Originally posted by schteve_d
I try and keep mine from playing with sticks for this exact reason! When Buddy was a puppy, he was running with a stick and did the same thing. He ended up with a 4" puncture wound in the upper back of his throat, which of course required after-hours emergency surgery on a SUNDAY ( I had to pay for the vet, an assistant, and an anasthesiologist (sp?) ). There went my free (rescue) dog!! LOL
Sounds all too familiar! I had a rescued Border Collie, and her 6 all female pups rescued next to train tracks back in the 70s. Relentless dogs that they are, she would grab up anything that even remotely resembled a stick (she found a cardboard match once, and wanted to fetch it ). Children in the neighborhood loved playing fetch with her, and one threw a stick that punctured the soft tissue at the back of Genaro's throat. Awful name for a female dog, but long story behind that one. Sunday...what other day would it have been, and a trip to the very pricely emergency vets way away. I forget what the vets had to do to patch up the hole, but sticks were out from that day forth. Spencer, our youngest has that relentless fetch instinct as well, but only tennis balls for him!