Eating Sticks

[Tabby]

Does anyone have a problem with their dog eatting sticks?  Mike has been doing this since he was really little.  If he just chewed them it would be ok, but he swollows it too.   I thought when he was done teething he would stop but he hasn't.  I don't know how to discourage the behavior.  He gets good food and vitamins and regular vet care.  He isn't hungry or ill.    help.......   

[GYPSY JAZMINE]

Samson eats sticks too...Well, actually I am not sure if he is eating them or just chewing them up which I suspect...We haven't had any problems with it so far.

[pyrmom420]

Gandalf even eats the bark off of the wood in the wood box next to the fireplace! I guess its better than him chewing the trim on the house, which he did while he was teething!

[TwoNewfies]

We have the same here. Bell and Rocco love to eat sticks. So far we havent had had any problems, since at times they do eat them!  We try to watch when we are outside but lots of times I look and there they are.....gnawin g on a stick and they always look like they are in heaven.

[Kermit]

Just as I was reading this post, I looked over at my Nigel and he had something in his mouth. I went to see what it was, and it turned out to be a stick he brought in from outside. He LOVES eating sticks. He is teething so of course he loves to get his teeth around anything, but sticks really make him happy. He destroys them and eats some pieces for sure. So far no problems. I want the little guy to be happy and not frustrated, so I let him chew on all the sticks he wants.   Of course he has "dog toys" too but often he just wants to shred them. That's when we go outside and look for sticks. The chew toy that nature abundantly provides for dogs!

[nickerbokker]

angus aparently eats sticks too.  hes never really had the change until the washington trip, but once he got the chance, he went for it man!

all my other dogs have always eaten sticks, including cody.  when we built our house, we had 4 ash trees put in the back, 2 dogwood, and 4 cherry trees in front...WELL.. ..cody would stand on his hind legs and pull as many branches off those trees as he could.  pretty soon, it got to the point that there were no branches in his reach.  LOL, imagine my moms RED RED face when she would see it.  she would go tearing out of the house with the super soaker so fast! 

him and angus REALLY have issues with leaves.  they will find and eat as many leaves as they can on our walks.  it REALLY pisses me off.  they are like vaccums, and i want to hurt them sometimes lmao.  but i dont.

yep....its VERY normal, and how to stop it, i dont really know....i never really have stopped it.  i used to figure if steve erwin used sticks for the crocs, i could let my dogs eat them.  bad thoughts, i know....dont make much sense, but they make sense when you are tired of stopping something you dont have control over when you arent around. 

anyway....i have to get back to work.  its starting to pick up, so i must come out of the hole LMAO....

LATER PEOPEL

[coonie1970]

Judge eats sticks too. I figure its better than my table and chairs. I havent noticed any problems.
Coonie

[vizslamaniac]

When Zoey was about 4 months old she would gather a stick or two up during our park walk and trot around with it until we got home. It was very cute.  One day one of these sticks broke off in her mouth and got lodged between her windpipe and the upper palate of her mouth. I reached in her mouth but was unable to get the thing loose!! THis happened right outside the front door of our building. She was thrashing and snapping for air. Lucky for us my partner was home (a very calm and deliberate person) and was able to carefully reach in and yank out the stick about 2 inches long.

Two seconds later Zoey was happily chewing on a bully stick! but I have not let her pick up a stick from a tree since then!
 

[Icerotti]

My rotti loves sticks. Any size shape, any tree type. He loves to hear it snap when he crunches it. When it crunches he gets up and runs circles. It has never been a problem for us.
The V Farley (10 weeks)had an incident yesterday though running with something in his mouth. My daughter left her princess fairy wand laying around. Farley grabed hold of the end that you hang onto with the crown top pointing  in the direction that he was running. Well, once he grabbed hold of it you know how puppies take off when they think they have caught the BEST thing ever. He takes off with the princess wand sticking out of his mouth and hit a rolled up area carpet in one of the bedroom. It jammed the wand right into the back of his throat--he was coughing for about 1 min, then he was fine. He grabbed it so quick that I did not even have time to take it away before he ran into the carpet. Scared me for a minute. Now that he is ok--it was really funny.  He took off in true V fashion chest stuck out and tail held high.