I have a st. bernard puppy that constantly chews on pieces of scrap wood. Does not seem to affect her health so far. Question. Should I be more careful and keep her away from all scrap wood? Are there any types that may be better for her over well being? ie, ipe, purpleheart, etc.
Eric
Replies
DOGWOOD, Naturally !! No wood is good for dogs. Your best bet and the kindest to your dog is a Raw Hide bone.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
I wouldn't let my dog chew on any kind of wood -- because of the potential for splinters lodging in the intestinal walls.
Everybody seems to let their dog chew on plain rawhide, but any vet will tell you there is a chance a piece of it can stick in a part of the intestine to create a blockage. That can mean either the death of your dog, or a big vet bill for you to have it surgically removed.
Compressed rawhide is a better, but more expensive option. This stuff comes off in small pieces, rather than largish chunks.
Best of all would be if you could get your puppy to chew Nylabones; some will take to them, but some won't.
That said, I've known folks who let their dogs chew on rawhide their whole life, and never had a problem.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Our dog loves to chew on wood scraps...not the best. We keep bones and rawhide on hand. I recommend not letting your dog chew on wood : )
Edited 11/8/2006 9:10 am ET by Maturin
Well as a veterinarian as my full time paying job and from my wood working experience with my own 2 labs and other patients I have treated over the years, I can tell you that I have extracted various pieces, sizes, and configurations of wood from various critter parts such as the mouth, nasal passages, stomach, esophagus, plucked out a hunk of wood from the chest of a dog who happened to be near a lawn mower which hurled a large splinter.
Woodworkers should insure their dogs and cats do not have access to them but heck my labs are with me in my wood working shop all the time. My cat just suts there, is too darn sneeky (sorry showing a bit of bias here :-) and does not eat wood but does a nicew job with the mice. Had a mouse in my TS trunion gear once. Had this weird smell for days !!!!! Get your dogs some other items to gnaw is you best bet. A large ham bone goes well but even after a spell they'll splinter that too.
Dogs like to chew period and in cases some dogs experince an abnormal eating disored called pica. Don't really know why but they do. So keep your scraps and shorts away from them.
Wood working shops can be unsafe and hazardous to you and your criterrs, just keep an eye on them, take a few precautions and usually you'll be OK.
And call your vet BEFORE they get really sick !!!!!
Spitfire
Here in the Great Northwest, the biggest challenge seems to be keeping them from chewing sticks from all the trees. We must play "Chase the stick" and "Fetch the stick" and "You two dogs play tug-o-war with the stick" or the dogs aren't happy. Still trying to teach the Golden Retriever not to "Chew the stick."
View Image<!---->forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Eric,
Depending on the size of your dog, the secret is those red Kongs. For my dog, I put in some can dog food and two dog biscuits in each one. He has jaws of steel so I freeze them the night before. It keeps him quite busy--better for his teeth and keeps him mentally alert.
Frank
Depending on the size of your dog, the secret is those red Kongs.
I second the Kong toy-our two dogs have bone-shaped ones that will accommodate a small biscuit and they love to chew on them. The cone shapped ones work well, as does filling them with peanut butter and then freezing.
Nevertheless, my golden retriever loves to chew on logs and will swallow chips if we don't take them away.
My daughter the vet is always removing weird stuff from the interior of dogs, with Labs almost always the culprit. Stay away from those rawhide chews.
Edited 11/8/2006 1:53 pm ET by smslaw
Yup, raw hide chews have caused many problems too, forgot to mention that!!
Stuff the Kong full of peanut butter. Keeps my girl busy for about a half-hour trying to get it out.Toolfanatic (a.k.a. The man formerly known as "Toolfreak")
Edited 11/8/2006 2:23 pm ET by Toolfanatic
What concerns me about the Kong toys and others that you put treats into is the potential for "stuck" pieces getting moldy. I had one toy that came with the Golden Retriever, it was really bad. Haven't tried the Kong toys as a result. How easy is it to get them emptied out of crumbs and such?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG, That's why dishwashers were invented. :)Jim"There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other is that heat comes from the furnace." - Aldo Leopold
I haven't seen a dishwasher that would get inside one of those toys. I dunno, I'm not convinced. Maybe I'll buy a Kong, and if the Golden doesn't play with it, I'll raffle it off here at Knots. <g>forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
What concerns me about the Kong toys and others that you put treats into is the potential for "stuck" pieces getting moldy
Dogs like moldy stuff even better! Given what my dogs eat with relish, i.e. wild turkey poop, dead animals of every possible description, each other's ears, etc., I'm not sure I'd worry about the toys getting moldy, but we do run them through the dishwasher every year or so.
Is your Golden the most lovable, good natured and stupidest dog ever? Mine sure is.
