I read an article in a Scottish newspaper yesterday that was criticising the throwing of sticks for your dog, based on research done by academics at the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London.

Throwing your dog a stick when taking your dog for a run in your local park may seem like the right thing to do, but according to this new research, it could be placing your dog in peril.  The academics claim that dogs suffer as many injuries playing fetch with a stick as they do on Britain’s busy roads.

The co-author of the report on chronic and acute “stick injuries” in dogs said that such accidents were also responsible for huge vet bills for dog owners.  He stated that vets found “stick injuries” one of the most frustrating kinds of injuries to dogs.  Many of the injuries are minor but some are horrific.  Apparently they range from minor scratches to the skin or lining of the dog’s mouth, to paralysis of their limbs, life-threatening blood loss and acute and chronic infections.

This is due to the fact that most sticks are not only sharp, but are also very dirty.  That means that when the dog runs on to them or grabs them in its mouth, the end of the stick can easily pierce his skin which can result in the dog penetrating his oesophagus, spinal cord, blood vessels or his neck.

It was also stated that it was common for sticks to break and therefore remain within the dog’s neck which could result in dogs bleeding to death or acquiring fatal infections.

Several dogs involved in the study had died as a result of their stick injury and these deaths almost always involved resistant bacteria and infection that spread from the dog’s neck to his chest.  For owners, the cost of vet bills can be huge with some “stick injuries” costing as much as £5,000 in treatment and still untimately dying.

A dog behaviour expert informed the newspaper that he was delighted to find academic backing for a danger that he had been aware of throughout his 34 years’ experience and stated that he advises everyone not to throw sticks.  He also advised that he was personally aware of dogs that had impaled themselves on sticks.  He said that the stick had gone straight through the soft tissue of the dog’s mouth and killed it instantly.

The dog behaviouralist agreed with the academics that throwing sticks for dogs was a very bad practise.  He reminded readers that if they allow their dogs to pick up sticks, there was a danger that the dog could pick up dirty, dead, contaminated things.  He advised that throwing a frisby or a ball of the right size for the dog to chase was a much better option.  He also advised owners to take greater responsibility for their pets and plan tasks to motivate them.

However, he warned of the dangers of tennis balls which have been known to get stuck in a larger dog’s mouth.  He said that a dog will run at the ball at up to 25mph and take the ball straight in the back of its throat.  If the ball is too small, then the dog can swallow it or the ball can get stuck in the back of the dog’s mouth.

He also advised that there had been cases reported of dogs mutilating their owner who was trying to get the ball off them and so he encouraged owners to purchase an over-sized ball to reduce this problem.