What to do if your Dog is Eating Sticks
Your veterinarian will give your dog a physical examination and run some blood tests to find out if your dog is anemic and determine the cause, if possible. They may also be able to tell from the blood tests whether your dog has any kind of nutritional or mineral deficiency.
Digestive disorders are usually discovered with blood tests and an abdominal ultrasound. If necessary, the veterinarian may also decide to do a scope, biopsies, CT scans or an MRI.
Dental or oral issues are easy to find by doing an oral examination. Your vet may refer you to a veterinary dentist if your dog has anything serious that requires expert treatment.
Behavioral problems require a different approach. If the problem is serious, your vet may refer you to an animal behaviorist. In many cases, however, you may be able to take simple steps at home to help minimize the behavior.
To prevent anemia, you should make sure your dog is eating a diet with plenty of iron and visit your veterinarian for regular health check-ups. Routine blood work is usually how anemia is discovered in most dogs. Keep your dog up to date with parasite prevention.
A nutritional or mineral deficiency can also be discovered by blood tests and a physical examination. To make sure your dog is getting enough vitamins and minerals, check the label on the dog food you are feeding. If youre not sure whether it provides complete and balanced nutrition for your dog, speak to your veterinarian about changing your pets diet or adding vitamin and mineral supplements.
Digestive disorders can be improved by always providing your dog with a balanced diet and plenty of fresh water. There are also diets that have been specifically formulated for dogs with sensitive stomachs, so speak to your vet about the best nutrition for your pet.
To prevent dental or oral issues, check your dog’s teeth on a regular basis. Brushing your dog’s teeth is the best way to ensure good dental health, so find out what kind of dog toothpastes and toothbrushes are safe for your dog.
The health problems that cause dogs to eat sticks or that occur as a result of this behavior can be expensive to treat. To prevent high vet care costs, start searching for pet insurance today. Brought to you by Pet Insurer, Wag! Wellness lets pet parents compare insurance plans from leading companies like PetPlan and Trupanion. Find the “pawfect” plan for your pet in just a few clicks!
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Finally, if behavioral issues are behind your dog eating sticks, its important to get to the bottom of the cause of those issues. Your dog may need to be assessed and treated by an animal behaviorist, or you may be able to manage these issues by making some simple adjustments to your dogs lifestyle.
For example, by providing adequate exercise and mental stimulation for your pup, youll reduce the likelihood of them eating sticks out of boredom. If they chew sticks due to stress, discovering the cause of their anxiety and removing it will help prevent the problem.
Treating your dog for eating sticks may cost as little as $5 for a bottle of nutritional supplements or as much as a several-thousand-dollar major surgery for an intestinal blockage.
Anemia can cost up to $1,200 for tests and medications, but expenses vary depending on what is causing the condition. An intestinal obstruction can require major surgery in some cases, which could leave you with a treatment bill of $5,000 or more. Dental problems may cost you up to $2,000 depending on the cause.
The cost of treating behavioral issues varies depending on the nature and severity of those problems. If your dog requires long-term treatment from an animal behaviorist, the cost is approximately $500 to $1,000 for an initial consult, and then the cost of subsequent visits can vary quite a bit.
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Why Does My Dog Eat Wood?
First off, why do dogs eat wood? There are four common reasons.
• It may be instinctual – The act of chewing on things is not necessarily them trying to be destructive it is a natural innate behavior that stems from their ancestry. Dog’s have not always had veterinary appointments for teeth cleanings. Way back when dog’s had to chew on bones of prey or sticks to maintain tooth health. They knew if they couldn’t use their teeth to bare down then prey might slip away, so it was important to keep these tools in tip-top shape.
• Your dog may be bored – Your dog may chew on sticks due to boredom. If you spend a lot of time away from home your dog may become bored and start chewing on sticks that they find in the yard or even some of your things in your house. Dogs love to chew on shoes, clothes, furniture, and whatever else they can get in their mouths.
Furthermore, it is always best if you can start training as a puppy. Puppies are just little sponges and soak up everything you teach them. One downside is they are easily distracted which makes training kind of fun. The earlier you start training your pup then typically the better they will behave in the future. Teach them early on about what is right and what is wrong to chew on.
Most dogs chew on sticks because it is fun. Moreover, dogs can associate sticks with playtime (fetch!) and may chew on the stick and throw it around to get you to play. If your dog loves chewing on sticks and has chewed them without incident then there is likely no problem with that.
Ultimately, since dogs do not have the ability to talk, it is important to rule out medical conditions before determining that the cause is behavioral. This is especially true for behavioral changes that are more abrupt than gradual. Once a veterinarian sees the pet and determines that there are no underlying conditions contributing to the behavior, the behavior can be counter-conditioned if it is a learned behavior, or it can be treated by a veterinary behaviorist if it is a compulsive disorder.
11 Reasons Why Dogs Love Chewing On Sticks
Sticks and stones may break my bones, goes the schoolyard rhyme. But if you’re a dog, they can do even more damage than that.
Dogs are amazing creatures, not least of which for their ability to imperil themselves with seemingly innocuous objects. While it’s not likely that yours will hurt himself with something as seemingly benign as a maple branch or a riverbed pebble, it is indeed possible.
Karen Staudt-Cartabona of Swartswood, New Jersey, the American Kennel Club’s 2005 Hound Breeder of the Year, knows this firsthand. Recently, one of her Borzoi chomped on a stick that then lodged across the roof of her mouth, sticking like a rafter between the teeth on either side of her jaw.
“Usually, dogs will paw at their mouths a lot when there’s something stuck,” Staudt-Cartabona says, but she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. “Borzoi are so stoic they don’t let you know when they are in pain,” she explains. When she eventually glimpsed the pinky-wide chunk of wood inside her Borzoi’s mouth, it had already ulcerated the dog’s upper jaw.
Such errant pieces of wood “can be very dangerous,” Staudt-Cartabona warns, noting that she has also had Borzoi inadvertently wedge smaller sticks between their teeth; in one dog, this unwelcome toothpick rotted the tooth at the base of the gum, eventually requiring it to be extracted.