My Sweet Conehead

My sweet little boy!!!!! Our puppy Nugget is currently a cone-head. About a week ago we noticed our little man was not acting like himself. He was still eating and being a sweet boy but he wasn't running around like crazy, jumping in the pool each time we opened it, destroying as much stuff, etc.. That is when we noticed that he had a few foxtails and burs stuck in his fur plus some spots of matting. We clean him up and figure that he will be back to his normal self. Nope. Then all of sudden he starts licking one of his armpits like crazy. We investigated and all we can find is a spot of matting. Again we try to trim it up but you can tell it is super sensitive. 24 hours later it is now red and a bit oozing. I was lucky enough to get him a vet appointment for the end of the day on Friday.  I take him in and it turns out that a foxtail had gotten buried in his armpit and worked its way under his skin and was starting an infection. I had heard you need to watch for foxtails getting in their nose and ears but I didn't know those little suckers could actually pierce the skin like that. So the vet had to give him a shot of antibiotics and a little slice and then stitch to get that bad boy out. He did really well with the whole thing. The worst part for him is now the cone he must ware for the next few days. Poor little Nugget.........