At last and eventually I have the honor of reading about a Vet who has brought to our attention in a local newspaper the perils of throwing a stick for your dog. Did you know that dogs suffer more injuries from chasing and catching sticks as they do from car accidents on our roads

I knew that because my father was a Vet and as a child I used to see the injuries arrive at the practice door. Some of them were horrific, dog with sticks that had cut their tonsils or where the part of a stick had gone down their throat. The dog is very vulnerable around the face where there are many nerves and blood vessels.If these are perforated it can cause excessive bleeding

My father used to advise them to throw rubber toys or a suitably sized hard rubber ball and with all the dog toys around now there is really no excuse. Think of it this way if you feel that the toys cost too much. What is cheaper ..the toy or the Vets Bill? Mind you when you use a rubber ball of a suitable size make sure it is that really hard rubber and not the soft type. Any dog with the right amount of chewing can take apart a soft rubber ball and get pieces lodged in the esophagus and intestines.

Many a dog that has gone off his food and has been constipated on X ray has been found to have a piece of rubber firmly stuck in his gullet. A dog with this situation can deteriorate very quickly. Life threatening to say the least if he is not taken to the vet in time and at the end of the day highly expensive to get removed! Its much cheaper to get the correct toy in the first place.

So is throwing a stick for a dog really as dangerous as I say? Well let me enlighten you here to just a few typical injuries. Dog left paralyzed after being stabbed in the back of the throat by a stick that then entered the spinal cord. Dogs who suffer a slow death as infection spreads from tiny fragments of wood left lodged in a wound. Penetration of the tongue and into the windpipe by a dog running for a stick that had lodged into the ground

Still not convinced?

With today’s credit crunch in full swing you might like to consider the cost. Some Vets have seen costs in the thousands in treatment fees and in the end the poor dog has actually died. So next time you take your beloved pouch to the park for a walk and he is eager for his chase and return, introduce him to his nice new hard rubber ball, not only safe but bounces for miles!!

At last and eventually I have the honor of reading about a Vet who has brought to light in a local newspaper the perils of throwing a stick for your dog. Did you know that dogs suffer more injuries from chasing and catching sticks as they do from accidents on our great British roads.

I knew that because my father was a Vet and as a child I used to see the injuries arrive at the practice door. Some of them were horrific, dog with sticks that had cut their tongues or even pierced their gullet. The dog has many nerves and blood vessels around the face and these can be easily perforated and can cause excessive bleeding.

My father used to advise them to throw rubber toys or a suitably sized hard rubber ball and with all the dog toys around now there is really no excuse. Think of it this way if you feel that the toys cost too much. What is cheaper ..the toy or the Vets Bill? Mind you when you use a rubber ball of a suitable size make sure it is that really hard rubber and not the soft type. Any dog with the right amount of chewing can take apart a soft rubber ball and get pieces lodged in the esophagus and intestines.

Many a dog that has gone off his food and has been constipated on X ray has been found to have a piece of rubber firmly stuck in his gullet. Life threatening to say the least if he is not taken to the vet in time and at the end of the day highly expensive to get removed! Its much cheaper to get the correct toy in the first place.

So is throwing a stick for a dog really as dangerous as I say? Well let me enlighten you here to just a few typical injuries. Dog left paralyzed after being stabbed in the back of the throat by a stick that then entered the spinal cord. Dogs who suffer a slow death as infection spreads from tiny fragments of wood left lodged in a wound. Penetration of the tongue and into the windpipe by a dog running for a stick that had lodged into the ground

Still not convinced?

With today’s credit crunch in full swing you might like to consider the cost. Some Vets have seen costs in the thousands in treatment fees and in the end the poor dog has actually died. So next time you take your beloved pouch to the park for a walk and he is eager for his chase and return, introduce him to his nice new hard rubber ball, not only safe but bounces for miles!!

THE MORE I SEE OF MEN THE MORE I ADMIRE DOGS Madame De Sevigne

The are shelves and shelves of books dedicated to the nature and success of our relationship with dogs. Endless films and stories of just that testify to the nature of that bond and many of us have our own stories lodged firmly in our memories.While it has long been known of the special physical and mental health benefits of owning a dog like reduced blood pressure and increased self esteem we do not like to admit to the negative sides of owning a dog.

While it has long been known of the special physical and mental health benefits of owning a dog like reduced blood pressure and increased self esteem we do not like to admit that there are negative sides to owning a dogWe are very protective of our dogs even if he is driving everyone within hearing distance nuts with his barking. In society today we need to care for something ,we need a dog to activate us into taking exercise and to keep us in contact with nature.

The dog may be the perfect receiver for the release of our caring emotions. But have we become over sold on the “dogs are good for you” theory. I do believe that sometimes there is another side to the coin.Dogs can cause a rapid and dangerous rise in blood pressure..like when you walk into your garden and those prize petunias are dug up and wilting .

The toilet roll add with the small puppies comes to mind, they just look so cute except they are not that cute when its your toilet roll all over your house. Then the overprotective dog that bites strangers who come to the house. I mean lets tell it like it is. My Jack Russel is my pride and joy but we no longer have our Window Cleaner and are battling to get another …word travels fast in a small village in Ireland

Jack Russels are very territorial and protective and the poor unsuspecting man put his hand through a hole in the gate to get the bolt open. Quick as a flash he had his teeth sunk in. No amount of apologies and explanations of how the dog may have felt he was an intruder could overcome my embarrassment as the poor man wrapped his hand in a handkerchief assuring me he would do the windows on another day and scuttled off into his Van and out of sight. in this society of litigation I was lucky that I wasn’t sued. By the way We haven’t seen him since!

On many occasions dogs require utmost tolerance and patience when they are puppies and often when they are adults as well. When I firsts got Rex from the kennels many of our walks became search forays into dense bush to try and catch him on the hot pursuit of rabbits,it took time and patience to train him not to wander like he did. For the dog that growls at strangers or soils indoors we can turn to training, re homing or turn to the vet to end it all.

Many of us today with all the training materials available to us are far too involved in that protective friendly relationship for such callousness but I have memories of it happening on a frequent basis in my fathers practice in the 60s.Dogs from the farm would be brought to the clinic to be put down because they had become problematic. My father not having the heart for it used to tell them to leave it with him and we would end up keeping them. At one time we had 17 dogs.

Most owners of dogs with behavior problems will put up with it than be faced with the ultimate solution. Then again what constitutes a behavior problem is highly variable. For some a single mistake on the carpet is sufficient to cause rejection while others put up with far worse without raising a hair.

Most owners of dogs with behavior problems will put up with it than be faced with the ultimate solution. Then again what constitutes a behavior problem is highly variable. For some a single mistake on the carpet is sufficient to cause rejection while others put up with far worse without raising a hair.A behavior problem is only acknowledged when the pains of owning a dog exceed the joy It brings.

What we need to do is have the time and patience to understand why and when a dog is doing the behavior and to modify it within the framework of the dogs relationship with its owner, their expectations, their lifestyle and its home territory.

Often the dogs behavior may need a little fine tuning for the dog and its owner to appreciate each other to the full once again.