Playing fetch with sticks could kill your dog
Vets have warned that throwing a stick for your dog in an innocent game of fetch could injure, or even kill it.
And the vets don't just mean if you throw the stick off a cliff and dumb fido decides to follow it.
Experts from the Royal Veterinary College say playing with sticks can leave dogs with cuts to the skin or mouth, paralysis of limbs, and even acute and chronic infections.
Professor Dan Brockman warns that because sticks are sharp and very dirty when a dog grabs them in its mouth they can easily pierce the skin, going on to penetrate the oesophagus, spinal cord.
The doom-monger does however offer a solution, he says throwing rubber toys or a suitably sized ball means you shouldn't end up with huge vets bills, or a dead dog.
