You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Take a walk in any park and you will see an owner throwing a stick for their dog. But, surprisingly,  this apparently harmless pastime can be extremely dangerous !

Most owners and their dogs enjoy a game of "fetch" and the most common objects that are thrown are balls and ...sticks. Whilst accidents are rare, throwing sticks is not without it's hazards. Here are 3 examples of why stick-throwing is potentially dangerous :

1. If the stick is brittle, or relatively small for the size of the dog's "bite", it can be snapped off very easily when the dog chomps on it. Sometimes both ends snap at the same time and this results in the stick becoming lodged across the roof of the mouth between the upper arcade of teeth. This can cause a lot of discomfort for the dog, which will often paw at the mouth or shake it's head in an attempt to remove it. Because the piece of stick is often wedged hard between the teeth it can be difficult to dislodge, and often requires sedation or an anaesthetic. If the incident goes unnoticed the dog may later find it difficult or impossible to eat. If the stick is not removed soon after it gets stuck the hard palate across the roof of the mouth can become ulcerated.
2. A worse injury occurs if a dog is running along happily with a long stick in it's mouth, but the stick suddenly digs into the ground. This can result in the end of the stick literally "stabbing" the dog. This often happens inside the mouth, where it may cut the tongue, cheeks or gums and leading to profuse bleeding. In the worst cases the stick penetrates the back of the throat and can even pass well down the neck. Here it can damage vital organs, and sometimes a piece of stick snaps off to leave a "foreign body" buried deep in the soft tissues of the neck. This leads to abscess formation which can be very difficult to cure unless surgery is performed to remove the piece of wood.
3. Finally, an unsuspecting owner may pick up a branch from a laburnum, or other poisonous tree. In the case of laburnum chewing a "green" young branch can release sap containing the toxin which is extremely dangerous and can lead to fits or even death .

If your dog yelps during a game of "fetch the stick" and you didn't see what happened, or if it isn't well afterwards see your vet - just in case.

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Updated October 2013