Summer Safety Tips Series

The next thing I want to talk about are ticks. We're having way more ticks than we used to, in general, but because of the rain, we're having even more ticks. The way ticks work is they come out when there's moisture out. So we've had a ton of moisture this year, and they live at the bottoms of grasses, like the tall grasses. They live at the bottom of the plant, even go, kind of burrow down in there, and then when it's dewy in the morning, they'll come and climb up to the end of the grasses and they'll do what's called questing. They'll put their little disgusting tick feet out there and wait for you to walk by with your pant leg or for me to ride bike with my bike, with the grasses, and attach to our pant leg, or certainly they'll do the same for your dog as they brush up against the tall grasses.

So, when you're going to mostly find ticks, this time of year we can find them anytime of the day. But as it warms up a little bit more and things dry out, they'll come out early in the morning and then later in the afternoon when we start to have some more moisture back in the air. So just be aware of that. Ticks are nasty. They can actually invest your home. They cause bites and can cause disease for both your pet and for you, and we just don't want them at all in your dog.

We have a great product called Bravecto. It's a pill that you give your dog once every three months. It's amazing. It kills all ticks that your dog will be able exposed to. It doesn't allow them to attach long enough to spread any disease and certainly is great for tick prevention in your home and certainly for your pet also. It also kills fleas, so it's just a great product and especially during this time we strongly recommend to use Bravecto if, has your dog exposed to any ticks at all.

We're having some great holidays upon us, with Memorial Day coming up, and July 4th, and everybody loves to have barbecues. Which is super fun for everyone, but there some definite hazards I want you guys to think about when you have your dogs out and about, especially when you have people over at your house. Everyone's having a good time, and they're not really thinking about what the dog's doing, which is mostly, he is going to surf the table, and the floor, and the trash cans. All these areas that are not normally available to him now have lovely things like chicken bones and rib bones, and corn on the cob, they love corn on the cob.

These things are all very potentially super hazardous. Rib bones are especially bad for dogs, chicken bones can also puncture the intestines and cause problems, they can obstruct them. And corn cobs, we've taken out many corn cobs out of dogs because they love corn, and that cob just does not pass through very well. The other thing we have found a few times is the skewers, if you're using kabobs, the dogs will go ahead and eat that, especially dogs that eat everything like Goldens and Labs. They can't help themselves, these things taste good, and they swallow them up.

So just be careful when you have your dog. I would just recommend maybe keeping the dog up when the food comes out, or tying them up, or just having someone be really close to them, have them attached to one person so we make sure the dog doesn't get into things, until the three days later you're in trouble. The way you're going to notice if your dog did get into trouble, is if they're vomiting and not eating, and not feeling well, you need to get them in right away. That's a pretty serious condition if they get a blocked intestine, and we don't want to wait around, don't have a wait and see situation with that.

So have a great time with your barbecues, but just watch out for the dogs.

Morning, everyone. It's Dr. Drake from the Drake Center, a veterinary care, and I'm out here at Rancho Penesquitos, which is a beautiful park. I ride my bike out here several times a week and/or take Wilbur for a walk sometimes out here. Also a hike.

I just want to talk to you about some of the summer dangers, things to look out for and also, first of all, I wanted to congratulate everyone who's taken their dogs out, because dogs really love to go. They love to get out and make ... you know, get out and get the exercise but also sniff around and get to absorb all the fun things about nature. So, congratulations, to all of you and kudos to you for getting your dogs out on the trails.

Some of the things I'm just noticing right now, especially just a plethora of foxtails, they are everywhere. The extra rain that we had brought lots more green, but along with the green we also have lots more of weeds and scary things like that. So, foxtails, are these small plant structures, and they have a tendency once they dry to flake off, and they're pointy on one end, and they pretty much just move in the direction of the point. So what will happen is, as you walk, they'll get caught in between your dog's toes, and they'll start to work their self into the toes and up into the skin.

Now this takes several days, so what's most important is after a walk or any hikes that you go where there are foxtails around, that you go ahead and look between your dog's toes and underneath the foot also. If they have a longer hair coat then you're going to comb through that entire hair coat, because these things can actually get into the hair coat and work their selves under their skin and go even into the body ... through the body wall.

That takes quite a while, but the point is, if we miss them after it happens, they can start working their way into the skin within a day or so. We also find that they can go into the ears. When dogs stick their heads into bushes they're going into the ear. What your dog will do is they'll shake their head or hold their head like this. If a dog ever holding their head like this and shaking their head more than once or twice a day, it usually means they either have an ear infection or possibly, if you were just on the trail, they have a foxtail in their ear. These are very painful to be in the ear. They're pointy, they're right up against the ear drum. Super, super painful. And you do need to go visit us right away. Get them in there because we do need to get that out of there. It'll cause extreme pain, and then lead to infection too.

So that's the story on foxtails. One other thing, if your dog sticks their nose in the ground and sniffs, which pretty much every dog is certain to do at least several times on the trail, they can actually sniff these foxtails up their nose. It seems crazy that even a little dog like this can get a foxtail up their nose, but they can. And again, it's that pointy part that heads back.

What'll happen if your dog gets a foxtail, or something similar to that up their nose, is they'll just have a very violent sneezing imminently on the trail. So if they have a violent sneeze on the trail, they come off, they're sneezing some more, it's a really violent big sneeze. Then they have something up their nose. There is no way for you to look and to try to pick it out yourself, they have to come into the hospital also. And we actually have to give them a pretty heavy sedation in order to put a scope up there. Because a dog has a pretty big nasal canal for us to go up there and remove the foxtail. Those are also very uncomfortable for the dog, and if left alone they can cause problems up inside the nose like an abcess and such.

So foxtails, just be wary of them if you go on the trails. Just make sure to check your dog when you get back from the hike.