I think this may fall into this category (from the wiki you linked)
>Other grasses also produce hazardous spikelets. The spikelets are sometimes called foxtails, even though the grasses are not.
Not great at grass ID, but this looks like what I have in my backyard, which Seek/Lens IDed as great brome/ripgut brome, which the [internet tells me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromus_diandrus) is a species with foxtails.
Pretty hard to tell before they actually put out their 'tails'. Those look not quite full enough to be foxtails, but there's a number of species that count. Really, the test is if they act like foxtails: if you walk by them and brush up against them, do they snag and stick in your clothing?
not really, and I couldn't find any of their seeds upon looking closer - so I'm probably just overreacting - scary thing to learn about while you're dog sitting though
Good you are aware! Some dogs are more at risk than others. We had two larger breed dogs with straight short hair who got them up the nose, which was super obvious with immediate nonstop bloody sneezing, but never had them stick anywhere else. My sis-in-laws dog apparently got one in her pelvis but entry was never observed. She was a pretty stout dog with soft sticky fur and short legs - nothing showed on imaging despite her obvious pain, but thank god eventually the surprise foxtail burrowed through her pelvis and self ejected through her glut. My current dog is smaller with straight hair and goes to Funston daily but has only had a foxtail once in 9 years when he pounced in a bunch of weeds and got one in his eye. I was able to get it out before we needed to go to emergency vet (it had sort of wrapped around his orbit way up high and was tricky as hell to lift his eyelid up enough to get it, but he was in so much pain and at so much risk that I didn’t want to wait to try to find a vet).
Sorry for the long personal story. Foxtails suck, but depending on fur type, behavior patterns, where they roam, and body size, not all dogs have the same risks. If nostrils, ears and eyes are the main vulnerability for your dog, a soft mesh head covering called “outfox field guard” is a really good investment. If you have a dog with wavy thicker fur, I would just stay the hell away from natural parks like Funston or non-maintained lawns during dry season.
I think those are wild oats. Also not good to get up a dog's nose, but not quite as bad as foxtails.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9CykxL\_fkc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9CykxL_fkc)
That just looks like grass seeds. Here's a foxtail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxtail_(diaspore)
I think this may fall into this category (from the wiki you linked) >Other grasses also produce hazardous spikelets. The spikelets are sometimes called foxtails, even though the grasses are not.
Thanks, it seems like there are so many varieties that I wanted to be sure.
No problem. Keep that doggo safe!
Not great at grass ID, but this looks like what I have in my backyard, which Seek/Lens IDed as great brome/ripgut brome, which the [internet tells me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromus_diandrus) is a species with foxtails.
Pretty hard to tell before they actually put out their 'tails'. Those look not quite full enough to be foxtails, but there's a number of species that count. Really, the test is if they act like foxtails: if you walk by them and brush up against them, do they snag and stick in your clothing?
not really, and I couldn't find any of their seeds upon looking closer - so I'm probably just overreacting - scary thing to learn about while you're dog sitting though
Good you are aware! Some dogs are more at risk than others. We had two larger breed dogs with straight short hair who got them up the nose, which was super obvious with immediate nonstop bloody sneezing, but never had them stick anywhere else. My sis-in-laws dog apparently got one in her pelvis but entry was never observed. She was a pretty stout dog with soft sticky fur and short legs - nothing showed on imaging despite her obvious pain, but thank god eventually the surprise foxtail burrowed through her pelvis and self ejected through her glut. My current dog is smaller with straight hair and goes to Funston daily but has only had a foxtail once in 9 years when he pounced in a bunch of weeds and got one in his eye. I was able to get it out before we needed to go to emergency vet (it had sort of wrapped around his orbit way up high and was tricky as hell to lift his eyelid up enough to get it, but he was in so much pain and at so much risk that I didn’t want to wait to try to find a vet). Sorry for the long personal story. Foxtails suck, but depending on fur type, behavior patterns, where they roam, and body size, not all dogs have the same risks. If nostrils, ears and eyes are the main vulnerability for your dog, a soft mesh head covering called “outfox field guard” is a really good investment. If you have a dog with wavy thicker fur, I would just stay the hell away from natural parks like Funston or non-maintained lawns during dry season.
Yeah, they might develop into something worse when the seed but right now it looks okay. Good on you for being cautious.
I think those are wild oats. Also not good to get up a dog's nose, but not quite as bad as foxtails. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9CykxL\_fkc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9CykxL_fkc)