Dog owners are putting their pets' lives at risk by throwing sticks for them, a leading vet said.
Vet: Do not throw sticks for dogs
Professor Dan Brockman claims a game of fetch can be anything but harmless, with dogs suffering as many injuries chasing and catching sticks as they do on Britain's roads.
Owners were urged to use rubber throwing toys or a suitably sized ball instead.
Prof Brockman, from the Queen Mother Hospital of the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, said owners also risk thousands of pounds' worth of vet bills by throwing sticks.
He added: "For vets it is one of the most frustrating kinds of injuries. Many injuries are minor but some are horrific. They range from minor scratches to the skin or lining of the mouth, to paralysis of limbs, life-threatening blood loss, and acute and chronic infections.
"The problem is that sticks are sharp - and very dirty. That means that, as the dog runs onto them or grabs them in its mouth, the end of the stick can easily pierce the skin, going through it to penetrate the oesophagus, spinal cord, blood vessels or the dog's neck.
"Commonly, small or sometimes large pieces of stick break off and remain inside the neck. These sticks are usually covered in bacteria, fungi and yeasts from the environment."
Prof Brockman led a study of both acute and chronic "stick injuries" in dogs.
He added: "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 this research shows is that dogs that are allowed and encouraged to play with sticks can sustain serious injuries that result in bleeding to death, paralysis or acquiring infections that will kill them days or weeks later.
"For owners the cost can be huge. I have had dogs with stick injuries whose treatment has cost up to £5,000 - but which have ultimately died. The good news is that there are plenty of healthy alternatives to sticks. Rubber throwing toys, Frisbees or just a simple tennis ball - all will keep a dog just as entertained as a stick - and a lot more safely too."
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They have a point. Dogs are expensive to keep and anything that could minimise vet bills would probably be welcomed by many. Kids get skelves (sp?) all the time, but with those they are fairly easy to take out, a dog's mouth is probably going to be a lot more difficult.
Fair enough, I think that's a pretty good thing for them to be saying. I myself have seen some pretty bad injuries due to sticks/ stones being played with by dogs; mine aren't allowed to play with them
I've known that for ages, we always throw rubber toys/balls for my dog, and we only give her rubber things to tear to pieces, which we check for sharp bits/otherdangerous stuff.
Ive seen several dogs at work get wood stuck down there throat or in their gums. Its just a matter of being careful, accidents will always happen. Sticks are not the worst problem with dogs at the vets, but its a good point to be made.
I just listened to Jemary Vine on Radio 2 discussing this and that stupid man. lol. Saying that vets are trying to make business. How about we're trying to help. Grrr. It makes me mad when people moan about vet fees. Do people even realise how much work and effort we all put in to care for peoples pets. Dont get me started lol. I could rant forever. lol.
x.
Last edited by Narrator : 02-01-2009 at 02:45 PM.
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Well we dont really through sticks for my dog, though he does chew them in the garden lol. But we cant really stop him doing that since their all over the garden.
This was on the Jeremy Vine show on Friday.
I couldn't believe people got so angry about stick throwing.
My dad had a german shepperd that liked to be thrown the biggest branch he could find.
If you use common sense eg. throwing a stick horizontally, using a stick appropriate in size for the dog and checking that the stick has no obvious sharp or loose pieces then there shouldn't be huge numbers of problems.
The statistics of dogs being hurt by sticks include a lot of careless behaviour.
I think its a wee bit silly in a way, people have been playing fetch for hundreds of years, I really don't think people need to buy expensive toys, just get a tennis ball! And they all say they are indistructable, give my dog any toy she will destroy it in minutes, I think the max is about a week.
Saying that our black lab got a stick stuck vertically in her throat once but it was just a scratch luckily, a working dog that belonging to our friend though had a stick go right through the back of her neck which was not nice.
It all depends though, I never have and never would through a stick for the dog to catch, not that mine could, you throw a grape up in the air for her and she watches as it whacks it on the nose. If you throw a stick for the dog to pick up and bring back then thats ok, and its also how the dog carries it.
Ok, bad with words so I drew it...badly. No laughing.
If they have it like number one then that is ok and safe but number two which is meant to be two different angles of sticks, and if its held going straight into the mouth, that's bad as well, basically if it isn't held like picture one its not good.
