# Eating sticks...do you stop it?



## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Max has been eating sticks since the day we brought him home - we live in the woods, there's no way to prevent it that I can think of - and he's had some strange poops on occasion, but no other ill effects.


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## mikeynote (Jun 30, 2009)

Hazel is constantly eating sticks. I take away most of them but she does eat some. They seem to pass ok. It does get a little annoying..her favorite things are sticks, pine cones (I didn't realize how sharp green pine cones are) and sometimes rocks. She's 21 weeks old..I hope it gets better


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## gold4me (Mar 12, 2006)

Gambler LOVES pine cones and he picks up bark from the pine trees. He will also pick up rocks. The rocks I worry about. How do we stop THAT. He is 18 months


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

I know my Max tears them up. I usually just make sure they pass the mommy test - not too little and not rotten.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Our first golden had a stick fetish. We stopped it after he swallowed big pieces of the stick that irritated his digestive tract and anal area, requiring a vet visit. Our vet told us it is possible to cause obstructions and internal tearing. So I'd recommend caution in allowing your dogs to eat sticks. Carrying sticks is always a smile producer though!


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Brady has always eaten sticks (and grass and leaves etc). I have found that having a solid "leave it" (if I can get him before he picks it up) and "trade" (if he gets it first) help to minimize how much he actually eats. I have noticed lately that he is showing less interest in these things, and when he does occasionally pick them up he mostly rips them apart and spits out the pieces rather than swallowing them. Whether this is the result of training or his maturing a little more I can't say.


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## Barleyboy (Aug 3, 2009)

Barley spent one Friday eating sticks and we gave up trying to stop him. By 2am Saturday morning he had horrible diarrhoea and each poop had about 1/2 cup of stick bits in it. Yuck! Of course his puppy class was on Saturday morning and we had to cancel. Our theory is that he was just trying to get out of school! Since then we keep him away from sticks and trade him for something he's allowed to chew.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I don't know, I guess I don't worry too much about it. We live in the woods so watching each and everything Hank picks up is impossible. I did draw the line at the dead bird the he found other day and was calmly munching on...I did take that away. I'm glad I caught it before he actually ate it. I can only imagine what that would have looked like the second time around on the carpet!


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## Nicole74 (May 30, 2009)

Bailey is a stick and pine cone eater. We too, live in the woods. I do not encourage the stick eating, but I will let her carry them in her mouth.


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## goutes (Sep 13, 2009)

My 14 weekold does a lot of stick chewing as well. If I see her chewing one I will usually take it from her, but it doesn't worry too much. However when she came trotting up to me with a huge rat, that was a little disgusting.


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