Have a look at this web site as it will give you some very good advice on how dangerous sticks can be :(

Some very sad stories of owners that unfortunately were unaware :(

http://www.colliecorner.com/stick-to-toys/home.htm

Worth posting, Lucy :) Tara cut the roof of her mouth when she was a puppy because she picked up a long stick, ran off with it and the end hit the ground causing the stick to snap in her mouth :( Fortunately, it wasn't serious, but could have been nasty :(

Daisy

I can confirm just how dangerous sticks can be - my 5 yr old bitch Lola has a permanently damaged saliva gland due to a stick embedding itself in the back of her throat - it can happen SO quickly - needless to say we only ever use dog toys to throw now.

Yvonne

Our old Bella had a nasty stick accident; the thrown stick landed pointy-end in soft ground, so instead of lying flat was sticking into the air. Bella ran straight onto it, squealed and stepped back, pawing at her face. Op ening her mouth I could see a splinter in her throat which didn't want to pull out, so we went to the vet who removed it under anaesthetic in case removing it caused haemorrhage. The quarter-inch long splinter which was visible was the end of a piece stuck over an inch deep into her gullet.

No throwing sticks, ever, ever again.

Very good post LJS, thanks.  We know of a serious, but thankfully not fatal, accident to a friend's dog.  It wasn't even the friend that threw the stick but a visitor. 

'They are mostly border collies.  I don't throw sticks any longer but she keeps finding them herself!  Big, little she cannot leave them alone. She has chewed a favourite rose bush right down because I removed everything else.  When do dogs grow out of chewing?  She is pretty well a year old now.  We have had 2 fir tree logs that I was using as edging.  She has carried them around the garden, thrown them down steps, chewed on them - they are soft not sharp but when she had an ear infection the vet told me that her other ear had what looked like wood shavings in it!!!!!!

I've witnessed a near fatal accident with a dog and a stick so now have no hesitation by mentioning the dangers to others if I see them throwing sticks!

The only sticks I throw are twigs into the water which the girls are quite happy to retrieve :)

Those poor people who have lost their dogs :( Shame they weren't aware of the dangers :rolleyes:

I wonder what % of dogs die compared to other injuries/illnesses ?

Lucy
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Hmm LJS, aren't twigs made of stick?!!!!

Yes but these are very thin twigs, less than a little finger and are only a few inches in length :)

They can cause just as much damage as a bigger twig/stick getting lodged  between teeth, swallowed etc

I beg to differ on this as the stories of tears in the throat are in no way as bad as as as little twig ;)  I chuck a twig as big as a cigarette and I am sorry that is not going to put a dogs life at risk :)

Try a training dummy instead.  Far safer.

I agree with MM, anything stick-like can penetrate or splinter and cause damage (at minimum).  It's best to avoid the risk.

I see what you are saying but some young sapling twigs as we use are not a danger :)

Lucy
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I use sticks in water too, the problem seems to be if they become fast in the ground causing injury when the dog crashed against them.  This is not likely to happen in water.

<sighs>

Our local gamekeeper's son used to do the same as you for all the same reasons, he lost his best dog due to a tiny sliver of wood embedding itself into his flesh in his lip which travelled though his body & he died from blood poisoning after 2 days at the vets on antibiotics etc The vet found the sliver of wood & removed it, but it was too late sadly

Of course it will never happen to your dog will it that's what Garry thought He doesn't now though

><sighs>

Have you got a chest infection? :D
Have we to ban dogs from chewing sticks as well then?  I would have to have my dog muzzled for every walk and every trip into the garden to ensure she never did it.  I think a balance of risk against quality of life is called for, not only am I not going to do that andn although I would never dream of throwing sticks on dry land, I am going to continue throwing sticks into deep water :)

Tara eats wood :( I have tried to stop her and she doesn't do it nearly as much as she used to.

