Over a period of time, I have noticed while out walking my dogs, that quite a large number of Owners throw sticks, balls even pine cones etc for their dogs continually. To the extent that the dog appears to become obsessed with the item to be thrown.

This then appears to have the effect that the dog also becomes detached from social meetings with dogs. i.e. when my dogs go up to say hello and hopefully interact a little, the dog in question, barely acknowledges my dog (or any other for that matter), and has eyes fixed on chasing a thrown item.

It just seems a little sad that some of these dogs have lost the knack of entertaining themselves during a walk, and 'meeting and greeting' other dogs for good social interaction.

Wonder what others think?

Regards to all,
Denise.

without wanting to sound offensive, i hate dogs wondering up to my dogs when ive got them out-i dont know what the dogs temperament is thats heading my way-same as you dont know the likes and dislikes of the dog yours is heading for, they may have reasons for bad reactions, perhaps bitten by the same size and coloured dog as you have,. ---i much prefer to meet or pass a strange dog leashed--but thats my veiw and i know not everyone see's it like that :)

One point I would like to make, so many dogs have suffered horrifying injuries by running onto the end of a stick at speed. The stick being rammed down their throat! I never throw sticks for my dogs! Use balls, rope "Tuggers" ore anything else of this type but never sticks!

Regards, John

just as well i keep the wrinklys leashed then--or you wouldnt get your tugger back!!!!!:p

I agree John- someone who walks their GSD on the field near us threw a ball and due to the size of the dog the ball was lodged in the dog's throat (he'd jumped up to catch it), the poor owner tried in vain to get the ball out to no avail and the dog chocked to death. :(Sad I know but I bet that owner never used a ball again for a dog. I've also heard many stories about dogs carrying sticks trying to get through narrow doorways etc sustaining injury!

When Chelsea's recall wasn't so good we found that she LOVED the Frisbee - so we would allow her to play with other dogs, then call Frisbee and she would come for the game. We decide when games begin and end - and that makes it enticing for her and give us a bit more control even though now she is really good about leaving other dogs when we tell her. She does occasionally 'bug' us for the frisbee and we have to walk with it in a bag because if she sees it she is obsessed with it. But she knows she will not get it by bugging or asking and we just say 'all done, go for walk' and she is off exploring etc.

I do agree with others - I cringe when I see people throwing sticks - I've seen and heard of so many bad stick injuries - and even though we discourage it we had our own bad experience with one last year (she was chewing a stick in the back garden). Find something relatively safe to throw if you are going to throw.

Wendy

Well done to you for having her so well trained that she knows she can't have it by bugging!:) Sounds like you've done a good job with her! What breed is she?

She's a whippet mix. Because she would be 'deaf' to recalls we figured if we had something where WE started and finished the game she wouldn't want to miss it no matter what. And it worked. She could be in the middle of mad wild play with another dog and if we yelled FRISBEE she would race back to not miss the game. I know it was a bit of a cheat, but it gave us some control over her.

Funny thing was - her view of what frisbee was was like playing monkey in the middle. She didn't want to retrieve it, she wanted to chase it between us and if it landed she would just stomp on it like 'yeah I've got it, come get it'. She now retrieves it, but for the first year it was so funny!

Actually with the whippet pup Savannah(who is now 16 months so not such a pup) the frisbee game has evolved into something completely different. We always carried two so we didn't have to fight with Chelsea over the one in her mouth - now with two dogs, the pup chases Chelsea's frisbee with the other one already in her mouth because she know's Chelsea will never let her have the one she's chasing (did that make sense with all the 'shes' in that LOL).

Hello, Just read Kash's post, his first one. Imagine witnessing your own dog chocking to death. That must be so hard to get over. My Sheltie when her was a pup last year, managed to chock on a lego brick whilst visiting friends. I had to get my hand down his throat and dislodge it. It took almost a minute to do. VERY VERY scary.

