Hello,
We recently had some shocking news. One of our beautiful dogs had a terrible accident when playing with a stick, which resulted in serious surgery. We are relieved to say that the operation went well, and they are in recovery. Our thoughts are with their owners at this time. This upsetting occurrence has really troubled us and we wanted to share some information about sticks to try and increase awareness, and prevent anything similar from happening in the future.
Whilst sticks have been associated with dogs since we can remember, they can actually be extremely problematic! Dogs can sometimes run onto sticks that are lying on the floor or that have become wedged at an odd angle. This can lead to a dog’s soft tissue being pierced by a stick, which can then break and splinter upon impact. The most common entry points are the mouth, chest and abdomen.
Playing with sticks can encourage dogs to chew on them. This may lead to them swallowing large and muddy splinters, which may get lodged and can then lead to infections. These can be extremely uncomfortable and potentially fatal for your dogs if not noticed and treated quickly. Whilst there has been some controversy around the idea that sticks can be dangerous for dogs, we really urge you to consider investing in an alternative, like a squeaky toy or ball, to minimise the chances of your precious dogs being at risk. Sometimes there might not be any obvious symptoms (e.g. bleeding), however if you notice anything peculiar in your dog’s presentation, for example: loss of appetite – then please take them to get checked over by a vet. It can sometimes be that a stick is lodged somewhere it shouldn’t be!
We hope you are all taking care and staying safe as lockdown is starting to look a little less locked! We look forward to catching up with more of you soon,
Smarty Paws Team
