Grass awns end up in the stangest places

We've just finished a major landscaping project at our home in New Mexico. We have tried to re-create a natural landscape using native plants and incorporating the latest in water harvesting techniques. I refer to it as my re-wilding project as opposed to a normal landscaping job.

I was up in the mountains harvesting native grass seed over the weekend. I want to stabilize the hillsides we've created in the yard and make it more difficult for weeds to get a foothold. And speaking of grass seed, a funny thing happened when I got home. I was greeted by one of my daughter's buddies looking for a little free advice. 

So how is free vet advice and grass seed related? Well, it turns out that my daughter's friend's dog was limping on a sore paw. There was a suspicious looking hole between the toes and you could tell there had been a lot of licking going on. The paw was wet and when you gently pushed on the tender area a serous looking discharge oozed out of the opening.

I knew almost immediately what was going on, and yes, it was related to grass seed.

To understand you have to look at a typical grass awn or seed. Some of them are equipped with stickers that help them move around or disseminate. These stickers even help them gain a foothold in the soil. If you examine them closely you'll see that they are most often unidirectional, meaning that they only go one way.

This can be a problem for animals when these awns get stuck in the coat or, in this case, between the toes. They are sharp enough to penetrate the skin and just keep going. In this case, one had worked its way between the toes, through the skin and up into the tissue of the foot. Foreign bodies like these cause a lot of inflammation and pain and can lead to serious infections if they are not removed in a timely fashion.

We got lucky with this one and I was able to retrieve it with a pair of forceps I use mainly for removing hooks from the mouths of angry trout. It's not uncommon to have to use anesthesia or at least a local to remove these things and that has to be done in a veterinary hospital.

In practice I used an alligator forceps with jaws that you could open once the forceps is deep in the tissue. I've removed grass awns that were almost two inches deep in various parts of a dog's anatomy.

In the late summer and fall, and even throughout the winter, grass awns can be a problem. The big seed heads you see now are about to drop. If you take your dog out for country walks it's always a good idea to look between the toes when you get home. Remove any awns you see before they become a problem.

Look at the hair around the ears, too, as this is a common place for them to lodge. Your dog will thank you for the prompt attention.