Just wondered what people's thoughts were on letting puppies chew wood, and by that I mean sticks and things, not the kitchen table I know the advice on not throwing sticks for them in case they trip while running and impale themselves, but I wondered if chewing is ok? George loves wood, and we have loads of trees and fallen branches in our garden - it'd be easy to just chop him a small bit to naw on and better than my chairs!
My puppy has an Antos Origins Natural Root Dog Chew. She's had it for several months and sometimes ignores it for weeks on end. This morning she decided to gnaw it for a while. I always make sure I am around when it's available and I regularly check it over. I wouldn't feel comfortable about her gnawing at any other wood for fear of splinters. She did try to wrap her teeth around a few table and chair legs when she was tiny but I used a bitter apple spray on them for a while and she stopped.
My pups chew on sticks often. So far no splinters and it does keep them busy for awhile! Never had a problem and they enjoy doing it.
No, it is definitely something I would not encourage nor allow. The dangers from splinters in the mouth or throat, or even a blockage in the intestines are far too great.
I definitely wouldn't advise it at all . My little rehomed dog used to chew on sticks , I swapped for a safe toy , then gave her a treat for the swaps . As @heidrun has said , the dangers are too great .
I have heard too many horror stories while at the dog park about splinters in the throat resulting in horrible infections and needing surgery. So personally I wouldn't allow it. I know what you mean though, we also have lots of trees in our yard so when Axel was a puppy we did a lot of trading for a bone or A safe chew
I don't allow it - I got a bit lenient when she passed the puppy stage and would let her carry a stick here and there, but we have had several scares with pieces of stick caught between her back teeth, so back to making her drop any stick for a treat.
I know what all of you are saying but I really don't have a choice here. My yard or garden has not one blade of grass due to living under large trees and rhododendrons. It's dirt and mulch. There's no way to prevent occasional wood chewing. I don't encourage it though.
Our yard is the same. I could not stop Cooper from chewing up sticks. She seems to understand that they are to be shredded but not swallowed.
I never encouraged it but Jet didn't swallow so I didn't worry too much. Except when she was a puppy, then she liked to trim my shrubs so had to discourage that. Oban swallows so I discourage him. Oh, forgot, I did give Jet a big limb of hard cherry we'd cut down. She was older then and liked to gnaw away on it for short periods. Jet liked to work at one particular sumac on walks. It had a big branch sticking out the side, she'd run ahead a bit, give it a workout, catch up to me and we'd continue our walk. After a couple of years the branch finally broke off and we both celebrated.
Is there a good place to get one of these? Just curious as I have never heard of it and Scout loves to chew on sticks.
My dogs have always chewed sticks. We also have a lot of wood in our garden and are having a lot of help from Caspar to identify now dead wood following the recent storms. Although I always swap for something more suitable when I see him chewing yet another fallen branch I cannot supervise him 100% of the time and often use the time he is mooching around the garden to do some quick chores or attend to my own needs. It may not be ideal but there are worse things they can be doing.
Coco likes to chew sticks into little bits - I try to distract him every time, I don't want him to do this I consider it too dangerous.
Hattie & Charlie are not allowed to chew sticks, the dangers are enormous. I know of a lovely little rescue Spaniel in our village that chews sticks and logs and had to have surgery to remove a large splinter in his throat. Unfortunately the owner still allows the dog to chew sticks Distraction is the only way, offer a highly valued toy or a great juicy treat every time the dog attempts to chew sticks. It takes a lot of time but it might save you a very large vet bill. x