Oh, it isn't that difficult to clean the Kongs. From time to time, I run them through the dishwasher too...
Frank
All,
What are you all talking about? My bench dogs have been biting into boards for years now , and never a problem...that's what they're for....
Hahah,
Ray
Not too much peanut butter. Dogs have weight issues too... :o)
My lab thinks doug fir is fine to chew as well as live oak but does not like teak or ipe. All fun aside I try to have her chew nylabones insted but she thinks it great fun to sneek off with a scrap of 2x4 or what not.
Troy
I have Australian shepherd. When he was puppy I gave him a turned piece of osage orange(about 6"x2"). This summer I took him to the vet and and the vet said, looks like a cracked tooth,--no look, all of the canines are worn down. You got a real chewer here. Jack was almost two then. I came home and got rid of osage(it was then about 4" long). I get him blue dental chew from pets mart. They last about 6 weeks.
My collie's best friend, a Golden Retriever named Val, had to give up tennis balls for the same reason. He didn't just chase and retrieve, but also chewed, and that tough fabric wore his teeth down to nubbins.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I want to think everyone for the inputs. We try to keep the dog away from wood scraps. Works most of the time.
We use a kong toy, also. Clean it in the dishwasher or use a glass/bottle brush to get it really clean.
She chews on many rawrides. Has a whole basket full rawride chews. They are all in some stage of being chewed.
I guess we all have bad habits, just don't enable the bad habits of others.
I have included a picture of Addi, the st bernard, that started this discussion.
Eric
Oh My Gawd, just too cute! What's in the bottle with the green label? :>)
Our two (pictured above) have a routine of one large rawhide bone each night after they eat dinner. The collie sometimes goes into a complete trance while he's chewing...and chewing...and chewing...and.......forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
It is just an empty bottle of beer, she just happened to be lying next to when the picture was taken.
Eric, how old was he in that picture?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
My guess is she was 10-12 weeks old. Her name is Addi.
A comment I haven't seen yet is to probably really avoid chewing on walnut. I know that horse owners don't want to get walnut sawdust for bedding. Maybe there is no connection with dogs, but I'd not chance it. Let me tell you another experience. I had an old Newfoundland who had always loved to eat snow, she started to eat it off the yews by the side walk. Several times she got so lathargic that I was certain that she wouldn't last the night. Then I recalled a neighboring farmer telling me that two of his cows died from eating the trimmings of yews. The vet comfirmed that she could have gotten poisoned from the yews. So we had to brush off the yews after that. She must have ingested some needles with the snow.
I had a dog once who loved to chew on the firewood we had in the house ready to put in the stove. We never saw any harm in it... until she cracked her teeth. Dogs do have a need to chew, though. We give "bones" made from cornstarch. You can get them at a pet supply store. They come in various flavors and the dogs like them. They get a good chew out of them and they are completely digestable unlike rawhide.
Lance
I had a puppy who used to chew some firewood, he would hide in the basement. Once i was on the phone he took advantage of this and went downstairs (that was before cordless phones), so when i hung up the phone i went to check on him ,he heard me, gave up the log and ran upstairs, his head ran right into my knee, almost broke it. The log chewing goes away.
Also on 2 dogs had to remove a stick stuck in their mouths, about pencil thin, they bit right through it chopping it at both ends, the sticks were stuck between their teeth, across the palate, happened twice to each dog
my dog chewed the corners off of the wood steps i made of yellow pine.
Eric
My dogs nickname is Termite. I can't get him to stay away from wood in the shop. I bought him a bone called "Pit Bull Tough" about 7 years ago, and it's still in use. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot break it apart. Definately keep your pal away from eating wood.
Jeff
Hi heard the expression "power chewers" and that seems to apply to labs. Yours is a nice looking one.Troy
Troy
Thanks. He's the best pooch and hunting dog I've ever had.
Jeff
It had been decades since I had a dog. We got a lab when she was 7 weeks old. She was a handful and I forgot how much work puppies were. To the point I had wondered if I had made a mistake.
At nine months old she was starting to show signs she would be a sweet dog. Then, she got sick, wouldn't eat food, etc, etc. We took her to the vet and the vet couldn't figure out what was wrong. Next door neighbor's dog had been very sick the week prior as well and they never could pinpoint what was wrong with his dog.
The vet didn't know if my puppy was going to live or die and we ended up having to place the dog in a different place for two nights for basically doggie ICU care. Dog survived. The vets never did figure out what happened. The bill was $3,500.
We had another time where the dog got sick and had a $1,500 vet bill (think in-laws fed the dog really fatty food but no one fessed up).
As such, no; I don't let my dog chew wood. It doesn't take much to have an expensive bill. I don't blame the vets. Vet school and running a business is expensive.
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