We all witnessed it as this happened on our local field (I can't remember if I've already said that :) ) all the children out that day were screaming, as was the owner, as were all the doggie people also out with their dogs:(. I've got a new puppy coming in about 7 weeks (a GSD) and that's one I'll certainly be looking out for as I've also got a 4 year old son- therefore I've got lego too! I've actually put quite a lot of their toys upstairs and I'm planning on buying two of those wooden storage boxes from B&Q (paint or stain as you like) as they have lids on and I've already said that any toys left downstairs must be in the toybox and not left lying around. When you think about it really puppies are just like babies with the chocking hazards etc. Thanks for the hint though anyway Sable- much appreciated:D

P.S:'he's' a she! Stacey! The name is a mix of my childrens names 'Kane' and 'Shannon'. I thought it was quite fitting with my e-mail being 'stayrich' for Stacey Richardson:D

When we had our stick scare with Chelsea about a year ago she'd managed to get it lodged up at the back of her pallet. In trying to get it out she had swallowed her tongue. I was doing doggie heimlich and put my fingers down her thraot looking for the stick I knew was lodged somewhere, and pulled her tongue back up and finally got the stick out. She was no worse for wear afterwards, though my life flashed before my eyes. While it was happening I was terrified I wouldn't be able to fix it. That's the closest I EVER want to come:(

Oh my God! Wendy I don't know how you managed to keep your nerve- I hope I'd be as brave in that situation- then again I hope I'm never in that situation- Touch wood eh! I know you said you were terrified but at least you kept a level enough head to be able to do it! I'd probably just panic! My Son suffers from convulsions and the one he had in Feb of last year I was on the phone to the ambulance service (999) and the lady kept asking for my address and I was in that much of a state I was just screaming and begging for her to get an ambulance without actually registering what she was saying to me! Am I dumb or what- it's a good job my Mum was here at the time! Then he had another before Christmas and I managed to stay pretty calm- I was quite proud of myself:D It was his Godfather that was screaming and pulling his hair out! What I'm trying to say is I'm not consistent and things can go either way with me! But like I said- TOUCH WOOD IT NEVER HAPPENS!

You know what - instinct just kicked in. There was the part of me panicking, but the instinct kicked in and I just DID. You never know what you can do until you're in that situation. I just pray I never have to be in a situation to find out what else I can do!!;-)

I know what you're saying about instinct and making you just do it! If my Mum wasn't there I'd have have ahd to deal with it- no choice is there! It's wierd though when you think about it because there was probably something in my subconsious mind that told me I could just hide instead of facing it because my Mum was there! like I said I was completely different the time after when Dean (Godfather) was here! The powers of the mind eh!:D Cheesy aren't I;) Oh well it's a boring crappy day and it's a bank holiday- excuse me if I seem to be talking quite a bit of crap- it's because I've had to put with my other half for 4 full days running! Rather than my normal Sat [$ Sun:( Kids are off too and he's been doing the garden- laying new turf etc and he's on my back because apparently I keep making stupid suggestions on things I know nothing about! I might not know much but I do know how I want it to bloody look! Can't wait to have him back at work tomorrow:D How about you lot?])

I was thinking exactly the same thing about your situation, but didn't know how to put it into words. I think you're right - because your mom was there some part of you knew you could fall apart and she could pick up the bits. In the next one somehow you knew YOU had to do it:)

Wendy

It's true Wendy- like you said instinct just kicks in because I knew no one else could do it- and I didn't even realise I was doing it! It's only looking back on the two situations that I actually realise just how different I reacted!

By the way-I've just been on your website- loved it- the halloween photo of your nephew is sooooooo cute! I haven't yet got a website I'm currently scouring for some ideas- yours has gave me quite a few ideas- I especially loved the way it wasn't only your dogs but told us a whole lot about you, your house etc! It was really nice to look through!- Give yourself a pat on the back, I thought that photo of Chelsea with her paw over Savannah laying down was really cute too:D 10 out of 10 for you! If you wouldn't mind I'd be interested to know a few more details regarding your website designer etc!

