How to Remove Burrs from a Long-Haired Pet

A romp in the wilderness is great fun for you and your pet, but it often comes with a side effects of nasty burrs. If left stuck on a pet, the burrs can burrow deep into its skin and cause pain and infection or, as in the case of my dog, the pet can pull them out himself and either eat them or tangle them in the shag rug.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Small trash bag
• Sharp scissors

1. Give the pet the burr check. This means running your hands down the animal’s back, sides, belly and armpits, the thick fur around the face, ears, tail and paw pads.

2. Simply pull out any burrs found in paw pads or at the edges of the long fur.

3. For burrs that are embedded deeper into the fur, isolate that clump of fur and untangle the fur below the burr, which will dislodge the burr and allow it to be pulled out.

4. If the burr won’t budge, even when the clump is isolated and gently worked with, place the scissors as close to the bottom of the burr as possible and snip away.

5. If a lot of snipping was involved, you may need to even out surrounding portions of the pet’s fur or take him to a groomer.

6. Give the pet a treat for being so good while you take out the burrs.

Tips & Warnings

• Let the pet see what you’re doing. Show him the scissors, the burr once it’s pulled out and any clumps of fur that came with it.
• Do a burr check every time you’re out where they thrive, even if it doesn’t appear your pet has any stuck to him.
• Immediately place the displaced burrs into a trash bag so the pet cannot eat them, like my dog likes to.
• Don’t pull on the fur as you are untangling it or the pet will just get irritable and possible hurt.
• Don’t use scissors unless you know exactly what you are cutting. Bringing a pet to the vet to get stitches because you snipped his skin is worse than leaving a burr in.