Wood Eating

[Oliver21508]

Hiya

Ollie will strip bark off trees or chew sticks. I'm worried he'll get splinters in his throat etc but I don't know how to stop him. He's been pulling up fence posts (rotten) and there are many trees in the garden, so we can't get rid of wood completely in the garden. Is there anything I can do?

[KatieJean]

Sorry no solutions ours are fond of wood as well

[GillSarge]

Sorry no solutions ours are fond of wood as well

Same here! apart from ours seem to chew less the older they get

[JennyBee]

Sorry no solutions ours are fond of wood as well

As is Brodie    She's just started for some reason

[Beth]

Jarvis is almost 3 and has always eaten sticks no ill effects so far, but some of the poos i find in the garden would make you wince.

[Philtrum]

Mabel is a prolific wood and bark chewer ....

my daughter made two wooden cat shaped magnets, left them on the fridge while we popped out for 10 mins ... came back ,,, no magnets on the fridge, but teh sticky magnet bit and a few splinters left in mabels bed

and like beth ... some poo's to make you cross your legs !

[Toni-UK]

Same here Laura,my flower beds are almost bare as Ruby is very fond of the chipped bark.

She will eat twigs,bits of wood OH has been sawing,and had a nibble on the decking a while back.

If i am out in the garden and see her doing it,i just take it off of her other than that i ler her get on with it  

[Oliver21508]

Ok thanks guys. It's good to know that it's common. If I think I have a good chance of taking it off him, or it is a very long, sharp or big piece of wood, then I do my best to take it off him.

[SkyeSue]

Ok thanks guys. It's good to know that it's common. If I think I have a good chance of taking it off him, or it is a very long, sharp or big piece of wood, then I do my best to take it off him.

That's probably the best you can do Laura. Chloe almost choked on a bit of kindling wood when she was about 5 months....I had to remove it from half way down her throat and I've been paranoid about her having sticks ever since. She doesn't tend to pick up sticks when we're out and about (probably cos I go aaaaaggggh...in a very frightening voice  )  My dog is considered the wuss of the community now cos she doesn;t do sticks 

[Cob-Web]

Molo loves stripping bark off sticks - and he is adept at stealing wooden pegs if I drop them, too 

Same here Laura,my flower beds are almost bare as Ruby is very fond of the chipped bark.

I don't know if you know that some chipped-bark products are actually cocoa mulch and can poison dogs  If you are;t sure, and your dog likes to eat it, then it's probably best to replace it with a safe alternative 

[Beth]

Molo loves stripping bark off sticks - and he is adept at stealing wooden pegs if I drop them, too 

Oh yes, pegs. If i have both boys in the garden with me when i'm hanging washing out, Indie will sit and feed Jarvis pegs.

[emderpenguin]

No help with wood outside the house, but for funiture putting something on it like bitterbite (i think thats the name) mustard, or tobasco sauce works well (worked well when Pepper tried her hand at counter surfing for food too... one dosed hot dog an the problem was solved)

[Helen]

Jarvis has always chewed wood, for some dogs it's really soothing (he loves chewing it on his back molars) and it's like humans chewing gum 

He does chew and then spit it out though and I do watch him like a hawk when he does it - TBH I'd rather it was a bit of wood from the garden than a chair leg.

The bigger hard bits are a lot safer than small bits in my view....

Brodie and Ollie are around the same age, could be some remnants of secondary teething where the chewing may be soothing on their back teeth, more likely they've discovered that they like it and it's a become a habit.

[Karma]

Honey loves to chew wood - chew toys just don't do it for her.  She doesn't chew furniture, and doesn't eat the wood (though I guess some bark may get nibbled!)... we tend to make sure she has a couple of sticks she can chew in the garden (stops her trying to chew the apple tree!!!) and she's quite happy to sit out in the sun with us and have a good old chew.   

[LouiseH]

We are on our 2nd fence panel in 2 weeks  it's the same one they chew, as they can sit and chew it whilst looking through the window in the back door to see if I am letting them in  They strip the wood, bring it inside and some of them do eat it...tried ALL anti-chew sprays with no effect (makes one of them sneeze but he carries on regardless) a cocker friend advised me to try cribox which is used for horses to stop them chewing stables and rugs etc, so I'm going to try that once we replace the panel (again!)