I was at work one day, and my mum took my gsd lady out for a walk, having told her never to throw sticks for her, she did and the obvious happened it stuck in her throat, when i got home from work she told me what had happened, after listening to me giving a speech about how bad sticks are to throw, looking down her throut could only see a small scratch so i thought i would wait the next day to see how she was, big mistake, the next morning her left eye was so swollen i thought she was going to lose it, so i took her to the vet and they put her on antibiotics which did take the swelling down and luckily she kept her eye, over the next two years!! she had various x-rays as it kept swelling up around the eye, and oozing pus not very nice, she had a drain put into it that still did not clear it and they think that there was a small splinter of wood still in there, but nothing showed up on the x-ray, so it was a case of when it came up just bathe it, then one day it just all cleared up, and hasnt returned and like i said previously this was over a period of two years, and lots of vet bills to pay, and all because of a stick, it is amazing what damage it can cause.

Hi 'Metpol Fan' I bet the eye came as a shocker considering the only 'noticeable' damage was a scratch in her throat. I take it the problem was only due to this splinter in her eye and nothing internally? Your poor Mum though- I feel quite sorry for her:(- I bet she felt guilty enough herself didn't she? Infact I bet she never did it again after witnessing first hand the damage it can cause! Were you insured? It's funny isn't it how 'on-going' certain treatments can become! Is the eye fully cleared up or does it run more in windy/wintry weather- if you know what I mean:)

hi Kash, everything is back to normal, no further problems with the eye at all, and no i was not insured so you can imagine the cost of all the treatment, thats why my next two dogs i got are both insured not making that mistake again. The splinter wasnt actually in the eye, it must have been somewhere in the surrounding tissue, the vets could not find it so it was just a waiting game to when it would eventually heal up. Lady is now twelve and still going strong.

Funny isn't it how some of us just prefer to learn the hard way, I mean re the insurance or should I say lack of! A few years back one of my friends was expecting a baby and timing impeccable the cat had kittens! At the time I wasn't actually looking for a cat but once I'd been to visit her I realised how cute they were and unusual too- one was a smoky blue/grey, one was pure beige and the other was white with multi coloured spots (not nice at all really). I chose the smokey blue one! He is an adorable cat but with him not being pedigree or anything I didn't even think about insurance- MORE THE FOOL ME! He got ran over and had numerous operations on his hip at a total cost of £500 and still counting! That hurts and no insurance company will touch him with a barge pole!! Needless to say that when I get my GSD in 7 weeks- she'll be insured:D! If it's GSD's you own- any tips on insurance companies?

I use direct line pet insurance, and they have paid out every time, no problems with them and they are helpfull and friendly, i was with pet plan but i found them to be very expensive, but it does depend on what you want to be insured for, shop around.

Hi Everyone,
I keep reading all of these postings concerning pet health insurance and I drool in envy. I was living in the middle of nowhere in the US for a long time and even now, the region still doesn't have any such thing. Yeah, despite wonderful things like rattlesnakes, coyotes, coydogs, scorpions, rats, cars, sticks, cactus, and all other sorts of hazards to life & limb.

Here in Germany, it's advised to get insurance, but there's only the Liability type, not health. :( I feel so left out (sob, sniff, sniff)

toodles

You can have a lot of fun with a football. But make sure it's a decent one as the thin rubber ones don't last 5 minutes with a collie.

The TH is the Beckham of the Highlands, she can do headers, dribble it, can bunny kick it off her back paws and passes it to you if you clap your hands. (Please no mention of the gundog word) :D

I know sticks are bad but trying to convince my Taz not to carry them is quite hard. He especially likes big limbed ones (he watched a lion carrying a zebra leg on tv - I think he is fantasising).
my bitch Aimee prefers stones. A bit of a problem at the beach when kids are throwing them - one cracked tooth.

Max splits stones in half - yes just like the GSD who splits snooker balls - Buzz in the film K9. :D

GEEEZ, wouldn't like a bite off him!!!!

Well so far he has had a soft mouth with us - apart from one occaision when he bit my dad - just a couple of puncture marks - and he ran off to hide behind the TV - but splitting stones in half does show you the power of his mouth