Do you let your dog eat sticks? Many breeds like to chew things and what is better than a stick found out in the yard. Typical to Golden Retrievers Oshie loves to chew sticks (he also eats grass and dirt and socks and underwear but that is a whole different story).
Generally I do my best to prevent him from eating the sticks that he finds. Luckily we don’t have any trees directly in our yard so in order for him to even get branches we have to be walking near the woods. More often than not he just chews it up and maybe eats a small portion of it which normally passes in the form of a wood chip filled poop. The reason I normally prevent him from chewing and eating branches is because I worry he is going to cause damage to his stomach or intestines if he swallows a big enough piece or possibly get something stuck in his throat. Like any pet parent this is simply a situation I do not want to happen.
We have had some pretty close calls when he was a puppy that should have ended up with a visit to the vet but thankfully did not. This was during his sock and underwear phase. He has literally eaten entire socks whole (not chewed just swallowed in one piece) and passed them out the other side. The same has happened with panties. Strange dog we have ha-ha. It got to the point that we have to hide laundry and keep every piece out of his reach and we still do. We have dodged the bullet several times and had more than our fair share of luck as far as Oshie eating things he shouldn’t. I don’t want to break that streak so when it comes to sticks I usually say no.
The other day I gave in and let him enjoy the sticks he found as we were playing in the yard. I think my attitude change is a combination of the weather finally being nice, (yard has been a mess so he has been cooped up inside) Oshie being depressed that mom is in Norway and the fact that it just brings a smile to my face seeing him run around with a stick in his mouth. He prances around and throws it with his mouth and generally just acts like a fool. So I let him chew a few sticks under close supervision and was able to snap a few cool photos and enjoy the nice weather.
In the grand scheme of things I don’t think it is too terrible to let our pups chew a stick every once in a while. They seem to enjoy it and I think just like any chew toy, if supervised properly it is relatively safe.
If you own a dog share please share your thoughts in the comments and any strange habits your pet has. As always thanks for stopping by.
Jesse
Nancy
Oshie's World 
February 18, 2016 at 3:54 pm
Haha so proud of his catch, and rightly so! Great shots.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 18, 2016 at 4:00 pm
Thanks! He was really enjoying himself. The yard has been a soft muddy mess so it was great that we were finally able to spend an extended period of time outdoors.
LikeLike
February 19, 2016 at 11:25 am
My Tippy loves to chew on sticks. I just let her, as it would be impossible to stop her since I live in the middle of a patch of woods. When she was a puppy, she would get the sticks of wood from my woodpile and chew on them. I’ve never had any problems with her. I’m not sure that she eats the wood. I think she just chews and spits most of the pieces out. There is one odd thing she used to do. I had a little rug that I had latched that I gave her to lay on. Instead of laying on it, she started pulling it apart. She would get one of the strings loose, put the yarn in her teeth, and pull until it came off. She never ate it. Just liked pulling them off.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 19, 2016 at 11:28 am
Thanks for sharing! I think for the most part Oshie does the same thing. He just chews it up and spits it out with a lot of it ending up in his chest furr. We were lucky that he never got into the habit of chewing household goods.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 19, 2016 at 11:29 am
Thanks for sharing! I think for the most part Oshie does the same thing. He just chews it up and spits it out with a lot of it ending up in his chest furr. We were lucky that he never got into the habit of chewing household goods. Also thanks for the follow. I am following back!
LikeLike
February 19, 2016 at 9:41 pm
Ugh Oliver loves to chew and try to eat sticks! As much as I try to prevent it, he often eats small pieces…even puked up a few on my bed the other night. Yet I still let him sleep in there…golden retrievers are just too dang cute to be mad at!
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 19, 2016 at 10:26 pm
I know exactly what you mean. Me and my wife were set on no furniture or bed before we got Oshie and that went right out the window as soon as he came home. Its those expressive eyes. Gets me every time! Thanks for stopping by!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 2, 2016 at 11:21 am
Our Jack Russell, will eat almost anything. While yard grass is good for his
digestion, the sticks will help clean his teeth
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 2, 2016 at 11:42 am
Yeah Oshie is pretty much the same way. He likes to eat the grass and loves chewing on the sticks. I just worry that he will swallow one or have one stuck in his mouth or throat.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 8, 2016 at 10:14 pm
Jana, The Thinking Dog, loves to chew sticks and eat wood chips. She’s 12 and a half and has never had a problem (thank goodness!) and also does not eat other strange things. She likes rocks, but she only carries them around and brings them to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 8, 2016 at 10:16 pm
Yeah, I probably worry too much but one of my grandparents goldens got a stick stuck in its mouth which resulted in a hefty vet bill. I worry more about him getting socks though haha. Thats cute that the thinking dog brings you rocks!
LikeLike