How To Get Sap Out of Your Dog’s Fur?

Dog, a man’s best friend, often plays around with its owners. No one would want to see a dog who doesn’t want to play and feels sad all the time.

What is SAP?

Tree sap is a sticky substance called the ‘blood of a tree’. Sap can cause dogs to suffer from pain as it sticks every hard and sharp object that causes potential problems for a dog.

Sap can result in your dog suffering from the unbearable pain of sharp rocks, needle-like wood sticks or even sharp pebbles tucked onto its paws or skin. As your pet owner, you must take care of your pet and free your dog from such pain.

How Do Dogs Get Sap on Their Fur/Paws?

As you might be aware, a dog is a kind of pet that always roams around its owner’s place. It can be inside the house, in the garden, or even on the streets. While roaming around, dogs often lie down, causing different kinds of substances to stick on their fur, and in those substances, Sap is one of them.

At first, it won’t affect your dog. But as hours go by, your dog would start to feel that it is carrying extra weight on its fur and is having difficulty in walking due to sharp substances stuck to its paws. Because of this, your dog won’t feel like playing and would refrain from walking.

How To Get Rid of Sap?

The Sap isn’t deadly but can affect your dog’s physical as well as mental health. Getting rid of it should be one of the most important things for a dog owner. There are a few steps mentioned below to get rid of Sap:

1. Soften the Sap

As time would pass by, the Sap would harden, which would make it more difficult to remove. To remove the hardened Sap, you should first loosen it by turning it into a semi-liquid form.

To loosen the Sap, you will need a hairdryer that would softly blow away the hardened stuff.

However, during this procedure, you should keep the temperature of the hairdryer to its minimum and keep the hair dryer at a distance, or else you’ll burn your cute dog. Some people may find this procedure confusing as turning the Sap back into its original form could worsen the situation. So, the answer to this question is that liquid Sap would be easy to take off, as hardened Sap could only be removed by cutting your dog’s hair. This method would only cause pain to your dog and to you as well.

2. Use Oil

Now that you have softened the Sap, you should quickly get hold of any kind of Oil; olive oil, vegetable oil, mineral oil would be fine.

Now, start massaging your dog’s fur with the oil in your hand, keeping in mind that you don’t want to spread the Sap by massaging in such a way that spreads the substance. Dogs would try to lick the oil as they always love to lick new stuff on their body. You should try and divert your dog’s mind by giving it a treat so that it doesn’t lick away the oil.

3. The Hard Part

This is stated as the hard part as it involves the removal of Sap which can be painful for the dog. Now, as the oil is properly applied to the Sap, you’ll have to use both your fingers and a wide-toothed comb to remove the Sap. This procedure would have to be done with extreme care as the slightest of mistake, and firm hand would pluck out your dog’s hair, making him open to several other kinds of diseases.

You can use more oil to break the Sap and apply it to the part of fur that still has to be cleaned up. This method may take a few tries depending on the Sap’s form. If it got too hard, it would take a few hours to soften and multiple attempts to remove it.

4. Scissors

This step is optional as it depends on the condition of your dog’s fur and paws. If some of the Sap is left after all the above steps, then you must go for this method. You’ll have to cut those hard remaining sap parts on your dog softly. This procedure also should be done with extreme care, as using a hard hand with the scissor would mean that you may accidentally hurt your dog by cutting its hair from the roots or damage your dog’s paw by leaving a cut.

5. Bath Time

This final step is the most satisfying and relieving as your dog would be finally free from the sticky Sap and would now feel free. For better results, you may use a pet soap or body conditioner for your dog to make it feel fresher and would clear all the germs out from your dog.

Many people confuse Sap as a very dangerous issue. This is not true as Tree Sap can be easily treated at your own house and would only require a single day, or even just a few hours. Only in severe cases, where your dog cannot stretch or walk due to all the sticky Sap on it, you should go to address the issue with a vet who would give a better briefing on this matter. However, the right treatment can really avoid Sap from worsening.