02/07/2026
It's that time of year again! Due to the hot, dry weather, and the proliferation of these little things everywhere at the moment, we are currently seeing lots of grass seed cases.
They are particularly picked up by long- and curly-haired dogs, in the garden and out on walks. They get caught in the hair around the head and feet especially, and manage to enter the ears or between the toes with alarming speed! One poor dog recently even had one in his eye!
If you hold one gently between your thumb and forefinger, you will find that it will very easily travel forwards, but that the fine barbs prevent it from easily travelling backwards, plus the point of the barb is quite sharp. So when they enter the skin or ears, they will just keep moving forwards, sometimes travelling from the paw to the top of the leg, or from the outer ear to the ear drum. More rarely, they can get inside the body and cause an jnternal abscess. They can cause a lot of damage, be very difficult to locate, and rarely come out by themselves!
So if you have a hairy dog, the best advice is to check it all over after every walk, especially around the ears and between the toes, and let us know quickly if your dog displays sudden head-shaking, or a wound between the toes or elsewhere on the body.
