake and it was down about halfway. A ton of the lakebed was exposed and we've gone down there in the past. So... I decided to take the dogs and let them run around on the sand. I get to the edge and unhook the leashes and walk down to the lake bed. I look back and Mia's limping. I figure she has a burr in her foot, which happens every now and then. We have those tiny grass burrs and Mia is a wimp. I pick her up and it's a massive burr like I had never seen. And then I realize they're all over her. In her ears, in her tail (her tail was actually caught to her side). Dozens and dozens of them. About 8 in her right ear fringe, which was all wrapped around every which way. I started trying to ease them out and she starts screaming. I probably got about 10 out of her hair but she was wailing like I'd never heard before and I realized the ones in her ears were just not coming out. It just wasn't fair to keep working on them so we went back to my car and I took some regular scissors out and just hacked the burrs out. When I say she has no ear fringe now, she has NO ear fringe now. At all. I will be honest, it almost made me cry. lol She also has about half the tail feathering and a big chunk out of her butt hair too.

and I had them stuck all over my shoes and pants.

We did end up going back to the lake and I carried them past the brush this time. They had a blast running around for nearly 2 hours. Mia had some major zoomies the entire time, so I think it was still worth it.

Oy.


burr2 by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr


burr by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr

Now I've got a problem because I had to hack off all of Mia's right ear fringe and just part of her left ear fringe. Would you go ahead and just cut the rest of the left off? It looks kind of weird since they're so uneven now.
 

Laurelin

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#3
I will have to get a picture of her new haircut tomorrow. She got a bath just now and is all wet (she rolled in a dead fish). It's bad. I know my agility people are going to ask what happened on Thursday. There is no hiding it.

I have this aversion to messing with their fringe but it looks so weird to have one ear cut so short and straight and then the other almost fully fringed. It can take several years to grow good papillon fringe.

Bye pretty hair.


DSC_1607 by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr
 

Shai

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#4
NOOOoooo poor Mia's fringe!!

We have a LOT of those kinds of burrs here. We call them cockle burrs. Mira picks them up fairly frequently when we're working brush...once she had one wedged inside her elbow...had to hurt horribly but she never let on :/
 

Laurelin

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#6
I have never seen those before but they're seriously the devil. We've had a few burrs here and there but this was a nightmare. I am guessing they only grow by the lake. She had them all over. Both ears, her right ear was just FULL of them, her tail was stuck to her butt by them, on her feet, on her tummy, her butt, her inner thighs... poor thing. No wonder she was limping. She didn't yelp or anything until I tried to remove them. And then I am pretty sure all the other people around thought I was abusing the poor dog.

Somehow Summer got just 3 on her tail and I didn't have to cut hers out.
 
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#7
We get those around here, too. Every once in awhile I end up just having to cut off all of Pip's tail feathers because of them.
 

Shai

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#8
Mira's probably picked up a hundred or so in her life and I've been lucky I've never had to cut one out. She has a different hair texture than Papillons though so maybe that helps.

What a bummer :( Can you trim the "long" ear back so it looks nice but less overtly lopsided?
 

JacksonsMom

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#9
OH NOEZ!!! :(

Those burrs are a freakin' NIGHTMARE! I took Jackson to the beach and he got like three stuck in his facial hair, omg, it was horrible. I am shocked I didn't butcher him too bad actually. My aunt had to help me cut them out while I held him. I tried to use a comb to get it pulled out as far as possible and then just cut the rest.

You can kinda see it here, completely wrapped in his mustache. (left side)
 
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#10
Pip's had the "my tail is stuck to my butt with burrs" thing happen, too. They're like super glue in his coat.
 

Laurelin

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#11
Mira's probably picked up a hundred or so in her life and I've been lucky I've never had to cut one out. She has a different hair texture than Papillons though so maybe that helps.

What a bummer :( Can you trim the "long" ear back so it looks nice but less overtly lopsided?
Mia doesn't have a 'normal' papillon coat either. Summer does and hers were pretty simple to get out. Mia's got the softest fur of any dog I have ever felt in my life. It is almost as cottony feeling as my chinchilla. It feels like down or puppy fur.

Summer's fur is a lot silkier and a little harsher. It almost never picks up anything.

Pip's had the "my tail is stuck to my butt with burrs" thing happen, too. They're like super glue in his coat.
Yup, it was like an instant mat for her hair. I don't think I could ever have worked them out of her hair. Plus her screaming made me feel bad.
 

Laurelin

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#12
On the plus side, Mia's downy hair is so nice to pet and cuddle. (trying to look at glass half full right now)
 

Shai

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Mia doesn't have a 'normal' papillon coat either. Summer does and hers were pretty simple to get out. Mia's got the softest fur of any dog I have ever felt in my life. It is almost as cottony feeling as my chinchilla. It feels like down or puppy fur.

Summer's fur is a lot silkier and a little harsher. It almost never picks up anything.
I didn't realize Mia had a more cottony coat. Mira's is harder than any Papillon I've ever met...it's hard for me to describe a Flatcoat coat...but if Mia's on the cottony side Papillons...that makes sense then that they were so hard (impossible) to get out :/.
 

DJEtzel

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#14
We have burrs all over here. It's never been an issue with Frag or Sir... I'm not looking forward to Recon growing up and having a longer coat. :mad:
 

Laurelin

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I didn't realize Mia had a more cottony coat. Mira's is harder than any Papillon I've ever met...it's hard for me to describe a Flatcoat coat...but if Mia's on the cottony side Papillons...that makes sense then that they were so hard (impossible) to get out :/.
It's about the most cottony coat I've ever felt, papillon or not. It also needs to be bathed more often than Summer. It's kind of a pain but like I said on the other hand, I think she's the best to pet, lol.

The breed in general has a super soft coat though. Much softer than my shelties.
 

Laurelin

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#17
I think I am going to cut the fringe off of her left ear now. It just looks so bizarre. But I'm scared to actually do it. :p
 

Shai

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#18
I think I am going to cut the fringe off of her left ear now. It just looks so bizarre. But I'm scared to actually do it. :p
Can you use a thinning shear or similar to create a "softer" look?
 

Laurelin

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Yeah I think that's the plan. The right ear though... I got with regular school style scissors. It's a very straight line.
 

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