A barefoot dog walk was a fantastic start to my day today. I’d read about the benefits yesterday, then without me even bringing it up, had it confirmed by a physiotherapist. I had my first paddle of the year (I know, a bit late - but I spend more time on the beach in the winter) and enjoyed the sensation of the dry sun scorched grass of Littlehampton Green beneath my feet. Glad I had my sandals for the pebbles though.
Bella had a blast too, but came home covered in these seed burrs.
Normally she is easy maintenance on the grooming front, we get away with a weekly groom. But today was the second day in a row - because of seeds.
Recently I’ve been keeping a beady out for the “dart” grasses. That’s what I call it, but maybe you know it as flea grass or wall barley? The ones that don’t just cause matting, but can bury themselves into skin. Horrific!
Is it me, or does there seem to be more dart grass about this year? There's lots on the verges and in parks near me. I’m trying to keep Bella away, but it’s hard when there is so much about and I also want to allow her to enjoy a good sniff.
So...frequent grooming now and checking all over, including paws and ears. I’ve never had a problem with Bella’s ears, but my childhood cocker spaniel, Tessa, made multiple visits to the vets because of seeds in her long ears.
When Bella was younger she was a wriggly nightmare to groom. She's still not keen on having her paws tidied up and checked (who knows maybe a seed worked its way into there once). But these days we both find grooming quite relaxing, a nice bit of bonding for us both. Maybe that’s the silver lining to this seedy business.