# Cain got into beggar's lice/sticker burrs. Help!



## Crewsinn (Jun 25, 2012)

(Pic is of him before the incident, lol. Just wanted to give y'all an idea of what he looks like!) 

I had him groomed last week. Because of the Texas heat I decided to have him completely cut, but I left his fluffy poodle tail, lol. Today he made a great (short-lived) escape into the creek behind our house. When he came back he was covered in sticker burrs and beggar's lice. Because his hair is short it was easy to brush off, but his tail is matted! Is there any way to save his tail, or should I trim it? Or trim and shave? Any advice would be great! Thanks in advance!


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Have you tried first brushing his tail out as much as you can, then take a spray bottle filled w/water and hair condioner and spray the matts,while pulling the matts apart with your fingers and a wide toothed comb, Or use detangler to work out the matts. I'd probably have him lay on the floor and have a lot of treats ready too! I've worked out some really bad ear matts on my son's dog doing this! Once you get the matts out remember to brush every day! Unfortunately if you can't pull them apart and comb, you will have to shave!!!!!


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## Crewsinn (Jun 25, 2012)

Thank you MMA!! I luckily have a surplus of the materials mentioned. It's late, and after his adventure today- combined with a trip to petsmart (he got new brushes and chew toy, he's going crazy chewing up the couch lol) and his new Walmart plastic pool- I'd be inclined to say he's worn out enough to make this easy! I'll let ya know how it goes!


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

Our yard is FULL of sticker burs and I have to pick out a bunch several times per day. I'm gonna have to google beggars lice - never heard of that one. I would just trim the tail. 


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Cain looks so nice, his coat looks like crushed velvet. I hope you can save his tail but those burrs are so hard to get rid of you might need to just shave it off. Swizzle got some of those in his coat once and it took an hour to get them out of his hair and he is just a toy.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

I put Jazz in a Miami (minus the tail pompon) when the weather started to warm up, but once she started picking up burrs, her bracelets were a disaster, so, regretfully, I had them shaved off. Much easier to care for. We'll grow the bracelets back in the fall.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

My dogs get into cactus and burrs quite often on loose leash walks. I use Cowboy Magic, which you can get at a tack store. It's good for painless de-matting; I think there are several other detanglers out there like it but Cowboy Magic is made for those harsh horse manes and has silk proteins in it. I also use it on my own hair sometimes, ha,ha.


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