# Beware: Rape Seed Plants



## Tanya1989 (Dec 4, 2009)

*This is from a friend of mine who breeds and shows Beagles:*

On Friday evening whilst out on a walk, Jake chased some rabbits into a field of Rape Seed Oil, he spent quite some time chasing them around and crying with delight !! When he emerged, to my total dismay, the Rape had totally skinned his eyes and the top of his ears - no fur and extremely sore broken skin. He is feeling very sorry for himself and looks a total mess.

In all the years I have free run my Beagles this has never happened before and I was totally unaware that these Rape fields could cause so much damage.


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## oveione (Aug 15, 2009)

Thanks for that hope your friends dog is ok looks sore.


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## dagny0823 (Oct 20, 2009)

I clicked on this thinking it was something about canola oil (as we call it over here, since nobody knows what a rape plant is) being toxic, then I had a bit of a giggle at the image of his dog splashing through a field of cooking oil. 

I think it's more that we should beware of rape fields (and I'm not surprised that some plants can be so nasty to run through like that--ouch!), not the oil.


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## Tanya1989 (Dec 4, 2009)

Changed the thread title, I never thought it could be misleading  The voice in my head never picked up on it


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Poor dog it looks so sore, Its something you just wouldnt even think about or consider could happen, so a very good warning, thank you Tanya


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## Lulus mum (Feb 14, 2011)

Thank you so much for your post-please thank your friend too for going to the trouble of telling you,to help us all
Hope Jake soon recovers- couldnt believe the photos-how sore he looked
Maureen


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## SophieCyde (Oct 24, 2010)

thanks for the warning and hope the little pup gets well soon


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

Thanks; good thread. Hope your friend's dog recovers quickly .


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

I am so sorry to hear about Jake and hope he is well again soon. 

I hate it when it takes another's misfortune to alert us to these things. I know it's the only way to learn but somehow it doesnt sit right.

I will certainly see rape fields in an different light after this. Thanks to your friend for helping us avoid the same fate.


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## lewis_m15 (Mar 15, 2011)

Weird because I'm highly allergic to rape seed, walking in a field of it would bring me put in a similar skin condition, and I can't even drive past a field without having what looks like the worst hayfever ever! But I never thought about it affecting dogs

Worst thing is the field opposite my house is full of it this year!! Thanks local farmer!


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## dagny0823 (Oct 20, 2009)

Tanya1989 said:


> Changed the thread title, I never thought it could be misleading  The voice in my head never picked up on it


That's okay The voices in my head never help me much either  Sorry, just couldn't resist. But I am relieved indeed that the canola oil I've been cooking in isn't a threat.

Poor pup--hope he heals up soon. Bet he'd do it again though, given half a chance!


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## karmidale (May 5, 2011)

Horse owners should be aware as well as it can cause head-shaking. Hope the Beagle soon recovers.


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## WaveRider (Sep 8, 2009)

Quite odd that it did such damage! I have mountain biked through thick rape seed without any cuts. 
Just to note before i get the Country Code thrown at me; There is meant to be a path through a local field but the farmer had not cleared it, so i cycled through what should be a path. 

You may find there are different varieties too. Also some of the crops are GM and may have tougher, sharper leaf edges. :

My dogs have been trhough the rape and not noticed any dicomfort, however they generally stick to the path unless they sniff out an animal to flush.... but usually their too busy play fighting with one another......:blink:


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## archiesmum (Aug 28, 2010)

Thanks for the warning.

I hope Jake is making a good recovery.

Val xx


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## JustmeGemmy (Jun 30, 2011)

Oh my! I never knew rape seed could be so dangerous! We have a few of them nearby this year, I think I'll just keep Sox out of them. Thanks for the warning. Hope Jake gets better soon, poor pup.


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## GoldenShadow (Jun 15, 2009)

Only just seen this. Wonder if it depends on the type of fur as to how badly affected they are...

Godmum's lab and Rupert always used to run through the rape fields. Lab would have eyes like the beagle in the OP, skinned etc. Rupert never once got even a nick. His fur is quite soft and a lab's more wire like/thicker.


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## XxZoexX (Sep 8, 2010)

Poor soul.. looks so sore 
Thanks for the warning


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## aldobaggins (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks for the warning!


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## peanut651 (Oct 7, 2011)

karmidale said:


> Horse owners should be aware as well as it can cause head-shaking. Hope the Beagle soon recovers.


good point! i remember this now from when i used to help out with my ex's horses. didnt think it would have been that bad for that poor dog either

hope he gets better soon:thumbup:


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## alexdrum (Oct 17, 2011)

Specially the pet owners should come here and get suggestions for how to cure dog diseases. Sweets can be harmful for pets, that's why be aware from it mostly!!
Thanks for put up your suggestions here!!


