Have a question for one of our vets? Ask it in the “Speak Your Mind” comment section below, and we’ll answer it in a future blog post! (And yes, for the month of November, you’ll be entered in a drawing for a free weekend of pet boarding!
Submit Your Question Here
Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!
About the Author: Sharon King
Related Posts
6 Comments
Comments are closed.
My dogs rabies tag has gotten lost from his collar. Do I need to have him get another rabies shot in order to get another tag?
Hi, I was wondering if you would recommend giving any supplements to a large breed puppy? My 5 month old Akita mix just switched from eating Solid Gold Wolf Cub to Candidae and a friend suggested I look into supplements to help prevent hip dysplasia or other joint problems. Also, I currently still mix hot water with my puppy’s food to make it easier for her to chew- when should I stop doing this? Thanks!
why do boxers “smack” their lips? mine does this a lot– is this normal?
[…] Question: I was wondering if you would recommend giving any supplements to a large breed puppy? My 5 month old Akita mix just switched from eating Solid Gold Wolf Cub to Candidae and a friend suggested I look into supplements to help prevent hip dysplasia or other joint problems. Also, I currently still mix hot water with my puppy’s food to make it easier for her to chew- when should I stop doing this? Thanks! […]
Hi. My parents occasionally watch my dog for me when I need to go out of town and they have a huge fenced in back yard with lots of trees. My 9 month old dog will grab sticks around their yard and chew them and sometimes eat them. She has thrown up stick pieces due to this before. I was wondering if this stick eating is harmful behavior and if you have any suggestions for how I could stop her. Giving her a filled kong or another edible chew while she is playing in the yard is really not an option because it causes fights between my dog and my parents dogs. Thanks!
Although anything non-digestible can be a foreign body and cause obstructions, in our experience a lot of dogs chew on sticks without an issue. It depends on how fine the pieces are chewed and how many pieces are swallowed. Risk of perforation is a possibility if there is a sharp enough splinter but the intestinal tract has a thick fibrous layer that resists puncture.
How to prevent the behavior? We hate to state the obvious but stick removal (at least the tempting big ones) and/or preventing access to the sticks are the sure fixes for the problem. Maybe another boarding or house-sitter option will suit your little one better (we can recommend both). Since your pup is so young it still might outgrow the chewing phase but that doesn’t help much in the interim. Will the dogs still have issues if the toys offered are not edible ones? There are some great hunting training toys that chewers tend to love (the ducks seem to be a favorite). Could your parents split the time outside so your dog could have its own chewing toy? Maybe your parents could have supervised group playtime at some point during the day.
So, in short, the vast majority of our stick chewers have no issue passing the pieces they ingest but there is always a risk with ingestion of foreign material. We still have time that your little one might outgrow the stick chewing behavior so try some of the above options in the meantime. And as always contact us again with your questions!