Maybe they should make cowboy boots for dogs, especially Texas dogs. Throughout our travels in the Southwest, poor Dudley has had to exercise extreme caution on his walks. He keeps stepping on burrs.
We've pulled burrs out of his paws in Canyon de Chelly, Cloudcroft, N.M., and all over Texas. These aren't the little round barely-there burrs we are familiar with in the Northeast and Midwest (the kind that stick to your clothes). These burrs are closer to actual thorns but with enough roundness to easily pierce a small brown paw.
Dudley, whenever beset by one of these horrible freaks of nature, kind of steps/limps gingerly around like he's being punished for something. He's taken to avoiding grassy patches altogether for fear of sticking himself in the foot.
And for anyone who may be thinking that our little dog is indeed too pampered and wimpy, we have a response. A few of these burrs have made their way into Murray, and Emily, who likes having her shoes off most of the time, has stepped on a few. She wishes that both she and Dudley could have tough leather soles on their paws all the time.
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