Summer Grooming in South East Queensland: Paralysis Ticks, Grass Seeds and Heat

Paralysis ticks: why grooming is part of prevention

The Australian paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus) lives along the entire eastern seaboard, and South East Queensland — especially bushland fringes, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast hinterland, and anywhere with bandicoots — is prime tick country. A single tick can cause progressive paralysis and is potentially fatal, so this is not a hazard to take lightly.

Tick-prevention medication is the first line of defence, and you should talk to your vet about a reliable year-round product. Grooming is the second line: the physical search. Ticks favour warm, hidden spots — around the ears and eyes, under the collar, between the toes, in the armpits and groin, and around the mouth. A thorough brush-and-check, especially after your dog has been in long grass or bush, is exactly the kind of full-body once-over that turns up a tick early.

Long, matted or double coats make ticks far harder to find. This is one of the strongest practical reasons to keep a dog well brushed through the warmer months — not to shave it, but to keep the coat open enough that a tick can actually be felt and seen.

What to do if you find a tick

Finding one tick means there may be others, so keep searching. Even with preventative medication no product is a guarantee, which is why the hands-on grooming check still matters through the whole tick season.

• Remove it promptly with a tick hook or fine tweezers, gripping as close to the skin as possible and levering it out — do not squeeze the body.
• Keep the tick in a sealed bag in case your vet wants to identify it, and note the time you found it.
• Watch closely for early signs of tick paralysis: a wobbly or weak back end, a changed or breathless bark, vomiting, or reluctance to eat.
• If you see any of those signs, treat it as an emergency and call your vet immediately — do not wait to see if it passes.

Grass seeds: the summer menace in paws and ears

From spring into summer, dried grass seeds — often called grass awns — are everywhere in SEQ parks and backyards. Their barbed, arrow-like shape means they only travel one way: inward. They burrow into the soft skin between toes, slip into ear canals, lodge under eyelids and work into the coat, where they can cause painful abscesses and infections.

Dogs with hairy feet and ears — spaniels, doodles, terriers and many others — are most at risk. After walks in dry grass, check between every toe, look inside the ears, and run your hands through the coat. A common early sign is sudden, obsessive licking of one paw, or head-shaking and tilting toward one ear.

Keeping the hair between the paw pads and around the ear openings trimmed short over summer dramatically reduces where seeds can catch. It is a simple, specific job worth asking your groomer for by name during the warmer months.

Heat: why shaving a double coat backfires

It feels intuitive to shave a fluffy dog for a Queensland summer, but for double-coated breeds — Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Huskies, German Shepherds, Border Collies and their crosses — it usually makes things worse. The double coat insulates against heat as well as cold, and the paler undercoat helps reflect sun. Shaved to the skin, these dogs lose that protection and become more prone to sunburn and heatstroke, and the regrown coat often comes back patchy or coarse.

The right summer move for a double coat is de-shedding, not shaving: a thorough de-shed removes the dead undercoat that traps heat and lets air reach the skin. Single-coated and clipped breeds such as poodles, doodles and many terriers can safely go shorter for summer — just not scalped, since a little length still guards against sunburn.

Whatever the coat, the basics still apply in our heat: never leave a dog in a car, walk in the cool of early morning or evening, and always provide shade and water. Grooming helps a dog cope with heat, but it is not a substitute for managing the heat itself.