We can't cotton wool our dogs - Tara broke her toe running into long grass (which eventually led to her losing the toe and several of her pads on that foot) but I don't stop her running into long grass now. As with our children, it is up to us to assess the risks and make an informed decision as to what we allow our dogs to do :)

Daisy

I completely agree with Daisy and Isabel, you can't wrap dogs in cotton wool and although some dogs have died from stcik injuries you have to balance this against the enormous fun millions of dogs get from playing with sticks every day - and never have an accident. Frankly I'm surprised since reading this forum that my dogs are still alive. I used to give them the left over guacamole tubs when I had fajitas, they've stolen and eaten a huge box of chocolates and a couple of easter eggs, they play with sticks and balls. They run at top speed over rough ground and opccasionally will fall and flip over, they jump off 10ft mini cliffs while racing around. They're dogs and live happy, active lives

'They are mostly border collies.
....I don't know how true ut is but our pet insurance company said Border Collies were the 'breed' with the highest claim rate for accidents...but one of the lowest for health problems.

I am surprised at thelater as the breed has more than it's share of health issues.  Several ey conditions, Epilepsy quite common, HD not unheard of etc, especially among the untested casually bred.

but one of the lowest for health problems.

Maybe because those who have poorly bred BC's never bother to insure them & hence the insurance companies don't have records of them ?

BC known conditions
Deafness
Epilepsy
PRA(Progressive Retinal Atrophy)
CEA(Collie Eye Anomaly)
HD
CL(Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (Storage Disease) )
Elbow dysplasia
OCD(Osteochondritis Dissecans )
FMAR(Focal/Multifocal Acquired Retinopathy )

I would agree with the insurance companies. My family have always had a couple of collies at any time and I've continued the trend. These dogs always came from farms where they didn't test for anything other than they would have been bred from good strong working dogs. I've never had a collie die under the age of 12 and most have been 14 - 16 and none had any of the above complaints and in fact were never at the vets apart from jags and the odd cut paw. Collies are in my opinion incredibly robust, healthy dogs but can be accident prone becasue of the way they tear around :D

Also maybe because of all the tests carried out by the good breeders beforehand.

Talking of border collies :) One of mine is extremely stick obcessed however I have worked and am still working (shes 6 shortly) on not letting her pick up and carry sticks. Over the years we have tried a frisbee, numerous rubber bones which she would swop for a stick if my attention was distracted hence we lost them, tennis balls, a squeeky plastic stick that we discovered in a pet shop and tuggies. She has on occassion slightly injured herself on a stick has it stopped her ? No the battle goes on now we look for an empty plastic bottle which she seems to like just as much as her sticks and if on occasion we forget to take one with us we do our bit at picking up litter by finding one that has been thrown away. Cy is happy and accidents are avoided for her and her companions who are running alone beside her.

Tara is now obsessed with footballs and always carries one when out on a walk - the desire to pick up and carry sticks has gone (although I do miss her antics when she tried to carry huge sticks/logs through the kissing gate from the field) :D

Daisy

Bella never grew out of her love of sticks, and would often pick her own from a hedge, getting hold of a likely-looking branch and tugging at it until it snapped. The longer the better - bestest sticks were about 6' long - and as you say, an entertaining challenge to get through gates! :D :D

After her accident we stopped throwing them for her though, unless she was sat steady at our feet until it landed safely, then she could be sent after it. Another safe, and favourite, game was when we'd drop a stick as we walked along, keeping her at heel, and later send her back for it.

I totally agree about a balance and that you can't cover all eventualities.  However, you can reduce the likelihood of accidents by actively discouraging your dog from picking up sticks.

I am sure that if you had been witness to the same stick-related accident that I had, then you would feel the same too.

It's the fact that we do regard these incidents as very serious that we modify our activities to the length we have :)

Slightly off topic, but I saw someone the other day with a young border collie, allowing it to chase a golf ball
I pointed out to them in a friendly way what could happen, and how shocked i was to see them allowing it so happily, and they just smiled and said
"He's done it all the time, ever since a pup, he's fine don't worry" :rolleyes:

Just hope to goodness that poor dog doesn't become a victim of his owner's rather relaxed attitude...

Lindsay
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