Hi everyone, CEO Olivia barking. As I’ve mentioned, February is National Pet Dental Health Month. Good dental hygiene is as impawtant to us as it is for you. Today I want to mention a couple of things dogs commonly put in their mouths but in my opinion, maybe we shouldn’t.

Some good dogs like to chew on sticks or bones & their humans may think this is pawfectly fine. Although this is natural behavior, especially for our wild cousins, sticks & bones can be dangerous.

Branches, twigs or sticks splinter when they are gnawed on & those splinters can end up stuck in our mouths, throats or bellies, causing injury or infections. On top of that, sticks are dirty & may have mold or bacteria on them which can be pawsitively yucklicious to us dogs & even some cats but not good for us.

I learned the hard way that bones can be too hard for some dogs. I cracked a tooth while gnawing on a bone. Just like sticks, bones can splinter as well causing the same complications. Dogs love bones & it’s culturally acceptable to give a dog a bone (isn’t there a song about that?) but they can be dangerous.

Obviously there are numerous alternatives to gnawing on sticks or bones. No matter what you chose, be cautious. As I mentioned, I broke a tooth on a bone, huMom’s beloved Destabella got a stick lodged in the roof of her mouth & I’ve sniffed out some scary tales online of good dogs needing surgery to remove splinters. I haven’t shared them because they are dog gone gruesome.

CEO Olivia ❤