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## AskieAmerEskimo (Nov 4, 2011)

Awww! You should be careful next time. At least we all learned a lesson.


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## Pointermum (Jul 2, 2010)

Giving this a bump for this year


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## Harry66 (Apr 25, 2012)

Thank you for this we have some rape seed fields close to our house so I will definately bear that in mind.

I hope Jake is okay now

Harry


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## Milliepoochie (Feb 13, 2011)

We have Rape Seed Fields around us. My friends Staffy had weeping blisters on his underside last week 24 hours after running through it.

I quite reguarly see the farmers spraying the fields around me and quite frankly would not allow Millie to run through them. Theres enough playing fields / footpaths to be off lead theres no reason to damage crops.

Even if we have walked around on the set aside land / public footpaths in the fields I will rinse Millie down when we get home. Its just not worth the risk - I dont know what these chemicals are and for the sake of 10 mins rinse in the shower I can relax knowing Millie wont be ingesting it as she washes herself.


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## kane61 (May 20, 2011)

Oh no this is terrible. I had never heard of this before. Thanks so much for sharing it.http://www.petforums.co.uk/images/icons/icon14.gif


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## Tillydog (Jun 7, 2012)

Crikey! We are surrounded by rape seed fields where we walk our beagle daily and she loves bounding through them. Hope Jake soon recovers and thanks for the warning.


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## SarahandShelby (Jul 1, 2012)

Poor thing....Thanks for this. Good to know!! Hope Jake is feeling better soon :smile5:


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## Yomper (Sep 17, 2011)

Thanks for the heads up a load of rape seed fields here didn't occur they could cause harm except maybe for the chemicals they spray them with.


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## ultras2007 (Jul 8, 2012)

Thank you for the post wish your friends dog is ok looks sore .


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## 912142 (Mar 28, 2011)

Yes I have seen dogs with similar burns having gone through a field planted with rape seed.


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## harrys_mum (Aug 18, 2010)

wish id seen this before, we have just had the same thing with our rufus, he went charging through the rape seed field and came out bleeding under the eyes. now he has bald patches.
michelle x


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## peterscot423 (Mar 25, 2013)

Thanks for sharing thread with me i hope your puppy will recover very soon.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Milliepoochie said:


> We have Rape Seed Fields around us. My friend's Staffy had weeping blisters on his underside last week,
> 24 hours after running through it.
> 
> I quite reguarly see the farmers spraying the fields around me &... frankly would not allow Millie
> ...


Good point. Farmers don't spray with a thought of dogs & exposue, they spray to prevent fungi,
kill pests, or kill non-crop plants - the hazard to pets, livestock, or ppl is not their worry. :nonod:

for that matter, golf-courses spray such toxic stuff as weedkiller that for a while, i saved the news stories 
about golfers *who died* after herbicide exposure -- but it was too depressing, i stopped. 

anywhere that i don't SEE broadleafed plants in the grass, i simply assume it's sprayed, possibly toxic, 
& avoid it - plus keep any animals out of it / off of it. Safe beats sorry. :huh:


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## petloverjames (Apr 26, 2013)

nice thread ...keep sharing good information like this


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## dandogman (Dec 19, 2011)

We walk next to rape fields... Pippa likes to eat the leaves...


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## Picklelily (Jan 2, 2013)

Surely your dog shouldn't be running loose in a crop field or was it just the footpath at the edge?

Thank you for the warning though especially as rape fields are more prevalent over recent years.


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## patterdalelass (Dec 7, 2012)

Also beware of linseed crops.My eldest Patterdale charged off after a hare the other day and skinned under her eyes.She looks a right bruiser now


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## nickarzia zeke davies (Dec 31, 2012)

Real nasty n ta fer the warning 

How's jake?


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## emps (Jul 12, 2013)

Poor boy that looks really sore....Hope he is better soon. Really useful post, its not something I would have ever thought about...Thankyou for posting


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2014)

My Bea chased a rabbit into a field of rape in early June 2006, and the next time I saw her she had white horizontal crescent moons under her eyes - I actually thought they were pale leaves at first and tried to brush them off! Subsequently, the skin gradually reddened and then crusted over, like scabs, which you can see in the 2nd, later, picture ... don't feel bad if you laugh at this photo ... I did! ).

