Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help dog lovers? I need some help

So our 4 month old puppy (black lab/aussie shepherd mix) decided as he got older he likes to roam. He also loves to chase the kids as they leave the driveway on their bikes. Then he decided that neighbor kids on their bikes and joggers are fun to chase as well.

We knew we would need underground fencing but time was precious with a new baby coming any day. Thankfully my brothers showed up to help and with a lawn edger and 2500 feet of 16 ga solid core wire we got started. We looped in and out of the woods, through weeds, grass and around the perimeter in general.

I debated looping around the pond to keep the dog from going in the water but I felt that his instinct to be in water and to love jumping in was pretty strong. I hated to make him stand on the outside of the underground fence zone and just look at the water. Kind of like putting a coon just outside the cage of a bluetick hound...

It is so great to know that the dog can run freely all day and yet will stay around. He has a couple of acres to roam in within the fence and I think he enjoys it. The waterproof collar allows him in the pond still and outside of the fact that he is wet, smelly, and muddy, he seems to enjoy cooling off.

I also figured that in the winter if the kids spend time ice skating, they will want the dog to have fun on the ice with them.

But lately his roaming has also brought a new issue, BURRS! Every day he is coated with the tiny round green burrs and he gets big matted areas on the fur behind his ears and around his neck where he pokes his nose in all of these bushes.

Any experience on helping us remove burrs quickly? I'm trying to use a human comb with a little wider teeth spacing but they tend to drop back out of the comb. I need something that will stick to them and hold on while I brush/comb them out.

Maybe the loop side of some velcro glued to a wide flat paddle?

Any ready made special comb or brush made for this?

Once he dries his fur is pretty 'self cleaning' and the dirt seems to disappear easily but the burrs, no...

Now to find a way to make him stop digging holes around the bushes and newly planted trees right down to the burlap root balls and then ripping out the burlap...

I get a lot of burrs out of my Springer Spaniel's fur with a metal flea comb. For some reason, the black colored ones work better than the silver or chrome plated ones. You can also spray a product that you get at Tractors Supply that is for horses "Show Sheen".

If you get tired of telling the dog no, to stop bad behavior, (digging, etc.) get an electric collar. Innotek, Tri-tronics, etc.I had a problem with one of my Springers digging. When I caught her digging, yelling at her worked for about 1/2 hr. I out the collar on her when I put her in the kennel run in the morning. Midday I saw her digging. With the unit on 6 (of a possible 15) I hit the button. It took 4 more times like that over the period of a week, but she never dug again. Don't say anything to the dog, that way he'll think that the digging is causing the discomfort, not you telling him to stop.