Amongst the Australian veterinary community, spring and summer are known as grass-seed season. During these seasons especially prevalent in rural and regional Australia, more dogs had to seek medical treatment caused by grass seeds.

Awns are stiff, sharp bristles that grow from grasses such as spear grass, barley grass, wild oats, brome grass and cereals (including rye, wheat and barley) ^{1, 2, 3, 4} They are equipped with many small barbs pointing backwards, which enable the awns to attach themselves to a dog’s fur and which only allow movement in one direction – inwards, towards the animal’s body.

Having anchored themselves to the coat, the awns work their way deeper into the fur every time the dog moves. Medical problems caused by grass seeds include:

• With their sharp tips, awns are able to puncture the animal’s skin and become lodged there, where they can cause infections, inflammation and abscesses. 
• These foreign bodies can also enter your dog’s body through orifices such as the nose, mouth and ears, resulting in internal injury. 
  • For example, they can travel through the gastrointestinal or respiratory tract, where they can cause life-threatening damage.⁵ 
  • They can make their way to an internal organ – for example, entering via the nose and migrating along the trachea (windpipe) – and can ultimately lead to lung collapse.⁶ In the most extreme cases, this can prove fatal.⁷
     

• what to do when you found an awn in your dog's fur
• signs to look out for
• consequences
• preventive measures

Remove each awn you find. If you find an awn that is snagged in your dog’s fur or that has only partially penetrated the skin, you may be able to remove it yourself (using tweezers if necessary). However, if the awn has already worked its way deeper into the skin, you must take your dog to the vet so it can be removed properly and the necessary medication can be administered (e.g. anti-inflammatory drug, painkiller, antibiotic). If the vet has reason to think an awn is already inside your dog’s body, more extensive veterinary measures will be needed (physical examination, diagnostic testing, biopsies and diagnostic imaging like ultrasound)⁷.

The potential consequences for your dog can be extremely serious and quickly even life-threatening.

• If an awn isn’t removed from the ear in time, it can lead to middle-ear infection, loss of balance and rupture of the eardrum^10,12.
• An awn in the paw can cause abscesses and infections between the affected toes¹³.
• If left untreated, awns in the eye can lead to severe corneal damage and, in the worst cases, blindness^11,14.
• Awns can cause infections in the nose. If they travel through the nasal cavities to the brain, they can prove fatal¹⁵.
• If left untreated, awns in the trachea or lungs can lead to pneumonia or pneumothorax (a build-up of air between the lungs and the chest wall)⁵.

Try not to let your dog run through tall grass or beside fields of cereal crops at the height of the awn season (June – August). If necessary, keep your dog’s coat and the fur around their paws trimmed short, and brush out their undercoat. If – despite your best efforts – your dog does come into contact with tall grass, keep a close eye out for any of the warning signs listed above. Check your dog thoroughly for awns and remove them immediately.