Comments on: Unitasker Wednesday: Stick Pet Toy

By: Pam R

Pam R — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:46:04 +0000

I must weigh in on the pro side. Not for this particular fake stick, but a Petco “Petstages” stick that smells like wood. My puppy loves sticks, and our tree-filled yard is full of them. I once had to quickly remove one that got caught in her palate, as she was choking. If I told her No every time she put one in her mouth, I’d be saying no, no, no, no, no… you get the picture. There’s no way I can remove them from the yard, as every morning when we go out, nature has provided dozens more. So I give her the fake stick, and she carries it around and gnaws on it. In the house, it keeps her from gnawing on our antique furniture. The Petco stick is between $4 and $6, depending on size. Yes, it “sounds” crazy, but if you have a pup with stick-addiction problems, it’s a good solution.

By: Rose

Rose — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:24:45 +0000

Amen to Jen. An expensive fake stick is pretty ridiculous imo. I’m fine with cutesy dog toys, but one in the shape of a stick? That just seems dumb.
I couldn’t stop one of my dogs from chewing real sticks if I tried. He loves it and there’s a lot of them in our yard. He gets to them before I do.

@Emily, I take it you’ve never thrown a real stick into the water before? Usually all the sticks I throw float… they’re pretty buoyant. They don’t squeak, but that’s a bonus.

By: oh Holland

oh Holland — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:56:45 +0000

I admit I once bought both red and acid green fakes stick for my dogs, for the very reason I’m a fan of figurative pop art and thought the toys would look hip lying on the kitchen floor where said dogs drop them.

By: Jodi

Jodi — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:37:05 +0000

LOL @ purpleBee

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:43:17 +0000

Sticks sink. This floats. It is designed for retrieval in water. Just sayin.’

By: jen

jen — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:13:34 +0000

Ok, so I get what the other commenters are saying about the dangers of real sticks, but really? Don’t you get how ridiculous the concept of a fake stick is???

By: Shalin

Shalin — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:33:55 +0000

Wait. What? Wow. Huh. Hmmm… Huh??? Really??? Wow. Well… O.k. Next.

By: purpleBee

purpleBee — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 07:42:30 +0000

As a ‘cat person’, I think a dog is a unitasker. Tee hee

Seriously, while I see the medical reason for this … it is silly.

By: cathy

cathy — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:23:25 +0000

*Sigh* These are for dogs who chew up/swallow bits of real stick. As a former vet tech, I’ve seen a lot (and I mean a LOT) of perforated bowels from dogs swallowing sharp bits of sticks. A unitasker for sure, but an $11 toy is a LOT cheaper than surgery to attempt to repair a perforated bowel, and a lot less stressful than hoping your dog can survive the resulting septicemia.

By: Ky

Ky — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 23:55:34 +0000

Actually the reason for the fake stick is that you really shouldn’t be having your dog fetch a real stick. If the dog jumps and the stick and lands on it, there is a good chance he could puncture something and cause a serious injury.

Fake stick isn’t really any different to any other dog fetch toy like a tennis ball. This one is pretty expensive, you can get them for about $5.

I have a GSD, she will bring me a ball and play fetch for about 10 minutes then put the ball away.

By: maxie

maxie — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:51:30 +0000

Erin, I believe you made a typo up there: “repeat the process until your dog is tired or bored.” Should read until *you* are tired or bored!

I’ve never had a dog who tired of any game before I did.;-)

By: STL Mom

STL Mom — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:35:43 +0000

I’m with Heidi and Erin — a fake stick is funny.
Not wrong or terrible or unjustifiable — just funny!

By: Northmoon

Northmoon — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:29:34 +0000

I work for a large urban municipality. Recently we set up a new dog off leash area complete with some new trees for shade. Someone came in the first week and broke a branch off one of the young trees to throw for his dog!!! It would only take three or four more people to do that and the tree would have no branches left.

There aren’t that many sticks left lying around in our parks, so I’m very happy to see someone buy a fake stick to throw for their dog.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:56:08 +0000

I’m with everyone else. By this logic, every dog toy everywhere is a unitasker. There are better unitaskers out there – our dog LOVES squeaky toys and almost all of them look like something else. There are abundant rabbits in nature but I’m very glad my dog chews on her fake squeaky one.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:54:02 +0000

Floating dog toy, with a squeaker. I don’t know of too many squeaking sticks “found everywhere.” I sure don’t want to toss sticks into my pool either.

If it was a squeaking ball would it not be a unitasker? Is it just the shape that makes it a unitasker?