# Is chewing sticks, pinecones & leaves safe for dogs?



## RoughCollie (Mar 7, 2011)

My Collie never ate anything outside, so I'm not used to having a dog that does.

Aidan, a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier puppy, 3 months old, loves to eat and chew on things he finds outside. He finds something valuable and will carry it around, bring it in the house, chew on it, or eat it (in the case of leaves). He also likes to dig in the chipmunk holes and even eats the dirt around the hole (or at least removes it with his mouth). He also plays tug of war with long-stemmed plants and tears the leaves off weeds that look like cabbage (but aren't). There is some kind of fungus or mushroom that looks like overlapping petals growing on a stump -- this fascinates him, but I haven't let him near it in case it is poisonous.

Is this safe for him to do? I usually take things away from him, but I'm sure I haven't been diligent enough to prevent him from ingesting some things. I am extremely diligent when it comes to mushrooms that grow in the yard so he won't get poisoned.

My mother said if I let him bring in his prize sticks and he chews them, he could get splinters in his stomach. Is this true? I let him bring the sticks (and other prizes) into the house, but I swap them for a bully stick when he lies down to enjoy them.

Thank you for your advice!


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## vbud88 (Feb 8, 2011)

my pup bolo is an eating machine on walks and in the garden, eats leaves soil rabbit poo pulls branches off my shrubs in garden. I gave up getting stressed out he is now 18 weeks old and had never had an upset tummy from doing this


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

RoughCollie said:


> My Collie never ate anything outside, so I'm not used to having a dog that does.
> 
> Aidan, a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier puppy, 3 months old, loves to eat and chew on things he finds outside. He finds something valuable and will carry it around, bring it in the house, chew on it, or eat it (in the case of leaves). He also likes to dig in the chipmunk holes and even eats the dirt around the hole (or at least removes it with his mouth). He also plays tug of war with long-stemmed plants and tears the leaves off weeds that look like cabbage (but aren't). There is some kind of fungus or mushroom that looks like overlapping petals growing on a stump -- this fascinates him, but I haven't let him near it in case it is poisonous.
> 
> ...


The biggest concern with sticks and pinecones I would think would be splintering. Don't want pup to swallow anything sharp or too big.

I remove sticks and mulch from Brady's mouth. Leaves ...well.. he loves leaves. He carries them around while prancing like he's sooo proud of himself for capturing that leaf! ^.^
I don't worry too much about a leaf.


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

My puppy sometimes chews and eats dried leaves and bits of pine bark. I wouldn't let him chew sticks or pinecones.


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## RoughCollie (Mar 7, 2011)

Thank you both very much.


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## Rowdy (Sep 2, 2007)

Both of my dogs will eat sticks. They actually chew them up and swallow them, not just carry them around. Except for them pooping out a plank every now and then I haven't had any problems with this.


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## 4TheDawgies (Apr 24, 2011)

Don't let your dog eat Acorns. Those are poisonous!

My dogs chew on sticks all the time though.


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## Polywoggy (Mar 7, 2011)

My dog chewed on sticks a lot, and ate them. I always wondered about splinters too, but she never had a problem??? I could always tell when she had eaten a lot- tonnes of roughage in those stools- ick. 
I do stop her from chewing rocks though. I don't mind when she carries them around in her mouth (a retriever thing), but she once broke a tooth from starting to chew on one. I took her to the vet and was told I could leave the tooth alone as long as Willow didn't go off her food, or favour one side off her mouth when carrying toys etc. Luckily for her, there wasn't a nerve/pain issue (or the pain my pocketbook would have felt for dental work).
She did eat a wild mushroom as a puppy when we took her on holiday and were hiking. Luckily she was fine, but I was scared for a bit.

Wheatens are lovely- definitely on my list of faves.


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

My guy eats sticks all the time and it never seems to bother him. I do try to distract him to other things but don't worry about it too much. When he's eaten a lot there are times when he poops more wood than poo though. Grass and leaves have different effects on different dogs. Jubel likes to munch on grass sometimes and it doesn't bother him, other dogs eat a little grass and throw it up soon after, others fall inbetween.


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

After having a bowel perf from a stick and seeing many at the vets I do not allow mine to chew sticks.


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## Polywoggy (Mar 7, 2011)

That's good to know KatieLou. Willow hasn't had a problem, but I've wondered...


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## BellaPup (Jul 7, 2007)

I don't let Bella eat sticks...she tries like h*ll, but I'd hate to know how it feels to "poop a plank" as rowdy puts it - ROFL! 

Last time I asked the vet, he said to avoid letting her *swallow* pieces of sticks as it could cause damage. Chewing - aside from getting splinters between the teeth...which I can't imagine to be a very pleasing sensation either - isn't as damaging. 

I try not to let her eat anything but the occasional piece of grass from outside....I'm a funless mommy in that respect.


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

Sticks can cause major internal issues and mouth injuries. I've had to pry three sticks out of my dog's mouth because she bit them and ended up getting a piece wedged between her top teeth. Her cries were pitiful and getting those sticks out of her mouth was painful for both of us. Vet said he sees dogs with sticks wedged in dog's mouths quite often and recommends keeping them away for that reason + because of the perforation potential. It's just not worth the risk.

Also have tried to train her to stay away from plants/leaves since some can be poisonous. It's a challenge - she seems to think plants were put on earth to be her special shredding toys. Sigh...


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## JohnnyBandit (Sep 19, 2008)

I never really worried about sticks, pinecones, etc. Never had an issue.

As far as acorns go.... I have seen them listed on sites before as being toxic to dogs. Frankly I don't know where that came from. I have had a couple of dogs that ate a lot of acorns. Again no issue. 

Virtually every critter in the woods eat acorns. Deer, wild hogs, rabbits, squirrels, possums birds, raccoons, skunks, bears, etc 

Mast crop is a very important food source in the woods. 

It puts good fat on hogs as well.


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