Sticktight Predicament
 

I wasn't sure where to put this. I started in the Sick and Injured folder but decided maybe I was going overboard and it was not really an emergency but rather a predicament -- a sticktight predicament!

My poor Annie has been blessed with the most precious tiny face that is heart stopping it is so gorgeous, but......she has the hair from "h, e, double hockeysticks!" I guess it is cotton or a combination as the hair on her head is silky and entirely different from the hair on her body. I kept thinking it was just puppy hair and would change but she passed the year mark in July and still she has this horrible hair. She is actually from the lines of Ben and my late female Sadie. They all had silky hair. I did not think about cotton hair just cropping up like this. I would not even call it cotton, more like the finest down. Maybe she is part duck!

Now for the actual Predicament -- we were walking around the yard and I had not mowed the very back part as soon as I should have. There's 2 acres back there and I leave some of it natural. When we all came back in, her entire underside & legs were covered with sticktights! If you are not familiar with these things, they are seed pods that are green - sometimes brownish green, flat, not prickly, but with some magical power to adhere to whatever they stick to. Well, not whatever, as Ben came in without a one but poor Annie was covered and my socks had several. I've been plucking these things for 2 days and they seem to multiply when I stop for a while. They are an amazing hitchhiking seed! You cannot believe how strong a bond they can create with the host hair. Combined with some mats I've been working on, I feel like her coat is a lost cause and will need a shave down. Wish this had happened in the summer and not the Fall as the temps are falling in the evening here.

To tell the truth, the reason I have been working so diligently at removing these things is that I am embarrassed to bring her in to the groomer like this. She does not look like the purebred Yorkshire Terrier she is. She looks like some farm mutt allowed to wallow in the woods! She looks like a Blue & Tan & Green Yorkie! I am sure the groomer will look at me with some form of disapproval and I will just hate that! Ah well, I am not going to fix this on my own, I need professional help and if it means having someone look down their nose at me with disapproving sneers, so be it. I will just have to take my comeuppance!

Anyone have any secret for removing these sticktights? I know I will be going out to try to find the offending plants and dig them up by the roots! I think it might be time that we moved into a traditional suburb home that is easier to maintain and my babies will be safe from all of the critters and vegetation enemies we have out here.

Poor, poor Annie -- a face to launch a fleet of sailing ships but the hair of .... well whatever has horrible hair, eider down, maybe. Luckily I have a tote full of dog clothes in the craft room. I will get out some sweaters and take her to the groomers to be sheared like a lamb. Sad.....sad......sad......I should have been more careful! Cursed sticktights!!! :eek:

I just read that olive oil soaked into the "fur" could help loosen them and they could be brushed out. Hmmm...might try that yet. I guess it could be worse, they could be cockleburs! OUCH! At least sticktights don't hurt.

Cowboy Magic really works on those stickers we get suddenly in AZ. Someone recommended it for matting with puppies and I bought a big bottle when Joey was little, and his hair turned silky so he really never had a matting problem. It works great on stickers though, and so I was glad we had some on hand when he got them all over his coat one day. This has an ingredient that is slippery, but not really oily, and if you have tack stores you might be able to find it locally. Otherwise, I guess I'd try oils or even corn starch first. People swear by corn starch for mats, they say it has that slickness that makes mats come out easily. I've never tried it, but it's easier to find, and not as messy as oils.

Roxy came in one time after being out back with dh covered in those things. After much groaning (by me) & gently hand picking with many left to go, I gave her a bath. Really saturated her with conditioner. A lot of them came out during the bath & rinsing. What was left came out quite easily with a little brushing. Good luck!

just them really heavy with cornstarch, this gets out mats and tangles, it might work for that too.

As a newbie please could someone tell me how to use cornstarch on tangles, my 3 month old has them on his flanks and hates me trying to detangle him.;)

Oh Debra, I don't envy you with the sticktight situation. I have not so fond memories of the same evil - except we called it beggar lice. Hope you have unstuck Annie and she is back to being a blue and tan :D.

I don't have any helpful suggestions but am commiserating along with you and pretty little Annie! How horrible!

I second this. Cowboy Magic will do the trick. It works amazingly well to remove stickers and burrs.

It's really simple. Just take a pinch with your fingers and thumb and rub it into the tangle. Then take your comb and gently work on the tangle until it comes free. For really bad tangles you may need to apply a little more cornstarch after you've worked on the tangle for a little while. Be sure to reward him with a treat every few minutes for standing still. And if he starts to get really anxious, just take a break and go play with him. You want to reinforce in him that grooming is not a punishment.

Thanks that is really useful, this is a super site with lovely people posting on it. Thanks again, I'm off to get the cornstarch x:D

Hey Deb! I was just going to say that we call them "beggar lice" here, but Chattiesmom beat me to it! Sounds like you're getting a lot of good advice on getting those nasty things out of little Annie's hair. Let us know what you wind up using, or if you get her hair cut.

Sorry I don't have any advice. But after a bad day...that really made me laugh. :yelrotflm

Hi Nancy -- Actually I did still have about half a bottle of Cowboy Magic and I should have thought to try that! I wound up taking Annie to the groomers for a shave down though. She looks so tiny! She is just a handful now. I feel like I need to protect her from everything. LOL! I know in my mind she is still the same headstrong pup but she looks so .... vulnerable!

Thanks for the ideas. June -- I don't know why I did not try the cornstarch as I have used that on her for working out a mat! But, as usual, I tend to react a bit impulsively and before I got back to read here, I was on the phone asking for an emergency grooming appointment. I just could not leave her like that another day! The groomer said best to shave her down and start over so that is what we did. I should call back and tell the groomer about these ideas! Ah well, Annie will grow out quickly enough and the groomer even said she might surprise us by having a better coat as it grows in next time. She showed me that she actually had a combination of silky and cottony hair. She had never been cut down before. So, maybe, just maybe, her hair will come in better than before. That would be a relief!

I can't look at Annie now without saying "Poor baby!" She looks so different! I had wanted her face left longer but evidently I did not explain myself well, because she cut even that hair short. But it is nice and neat and feels SO soft! If she wasn't acting the same, I would think they slipped me another dog. But even though she looks like a little chihuahua, she is still my sweet baby girl. Really, I have never had even another yorkie as loving as this pup! She just wants to be on my lap or being carried by me at all times! Most of the time I love it, as I live alone now with my youngest in college and I think she was sent to me from above to help me through the empty nest. But there are times, when I'm trying to cook or clean, that she can be a handful! I have done the craziest things to entertain her while I do something else. The other day, I tied a toy to my foot & flipped it back & forth, so I could play with her while I cleaned the tub! Spoiled? Oh YES!

I'll get a picture of her later (battery was dead when I got out my camera!). Then you can all join in a little "Poor Baby" with me! :D Actually she is REALLY cute like this. But very un-yorkie!

Another YT member wrote in about a year ago describing how she took out the stickers from her dogs hair and it sounded like a very tedious process even if you are using the right stuff. Five or so stickers are one thing, but if it's all over the coat, shaving is more humane. Lol, I can't believe you tied a toy to your foot while you cleaned the tub that has got to be the craziest/loving thing I've ever read; you need to start a thread about that!

I think the toy to my foot/ankle really was self-preservation. Although Annie is tiny, she is very persistent! When she wants to play or go out, or get a treat, there is no denying her. I have done a terrible job training her. She on the other hand, has done a fairly presentable job of training me to bow to her every whim!