New NAFC, FC-AFC Cody Cut a Lean Grade, “Grady,” owned and handled by Chad Baker, won the 2011 National Amateur Retriever Championship which concluded June 25 in Ronan, Montana.  Grady has had multiple incidents of grass awn infection, with treatment requiring major surgery.  Not even grass awn infection can keep a great dog down. 

Congratulations as well to another grass awn survivor, Finalist FC-AFC Trumarc’s L’il Ms Pogo, owned by Martha and John Russell and handled by Martha.  Pogo lost two lung lobes to a grass awn infection two years ago, and recovered to contend strongly for the NARC title thanks to Martha’s nursing skills and dedication to her recovery.

For great detail on the event, check out the Retriever Report and Retriever Blog courtesy of Retriever News,  http://2011narcreport.theretrievernews.com/ and http://2011narcblog.theretrievernews.com/ .

We’ve had a cold “spring”in southern WI, so plants may be behind schedule here.  The foxtail barley is emerging and it’s easy to spot in the roadside medians right now as the feathery tops are a very pale gold against all the green.  Given that for years we were told that we don’t have the “bad” foxtail in Wisconsin, it’s rather frightening to see just how much is growing along the road in our immediate area.  Proving once again that it’s good to fact-check, the USDA plant database distribution map shows foxtail barley in all but five very southern of the U.S. lower 48 states plus Alaska http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HOJU.  Given the hazard this stuff poses to our dogs, be sure that you are able to recognize and avoid it.  There are more photos in the Gallery, which I hope to organize better in the near future!

Meet Dodger, who lives in Alaska and competes in tracking.  Dodger more than likely picked up a foxtail in 2008 that entered through his mouth and migrated up behind his eye.  Dodger’s actually very fortunate.  Once his abscess was drained and he took a course of antibiotics, he’s had no further ill effects and has gone on to earn more titles, including the VCD1 (Versatile Companion Dog).  Wishing you continued good health, Dodger!

I was fortunate to present on grass awn infection to the Purina Pointing Dog Awards gathering in Kansas City this past weekend with Dr. Pat McInteer.  Dr. McInteer shared an article that he wrote with Dr. James Mills on diagnosing and treating nocardia and associated infections, and was amenable to hosting that article here, as well as a second article that he wrote on speargrass.  My thanks to both Dr. McInteer and Dr. Mills for sharing this information.  See Pages list to the right for the article links.

Thanks as well to Dr. Matt Rooney, who generously took the time (during his vacation, no less!) to review the presentation slides.  I will be posting these here soon.

Image credit:  USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Vol. 1: 177.

Thanks to the technical expertise of Nathan Briggs (the WordPress guru who keeps this site running and the nasties at bay) , Dr. Matt Rooney’s excellent presentation to the ESSFTA two years ago can be accessed here:  http://www.meanseeds.com/rooney-talk/

Many thanks once again to Dr. Rooney (http://www.aspenmeadowvet.com/)  for sharing his time and expertise.

The Springer field trial community lost a great competitor this morning.  Slip placed second in the 2006 and 2009 National Open, and won the 2008 Canadian National along with a myriad of other placements and accomplishments.  Slip died from complications associated with grass awn infection. 

It is a true tragedy for the Springer field trial sport to lose such a talented dog much too soon.

Our sincerest sympathies to Slip’s family and friends.  She will be missed.

See link to the right.  Many thanks to Kevin Noon for his help in providing the initial list and the technical detail!

If you have had any personal experience with any of these particular species and have helpful information on reducing the hazards, please post your information in the comments.  For example, folks living in areas where cheatgrass is a significant problem find it helpful to trim the hair between the pads and on the feet closely to give the awns less to cling to.  Cheatgrass and foxtail risk can also be reduced by careful inspection of the dog after s/he has been in the field to remove any awns in the coat or in the ears.

What’s most needed for the project right now are case history submissions.  Please either print off the case history for mailing with any support documents or records you are willing to send, or you can now submit your case history on the site.  I understand well how time consuming it can be to assemble a complete history, particularly for the dogs whose stories stretch over some period of time.  At this point I would rather have some/the basic information than have nothing so that we can get some better sense of the numbers, so PLEASE submit your information and encourage anyone you know with an affected dog to do the same.

Looks to the right of this post, and you should see the links to the case history forms.  Thanks so much in advance for your help!

I was in Dallas last weekend and noticed a stand of cheatgrass on the side of the road in front of the hotel where I was staying, so I grabbed some samples and took some photos which I have added to the gallery.  This closeup of the awn is especially interesting, I think , as it shows all the little barbs.

Just getting started.   For now, if you need more information, refer to http://essfta.org/Health_Research/grass_awn.htm

Please check back soon, I hope to have information posted here shortly.

See the top of the banner or the panel to the right for a link to the case history form.

Many thanks to Retriever News #mce_temp_url# for the article in their April, 2009 edition.

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