Dangers of Sticks for Dogs

Spring is emerging and summer won’t be far behind. With that comes the enjoyment of getting out to the park or forest preserve with your dog. A good game of fetch with your dog is a great bonding activity.

As simple as it may seem to grab a stick for your dog to chase after there are many risk factors involved. Dogs can sustain multiple injuries from sticks ranging from mild trauma to life-threatening damage. They range from simple scratches to the lining of the mouth to limb paralysis, esophageal punctures, blood loss and acute and chronic infections. Since sticks are dirty and sharp they are considered to be a huge danger for dogs to play with. As your dog runs holding the stick in his mouth, puncture wounds can occur easily occur.

Additionally most dogs love to chew on sticks which put them at great risk for injury and infection. Small pieces can break off and lodge themselves in your dog's mouth. These pieces are laden with bacteria, fungus and yeast, and resulting infections can be difficult to treat and may even become lethal.

The main injury I worry about is a stick penetrating the eye and result in the loss of the eye. Some very serious eye injuries can occur when a dog is fetching a stick. An enthusiastic dog will hastily retrieve a stick and in his haste, the dog may strike his eye on a random branch or twig, particularly while running through the woods. Sticks that have small twigs attached, and as the dog goes to pick up the stick in his mouth, one of the twigs and poke the dog’s eye, causing potentially serious injuries, ranging from blindness to a corneal abrasion that can turn into an ocular ulceration.

Similar to the way in which eye injuries occur, a dog can suffer serious nose injuries as he’s excitedly retrieving a stick. The enthusiastic dog will try to pick up the stick with his mouth, and a splinter or twig can enter the nose. In some cases, the splinter or twig may break off inside the dog’s nose, becoming lodged and causing him serious pain and infection. And unfortunately, many dog owners may not realize that there’s an object embedded in the dog’s nose until the infection is well established, making the infection much more difficult and more expensive to treat.

Please don't throw sticks for your dog! There are lots of “stick like” toys out on the market now a days that you can easily bring with for your dog. I think dog owners would rather spend their money buying their dogs toys than paying costly veterinary bills. 

Shannon Cole

Shannon's Pet Sitting

"Quality Pet Care in the Comfort of Their Own Home"

P.O. Box 755

Carpentersville, IL 60110

PHONE: (847) 987-4322

WEBSITE: http://www.shannonspetsitting.net