# Eating Sticks and Getting Sick HELP!



## nbd13 (Jan 20, 2010)

:'(

Hi Everyone, 
We are new to joining the forum but we love our Vizsla, he is our first and he is 7 months old. I have talked to other Vizsla owners and gotten their opinion but I wanted some advice from all of you...
Chance loves to eat sticks, we take him to the off leash dog park or outside to go to the bathroom and its like a mad hunt for sticks, and not to retrieve and bring them back to us but to actually eat them. Its almost as if he thinks they are food. We have talked to the vet and he thinks its probably just a puppy thing chewing everything he can get his hands on but he doesn't chew on things we have in the house? After a day when he eats a lot of sticks that we can't get away from him he throws up during the middle of the night and its always just a bunch of chewed sticks. 

We are working on the give command, where he gives the stick to us or just leaves it all together but in the mean time we are very concerned about him throwing this up or him puncturing his insides. He usually only throws up sticks on average a week but it is very hard to get the stick away from him minus prying open his mouth to take the stick out. I wondered if any of you have experienced this with your V's? 

Any help you can give us would be great and much appreciated!
Thanks!


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## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

At almost two years ours still does this as well. Without the throwing up part. It's less than when she was a puppy and now usually indicates that she is hungry. She is not one to sit down and eat right away when her bowl is filled. If we're at the dog park and she does it I take it as a cue to leave sooner than I planned. She understands the give/drop it command, but this is one of the cases she often chooses not to respond. I wish we could say the same for nothing in the house being chewed on, although things with wood like textures seem to be among the most appealing. I have never personally reconciled risk of eating sticks to the effort or possibility of stopping the behavior.


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## Kailua (Feb 12, 2009)

At 19 months, Snickers is still chewing on sticks and eating grass while running in the field. At one point he did throw up the sticks/grass at night at least once a week. We had a bucket by the side of the bed to catch his vomit. We try to divert his attention to something else whenever he's chewing on a stick or grass-but it's not always attainable. Luckily, he hasn't thrown up for a long time....


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## Lisa (Feb 18, 2009)

Catan loves chewing sticks as well but he doesn't seem to consume much. Last year while camping he spent the entire time chewing sticks. He'd march off into the woods, bring back a stick, chew it leaving the bits all over his bed and then the process would start again. The small amount he does consume seems to pass ok. From time to time he will throw up the bits.


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## treetops1974 (Jan 10, 2009)

our 15 month old V also enjoys sticks and grass. he will chew larger branches that fall from a tree and eat grass when his stomach isn't well. he doesn't trow up the sticks ... but will almost immediately throw up the grass.

JP may be onto something with reagrds the chewing and hunger connection. could be that your dog is hungry or not totally liking his current food (ie blandness or texture). when rio was younger we kept his dry food the same but mixed up the texture with wet food or water or fruits or veg.

rio is now 15 months and still loves to chew sticks ... but it's not obsessive or harmeful to the point where he's vomiting. i wouldn't worry too much ... just keep an eye on what is going in ... to your point you don't want a splinter or sharp point to do internal damage ... I know first hand the vet cost


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Rosie throws up bits of stick sometimes (suggesting that the bit of stick may have been the irritant that made her throw up). We try to get them away from her, but she manages to consume some quantity of stick. It isn't clear what amount of stick she can stomach without vomiting, but it does seem she throws up less often as she gets older. She'll still eat as much stick as we'll let her, but so far, no serious complications, just the occasional up-chuck.


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