My Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Keeps Eating Sticks

[Jason Cyr]

My toller has been obsessed with rocks and sticks. I managed to break the rock habit but not the sticks. I was wondering if someone had any advice, it's hard since sticks are everywhere.

[wuffles]

Sorry, no advice here, just wanted to say we have a toller down the road that is obsessed with sticks! He even carried a fence paling that he found all the way back from his daily walk one day

[Crazy Daisy]

I have a rock and stick obsessed Golden retriever. The rocks was an easy on to stop, get rid of the rocks. The stick collection when we walk has been a little harder.

I've managed to stop him picking them up while walking in the show ring and that's a big step. I don't mind him ripping apart the ones in the garden.

[Scarlet]

One of my border collies is an obsessive retriever. She would use sticks, to chew if no one is throwing them, if they were available but I have to make sure that aren't.

I have to replace the sticks with toys. I was very consistent with this so she now prefers a toy to a stick.

I use different size kongs, and really strong squeaky toys etc.

I don't use tennis balls as I believe, and I've also been advised by a vet, that they are very abrasive and do wear down the teeth.

[RallyValley]

I have a stick lloving Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Given the choice of his box of toys or the box of firewood that are both in the lounge he will choose firewood 90% of the time.

[FranVT]

My Finnish Lapphund loves sticks too, and just like valleyCBR's dog, she will choose a stick over the most expensive dog toy you can find anyday! They must feel awesome to chew.

[fiveplusone]

sorry, I can't help either. I have a GSP who loves chewing sticks and he also loves eating crispy leaves and usually picks up a crunchy jacaranda tree pod to crunch on when we go for a walk too. Our street is lined with jacaranda's and the first part of a walk is hilarious as he goes from one pod to another, he thinks it's heaven!

[mita]

I have a tibbie girl that loves to chew sticks. I'd been giving her rawhide treats to channel her chewing into a safer direction.

Then she tried to swallow the last hunk of a rawhide & got it stuck in her gullet. Trip to the emergency vet & anaesthesia to get it out...during which it went down naturally into her tummy. Vet bill over $1,000.

So now I'm concerned as much about rawhide as I am about sticks.

Our vet told me about all the swallowed items she'd seen in dogs. One dog swallowed a long piece of stick, was rushed to her vet surgery, where he promptly threw up the entire stick on the floor.

And, when she was a vet student, they'd been shown the x-rays of a dog that'd swallowed a knife. And lived.

After all that, the little sticky twigs my tib goes for, don't look so bad

[lovemesideways]

I have a tibbie girl that loves to chew sticks. I'd been giving her rawhide treats to channel her chewing into a safer direction.

Then she tried to swallow the last hunk of a rawhide & got it stuck in her gullet. Trip to the emergency vet & anaesthesia to get it out...during which it went down naturally into her tummy. Vet bill over $1,000.

So now I'm concerned as much about rawhide as I am about sticks.

Our vet told me about all the swallowed items she'd seen in dogs. One dog swallowed a long piece of stick, was rushed to her vet surgery, where he promptly threw up the entire stick on the floor.

And, when she was a vet student, they'd been shown the x-rays of a dog that'd swallowed a knife. And lived.

After all that, the little sticky twigs my tib goes for, don't look so bad

:cheer: :cheer:

Holy crap

[Golden Rules]

I have a Golden retriever who also loves to eat sticks - he thinks they are as good as a bone any day

[pie]

My Manchester has a thing for sticks and wood too, I am always finding wooden 'treasure' stashed in her crate :cheer:

[Jason Cyr]

Thanks for the support on this issue; this stick thing is a struggle. I’ve taken step to for him to allow him to make up his own mind for not wanting to pick up random stick.

I set up the yard with 5 or 6 stick soaked with the bitter solution. I let him outside and get him riled up and direct him toward the stick, he soon realizes that the random stick isn’t that great. I’ve done this for a few days now, and it seems to be helping.

[Kaffy Magee]

Can I just ask why this is an issue with the sticks(rocks I understand)? Hes a dog, a retriever at that, you're going to have a hard time stopping him from doing something that is built into him. Id be pleased it was sticks and not anything else. Not having a go, I just dont understand why the sticks are an issue.

[sas]

Less dangerous than stones?

I always gave sticks/branches to my pup to chew and he still chews them today if he needs something to chew (he can't have bones) and his teeth are fine also.

[Jason Cyr]

Less dangerous than stones?

I always gave sticks/branches to my pup to chew and he still chews them today if he needs something to chew (he can't have bones) and his teeth are fine also.

Well less dangerous is a matter of perspective and 3 xrays later for not being able to have bowel movement. He doesn't only chew them, he swallows the whole thing.

[Golden Rules]

Well less dangerous is a matter of perspective and 3 xrays later for not being able to have bowel movement. He doesn't only chew them, he swallows the whole thing.

Yeah my retriever chews and swallows them too.

[labsrule]

My 8mth old lab pup is OBSESSED with sticks and has been from the day I brought him home as a 10 week old pup. I have bushes and trees all around my property and his favourite past-time is foraging for sticks, branches, twigs, leaves etc. He loves being outside and will spend ages just sitting on his outside bed with a stick chewing it up into tiny pieces and everyday I have a mess of chewed up sticks to clean up on the patio :D

He tries to drag his sticks inside to chew in comfort and sometimes he is successful in sneaking them in and other times the banging and crashing at the doorway gives him away as he tries to drag in a large fallen branch or one he has actually chewed off a tree :D He has passed his stick fetish onto my two older lab boys (14 & 12) who love the fact that he drags inside or leaves sticks lying around on the patio for them to chew up or play tug of war with

He is so obsessed with them that I know he would happily go without any of his toys and just play and chew sticks all day. God forbid if we move to a property without any bushes/trees, he would probably have withdrawal symptoms My only concern with the sticks is when he has one hanging out of his mouth as he does zoomies around the yard, which quite often :D

[Jason Cyr]

Well I'm happy to say that the random stick chewing seems to have stopped, looks like the bitter did the trick.

[OSoSwift]

Good to hear it has worked for you.

I don't allow mine sticks either. Not to mention a whippet in full flight with a stick pointing towards the back of his throat scares the crap out of me!

They are not totally obsessed though and will drop them when told. I do let them race around with big strips of bark, heaps of fun and much safer.

[7464]

My Golden Retriever is stick crazy. He chews them, shreds the bark if he can. He doesn't eat the bits he pulls off (although I'm sure the odd bit goes down). I'm ok with it. He's 9.5 years old and his teeth are in great shape. Really quite clean too. He's not a big toy chewer, he hasn't destroyed a toy in over 6 years.