I am not good at making sense.
It depends how you keep your dogs though, working dogs on farms and things are treated totally differently from pets and then 'handbag dogs' and show dogs are treated differently again.
Our black lab is a regular pet, sleeps downstairs, goes for regular walks, she chases balls, fetches sticks, seaweed and stones when we are at the beach.
My dog though is different, she sleeps on my bed until the last person in the house goes to bed, she sleeps on the sofa, footstool, comes in the car to keep me company, I pick her up, carry her, give her cuddles around the house but at the same time she goes out for walks with the lab, likes sticks, beaches, being naughty etc.
So yes.
Those are my wonky thoughts.
Depends on the dog.
Only problem I have with the tennis ball was that my old dog (Granda's really but we looked after her) used to have allergic reactions to the glue on the tennis balls.
I always did think it was really well known.
My dog liked sticks until she got a splinter stuck in her tongue, because she'd chewed it to shreds. We'd checked it was smooth, too. But after that we never let her have any, just incase.
Tennis balls aren't expenisive and are good fun (:
My dog eats tennis balls, and any thing I throw for him. He fetchs until he' tired and then lies down and chews on whatever it was he was fetching. I'd rather throw sticks for him to fetch than stones.
Its about being careful, and not throwing them once they start to chw on them.
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I thought more people would have seen this as obvious. I mean, you wouldn't let your child chew on a stick would you? So why would you throw one for your dog? Just because they are a dog it doesn't mean they are immuned to injury and bacteria! (Yeah, just a rant about ignorance haha).
To be honest though, I'm just glad that my dog has never been interested in sticks (or even playing fetch...he just runs away with his toys lol)
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The reason now obvious things are coming out is more research is being done into the obvious because more and more people want/ need to know the figures of what is happening where. And it is something which though may seem obvious too some isn't obvious to enough as we still see cases of it VERY often. I know of the guy who did the research; he's a well known, top small animal surgeon in the UK. I also know a lot about stick injuries and trust me, you can't always tell and sticks are a bigger hazard than toys for several reasons.
My dogs don't so sticks but they do get toys, tennis balls, all sorts of things.
Now I could do a study tomorrow if I wished stating that Tennis balls actually cause damage to dogs. It's true. If you look on the net you'll probably find the evidence. But the thing with sticks is that they are very dirty, very sharp, and it's not just about thinks like bits being swallowed. That is why they have come to light rather than someone's brand new pair of lacey knickers which dogs also seem to like to eat!
Oh yeh and seen as grapes were vaguely mentioned above I'd just like to say tht they are actually poisonous to dogs causing kidney damage!
i'd like to know how common these injuries actually are. if i throw a stick for my dog, are the odds of an injury occuring similar to winning the lottery? its possible that anecdotal evidence from vets is skewed because vets never see healthy dogs.
It's not anecdotal evidence, it's evidence from months worth of studies (possibly years, I've not actually read the article and can't remember the details). And it doesn't really matter how often it occurs; though it is relatively frequently, if you throw sticks a lot for dogs they are likely to get injured, it's the damage that can occur from it.
I personally could say don't throw tennis balls to dogs as it does a substantial amount of damage to their teeth overtime but I won't go that far because I think that is getting ridiculous but definately stick injuries are one of the most common causes of ruptures within the oesophagus/ damage in the mouth and one a lot of occasions they can be stuck in the mough but v difficult to see due to the anatomy.
Vets may have a skewed vision of illness but we also see a lot of dogs, like my own, that only ever has seen the vets for boosters. The only other problem I have had with her is something thatI would've advised most to take her to the vets but knowing I was seeing the vet at work the next day and knowing what to do to check she was ok I decided it wasn't worth the stress. That is the one medical problem we have had with her in 8yrs (apart from pulled muscles/ a slight bit of arthritis now) though she is still on the vets records and there are many that are the same. Also, stick injuries and other things are also things that are more likely to be seen in the healthy dog as they are the ones more likely to be going around chasing after sticks. I personally know of at least 3 dogs just out of friends who have had serious stick injuries; one of which had to be put to sleep, another had to have major surgery and weeks in vets on fluids/ antibiotics.
