Reply With QuoteThat's too funny. Lola is the same way. We'll be out for a walk and she'll find a stick that she likes and she'll start prancing along like it's the best think ever.
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On the day we brought Thor home, his first order of business when we let him in the back yard was to investigate the wood pile. He chose a stick that his 8 week old body could barely move, but he loved it and gnawed the end of it for the first few days.
At some point I put it back on the wood pile and forgot all about it. Well, tonight he found the same stick and it was the best thing ever. Of course now he has no problem picking up the thing, and we played fetch with it for a solid 30 minutes.
I don't know how many $$ we have spent on toys, but he shows more enthusiasm for this stupid stick than any of them. I guess that's how I know I have a lab.
That's too funny. Lola is the same way. We'll be out for a walk and she'll find a stick that she likes and she'll start prancing along like it's the best think ever.
Well, they ARE stick freaks, that's for sure and the heavier and uglier the stick is, the more appealing they usually find it. It's also true it feels kinda weird to see your lab crazy about a simple thing like that after you've spent a fortune on all kinds of sophisticated toys. Lynn was like that and Mel is not any different. I was really happy it worked like that and very comfortable until I found a post about sticks here with a link. Clicked the link just out of curiosity and got to an English newspaper containing a story written by a long-time dog owner. The guy says he's had dogs for 40+ years and never had any problems, but then he witnessed and accident when walking his dog: a dog got a stick stuck in his throat when he was playing with it and, if I can remember it correctly, ended up with a broken thorax, the injury was so serious it was life threatening and required complicated and expensive surgery. As a result of this he started a research, interviewing vets in his area and to his surprise and horror found out that these stick accidents are not rare at all, he actually wrote that most vets claimed they had two to three of major stick-caused injuries every month.
I sorta freaked out and there were no sticks for Mel for some time. Later after I'd calmed down a bit, I let her play with sticks again, but only under very careful supervision and there are still certain sticks (dangerously looking, tricky shape...) that I don't allow at all. I'd send you link to the post, but unfortunately it's gone for good along with a lot of other useful info. Perhaps the original poster sees this post and remembers where the paper story was
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Lynn 5/17/1999 - 7/23/2013
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Mel *6/14/2013
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That's a good point, and i was thinking about that too. One of the first behaviors we had to work on with thor was his need to always have a wood chip in his mouth, he just loves chewing on wood. When we were done playing fetch yesterday I put the stick in the box with his other toys (out of his sight, where we store toys to cycle through them) so he wouldn't chew on it unsupervised. I think we'll keep it as the backyard fetch stick!
Mel also loves chewing on all kinds of sticks and branches and sometimes even eats them... well, pieces of them. I honestly didn't want to scare you, but when I read the story, I suddenly realized what such an innocent piece of wood could do and that the probability of such an accident was a lot higher than I would ever have thought possible.Originally Posted by MightyThor
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Lynn 5/17/1999 - 7/23/2013
You shall never be forgotten, my friend
Mel *6/14/2013
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Sticks scare me but man do they love to play with them!
MikeLynn (06-01-2014)
My friends Golden Retriever had a stick caught in his throat for days and they didn't know it. Took them taking her to vet twice before the vet found out what the problem was with her.
No playing fetch with sticks. Too much danger in them getting it wrong and it going into their mouths/throats and causing major damage or possibly death. They can chew them and carry them, but no fetching.
Yes Labs and Sticks are a marriage made in heaven as far as a Lab is concerned. Tana has been my most stick focussed Lab out of all my labs. From a pup he would forage around in the garden finding all manner of sticks, but the bamboo hedge was his favourite. Sometimes I would be working away at the computer in my office and I would hear crash bang at the outside doorway and I knew he would be trying to drag in some 6ft monster stick or bamboo as he loved to bring them inside for him and the older boys to chew on. I also don't like them running around with them in their mouths, happy for them to chew and carry though.
Maybe when Thor gets bigger he can find one more befitting his size like Tana did
MikeLynn (06-01-2014)
Yeah my pups love "Earth Jerky" as well ... seems to keep their teeth pretty and they dont eat it ... They just chew and spew like it's sunflower seeds so whatever blows their fur back ... lol
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