Removing Stickies?

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

This morning Belle and I went on a pack walk in a forest with lots of underbrush.  Belle and several of her buddies rolled in some sort of vegetation that left millions of little, tiny round stickies all over them.  She stood patiently on her grooming table for over an hour while I gently detached most of them, but there are some still firmly attached to her lips and between her nails and she cries when I try to remove them. Does anyone have any suggestion for non-painful removal of these stubborn stickies? If I can't get them all off by tomorrow morning, should I take her to the vet or one of the unsatisfactory groomers we have used since our wonderful groomer moved to North Carolina? She doesn't seem to be in any pain unless I am trying to remove the stickies. I don't think she ingested any of them, as there were none inside her mouth. Does she need to go to the vet anyway?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Could you maybe use a little peanut butter or olive oil to remove the ones on her lip? Maybe that would loosen them or make them easier to slip off? And maybe oil on the ones between her toes, too? 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yeah I think oil might work.  Will probably have to shampoo a couple times after to get the oil out but it's worth a try.

[Stacy]

Are they the little teeny tiny green balls? I've had good luck just brushing them out. It seems to hurt when I try to pick them off individually, but if you just brush they seem to come out without much discomfort. I'm not sure about lips and toes, maybe a comb? I hate those things! But they don't seem to be as dangerous as foxtails. I don't think the stickers are long enough for them to get embedded. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I don't think they're dangerous but the ends are definitely barbed.  They're tougher to remove sometimes when they're dry/brown.  Luna didn't have a curly coat but I did brush them out a few times with her too.

If they're really bad maybe oil them up and then comb?

[Stacy]

They are barbed and it hurts when you grab them! I finally figured out what those plants look like and try to keep the girls away from them. 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

In FL the girls get into sand spurs and they hurt when I try and remove them with my fingers so I just use a fine tooth comb and comb them out.   The oil sounds like it might help though.

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Thanks for the advice everyone.  I was able to comb out the ones on her feet and several more I hadn't realized were still in her tail, after spritzing them with my olive oil mister. The lips don't have any hair on them (she has a mild dental anomaly, and her day care director says Belle has "people lips"). I need a few more sets of hands to work on her mouth. I washed the oil out of Belle's feet and tail and I think she has had enough for one day.  Several people from our dog walking group are bringing their dogs over for breakfast tomorrow and we will help each other finish the de-stickieing process. I guess I shouldn't let her run free in the forested area where I can't always see exactly what she is getting into in time to stop her. She'll have to do her running in the open fields from now on.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If you want to let her run in the forested area, you might try boots for her feet, and an Outfox hood for her head and face. People use these to prevent foxtails from getting in a dog's eyes, nose, mouth & ears, and they're also great for keeping dogs from eating anything they find outdoors. They look funny, but they don;t seem to bother the dogs, and they can even drink water with through it.
https://www.outfoxfordogs.com/

[Stacy]

Add to it the unitard! https://www.chewy.com/shed-defender-shedding-dog-bodysuit/dp/167663... and they would be practically sticky-proof. I'm kidding, except sometimes I'm not kidding that much. Long haired dogs that want to be outdoorsy have a very distinct set of challenges. I wouldn't trade them for a short haired dog, but sometimes I see the beauty in being able to hose them down and call it a day.

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

What a good idea. I bookmarked the website.  Actually, if I bought a large size, with a few modifications I could probably put her whole body except booted legs inside and she would be good to go anywhere without being overheated!

[DonMarie and Picco]

Glad to hear you got them taken care of.

I've actually had most come out while conditioning phase of a bath.  I was worried during shampoo but most fell out while rinsing out the conditioner but I'm sure that depends on the stickie.  I've had a few where I just cut them out with scissors.  I'd rather just have a weird haircut then torturing me or the dog!