Any ideas for how to get a dog to stop eating sticks?

[Jane&Andy]

I have an almost 2 yr old golden retriever. Since this past fall he has made himself sick eating sticks 5 times! He just loves them and he won't quit eating them. Our yard is fenced in and we've stopped letting him out without supervision. We've been picking up sticks as we find them but we have a lot of untamed "forest" at the back of our yard that we're still working on clearing out. So we pick up sticks and new ones appear.

I took him over to the neighbor's yard to play with her dog in the snow a few weeks ago and he started picking up sticks. We took them away from him and then took him home when he wouldn't stop. I didn't think he'd eaten many but he still got sick.

This is getting very costly and is very stressful. We're getting stricter and stricter with supervising him as we're realizing that this is going to be a continuous problem. But it makes it hard to take him out anywhere. He picks up sticks whenever we walk him so we can't walk him but he needs the exercise.

He obviously has no clue that these yummy sticks are what makes him so sick. My previous dog never ate anything like this so this is a new problem for me.

Anyone have any ideas for how to put a stop to this behavior?

[keska]

I don't have any idea how to get him to stop other than constant supervision. Maybe taking the stick away and replacing it with an appropriate toy, such as a tennis ball or kong?

When I was waiting at the vet last week, I saw a couple rush in a German Shepherd that had been chewing on a stick and it got lodge in his throat. Poor thing was freaking out and having a hard time breathing. Luckily, they got out and he was fine. I'd say if you can't get your dog to stop, you'll have to be with him everytime he's out somewhere where he can access sticks.

[Jane&Andy]

Maybe taking the stick away and replacing it with an appropriate toy, such as a tennis ball or kong?

tried that and it doesn't work. he likes the sticks too much

I'd say if you can't get your dog to stop, you'll have to be with him everytime he's out somewhere where he can access sticks.

thats what we're doing now. I guess I just have to hope he outgrows it as he matures. He doesn't really like to be outside alone anyway but he would run out to potty by himself usually. Oh well, its a small price to pay to save us the money and him the pain.

So far he hasn't needed surgery but it hasn't been easy get him to pass those sticks through his intestines - we've managed to catch him early once and got him to puke it all up but we seemed to have just gotten lucky that time.

[silvergrey]

This might be totally crazy, but it's just something that came to mind. Is there anything he *really* hates the taste of, like Bitter Apple or hot sauce? You could coat a few sticks in it, "plant" them in the yard (or along the path of your walks), and try to show him that sticks taste horrible.

[Jane&Andy]

we tried the Bitter apple spray when he was a puppy and he didn't mind it. Its probably worth trying again though.

haven't tried hot sauce. maybe we'll experiment this weekend. :p

[QueenDillyDally]

I don't really have an answer for you, but just wanted to let you know that we are going through this same thing with our 8 month old puppy. So, I sympathize with you.

Sticks are his absolute FAVORITE chew "toy" in the world! Well, we never tried to encourage it or anything, he just is a lab and I think it is instinct of some sort. We know it is very dangerous but have no clue what to do either. We provide him with nylabones, kongs, and marrow bones but it really doesn't matter once we take him outside. Our dog doesn't mind the taste of bitter apple either, that was a waste of money. :rolleyes:

Our lab puppy will chew a whole stick up in about 5 minutes. We have kind of given up on keeping him from doing it. It got too frustrating. He has never vomitted from chewing on sticks. He has a stomach of steel. But, we have seen wood chips in his poop. :o

I, too, am scared of him getting an intestinal blockage, splinter, or airway obstruction. Pretty soon, we will be installing his invisible fence, so he will be outside a lot more where we will not have as much control over what he chews on.

:confused: We just don't know what to do either....

[Jane&Andy]

shicks72 - My dog has always eaten sticks but was over a year old before he ever got sick from them. I don't know why he can sometimes handle it just fine and other times gets sick. :confused:

Its a pain. I took him for a walk yesterday and I have to watch him like a hawk the whole time b/c he continually picks up sticks. He swallowed a few small pieces but dropped most of them when I told him to.

[QueenDillyDally]

We have a lot of pine trees up here in Maine and our puppy loves to eat the needles too. I joke about how "pine-fresh" his breath smells, but those needles can't be good for him.

The hot sauce idea sounds interesting. Might have to try it. Jane&Andy - have you tried that yet?

[keska]

I've got a new idea. When my husky was little, she really liked chewing on plastic stuff. Once, when my parents were dogsitting, she ate an entire Teva sandal and we didn't even know it until she threw up the straps! Anyway, the pet trainer suggested getting those big hollow bones they sell at the petstore, filling them with peanut butter and then freezing it. Freezing makes it harder for the dog to get the peanut butter out and therefore keeps them distracted for longer.

It did work for my dog. As long as she had a toy like that or was being actively played with (like tug of war), she wasn't interested in going out and finding stuff to chew on.

The idea also works with kongs. There's a whole site dedicated to stuffing recipes for kongs (http://westwoodanimalhospital.com/BhvArticles/kong_stuffing.htm). Have you tried something like that?

[skyblu]

My dog is a stick addict too. Oy. He does sometimes make himself sick by eating them (or dirt!), so when he's in the woods roaming, I put a basket muzzle on him, a suggestion from my vet. However, I don't like putting it on him if there are other dogs around, because if he was attacked by one, he wouldn't be able to defend himself.

[QueenDillyDally]

We have a kong & bone that we stuff with pbtr and freeze. Unfortunately, that doesn't keep the little rascal from wanting sticks. Sometimes, when he goes to the door and we think he has to go out to potty, he just goes out and hunts down his "prey" = sticks! :rolleyes:

[Jane&Andy]

Keska - we can be outside actively playing with him with toys and he will still lose interest and go after the sticks. He's never outside alone for long (he's too much of a people dog for that) so I really don't think he eats sticks out of boredom, he eats them b/c he likes them.

skyblu - I hate to muzzle him but we may have to resort to that for walks around the neighborhood.

shicks72 - haven't tried the hot sauce yet - we don't have any but I'm heading out to the grocery store in a little bit.

[skyblu]

Jane&Andy,

I use only a basket muzzle, which looks like this:

http://www.petedge.com/images/us//local/products/family_detail/zw129.jpg

This kind doesn't clamp their mouth shut. I don't love the idea either, but his stomach is quite sensitive so I don't have much choice. Silly dogs. :rolleyes:

[Jane&Andy]

skyblu -thanks, I actually knew what a basket muzzle looked like. I still just hate to do that to him but its better than my idea of duct taping his mouth shut whenever he goes outside (no, I wouldn't actually do that but its pretty tempting at times).

hot sauce - he doesn't like it and won't eat a stick that has some on it but its too soon to tell if that will translate into him not eating sticks without it.

[keska]

I'm interested to see if he will associate the hot sauce with all sticks.

[Jane&Andy]

I'll let y'all know about the hot sauce. It was too cold yesterday to experiment much. But it was pretty funny - he licked at the sticks, curled up his lips and then threw himself down on the ground and rolled and rolled. :p