Throwing Sticks for Your Dog: Is it Safe?

Walking in the woods with your dog for a delightful jaunt can be a delightful treat. Grabbing a stick to throw for your dog to retrieve however can turn a relaxing romp into a nightmare.

According to an article recently published by the Times Online, Dr. Dan Brockman, Professor of Small Animal Surgery at the Queen Mother Hospital of the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, this very common and popular method of play is extremely dangerous. Dr. Brockman, a practicing veterinarian claims that he and his colleagues treat dozens of serious accidental injuries caused by tossing sticks tossed by their owners.

Thankfully many of the injuries are minor, but life threatening ones can occur as well. 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 canines 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.

Dr Brockman reports, "A study of both acute and chronic "stick injuries" in dogs, performed at the Royal Veterinary College, has shown how serious these can be. Most dogs that were presented within 48 hours of the injury had surgical exploration of the neck and the majority was found to still have wood in their wounds.

Spinal cord injuries were less common than esophageal damage but the most lethal problem was infection. Several dogs involved in the study died as a result of their stick injury and these deaths almost always involved resistant bacteria and infection that spread from the neck to the chest.

What's more, dogs that were not presented to the RVC until some days after the initial injury typically had serious infections building up around a residual wood fragment. These were challenging to treat, required either computerized tomography or MRI scans to find the fragments and needing one or more operations to remove them. "

So it is indeed crucial to heed these warnings which were provided by Dr. Brockman. While throwing sticks for our pooches to fetch may seem at first glance to be benign, the risks are great and should be totally avoided.

Instead, bring along a Frisbee or other toys to entertain and to provide exercise for your canine companion. It is also crucial to train your dog not to pick up sticks. By your dog learning a simple command it may help prevent a dangerous and potentially lethal injury.

Do you throw sticks for your dogs? If so, will this information change your method of play? Leave a comment and let us know if this was new and helpful advice.