The vet at the time had no idea why suddenly my dog became bald under her eyes. I went on a dog forum with the photos and one charming person accused of me of being rough with a Halti :. No one knew what it was - but one semi-plausible theory was Bea trying to push her facing through a fence made of rusty wire, with the fur wrapping around the wire and being plucked out (nope!). I suspected it was the somehow to do with the rape field, but had no firm idea of how it could have affected her in such a manner.

In June 2010 I was cycling past a different vet's in town and saw a Black Lab coming out with the same tell-tale bald patches. I screeched to a halt and quizzed the owner if the dog had been in a rape field - she had! Again, the vet hadn't a clue what had happened. 

I've since discovered that it's a fairly new agricultural technique of spraying GLUE onto the plants in order that the precious seed doesn't drop off prior to harvesting (how 'lovely' - I've crossed canola / rape oil off my shopping list!). This will account for why some people are saying that their dogs have bounded through a rape field with no similar ill effect ... this was either prior to the new technique being implemented or their local farmer not having latched on to it yet.

So now, I suppose, you can save money on a June leg wax and just sprint through a rape field instead .


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## Quarissamin (Jun 9, 2014)

No way exactly the same has happened to my lab we live in the country side and usually she wslks past the rape seed but since I changed her to raw diet shes full of enrtgy and started chsrging yhrough it, shes taken all the skin of under het eyes . I dont walk that eay anymore.


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## MontyMaude (Feb 23, 2012)

Picklelily said:


> Surely your dog shouldn't be running loose in a crop field or was it just the footpath at the edge?
> 
> Thank you for the warning though especially as rape fields are more prevalent over recent years.


I know this is an old post on a thread that has just been bumped up, but do people really allow their dogs to run through crops  as to me it's hugely out of order allowing your dogs to traipse through and damaged crops, it's a farmer livelihood, no wonder farmers dislike public footpaths running along their fields when people show such disregard for their crops.


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2014)

Well, yes - I guess all of us whose dogs dare to set claw into a farmer's field in the heat of the moment should just grab a bunch of that precious crop and beat ourselves over the head with it. Perhaps _some _of us resent poisonous farmer's fields next to our public footpaths? We all have so many wonderful free-run dog parks to choose from in this country, don't we? 
FYI I do NOT encourage my dog to stray into a crop field - quite the opposite. Not only might it damage the crops, but the crops (with glue, toxic pesticides and suchlike) might damage the dog. At the time she was a youngster and a rabbit dashed in front of her into the field. We were miles away from roads and the crop was a good double her height, so - without knowing what a rape crop could do - I didn't feel too bad. It's not like she was making crop circles or anything. It was a one-off - and I'm pretty sure came out of it worse-off than the field. 
Perhaps some dogs ruled with a rod of iron or bred into a torpor might not have twitched an eyebrow in the same circumstances. Well done them.
But, hey - thanks for the snippy holier-than-thou comments while some of us are trying to get important information out there, MontyMaude.


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## MontyMaude (Feb 23, 2012)

sairhug said:


> Well, yes - I guess all of us whose dogs dare to set claw into a farmer's field in the heat of the moment should just grab a bunch of that precious crop and beat ourselves over the head with it. Perhaps _some _of us resent poisonous farmer's fields next to our public footpaths? We all have so many wonderful free-run dog parks to choose from in this country, don't we?
> FYI I do NOT encourage my dog to stray into a crop field - quite the opposite. Not only might it damage the crops, but the crops (with glue, toxic pesticides and suchlike) might damage the dog. At the time she was a youngster and a rabbit dashed in front of her into the field. We were miles away from roads and the crop was a good double her height, so - without knowing what a rape crop could do - I didn't feel too bad. It's not like she was making crop circles or anything. It was a one-off - and I'm pretty sure came out of it worse-off than the field.
> Perhaps some dogs ruled with a rod of iron or bred into a torpor might not have twitched an eyebrow in the same circumstances. Well done them.
> But, hey - thanks for the snippy holier-than-thou comments while some of us are trying to get important information out there, MontyMaude.


My response was in fact a general response to everyone on here, if I had been being snippy with you I would have quoted your post. I live in the country and try to respect where I live and where I walk my dog, I am sorry your dog got hurt as rape is very nasty stuff, but without your friendly farmer you would probably go quite hungry, and whilst your one dog may not do too much damage, what if everybody had that attitude and allowed their dog to run into the crop damaging it, soon enough half a field is destroyed, but hey it's just a nasty crop that has been sprayed with crap according to you, farmers get a pretty poor deal all round and and then dog walkers and ramblers wonder why the farmers don't like them with attitudes like yours I'm not surprised.


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