Dangers of dog toys

Like children, when it comes to our pets, we want the absolute best for them. But when it comes to keeping them occupied, we don’t always realize how dangerous certain items can be.

The things that end up in a dogs mouth may surprise you.Everything from undies to pantyhose; nothing seems off limits.

“Dogs, they explore things with their mouths so, especially puppies, don’t know any better and
they ingest things,” said Animal Hospital of Salinas Veterinarian, Dr. Al Chan.

And that could mean anything.

“Tennis balls, golf balls, fish hooks, rocks,” said Romie Lane Pet Hospital Veterinarian, Dr. James Ponder.

“Hair ties, like rubber bands, that kind of stuff. socks are a common thing, not
really a toy but sometimes they’re used as toys and those get swallowed,” said Toro Park Animal Hospital Veterinarian, Dr. Briney Kaplan-Dau.

And it’s that curiosity that could get dogs in trouble and stick their owners with a vet bill.

“If there’s something foreign in there that it can’t digest, they try to get it to go one way or another. Sometimes they’re successful, sometimes they’re not,” said Dr. Ponder

“If they swallow something solid that cannot pass, then we need to go in surgically and remove it,” said Dr. Chan.

It’s something that vets deal with far too often.

“It’s a life-threatening problem, definitely, and it’s probably one of the most common surgeries that we do as veterinarians anywhere,” said Dr. Kaplan-Dau.

There are signs pet owners should watch out for when trying to figure out if your dog swallowed something it can’t pass.

“I would say vomiting and diarrhea are probably one of the more common presenting problems that we will see, and a lot of times it can be treated symptomatically and we just don’t know what the animal got into,” said Dr. Chan.

””They’re just not happy to see you. You come home from work and they’re going “Oh…ok, yeah, you’re home.” You know? They’re just not thrilled.,”‘ said Dr. Ponder.

And just like human surgeries, removing a blockage from a dog isn’t cheap

“So you’re definitely looking into anywhere from two to four-thousand and up depending on how sick the dog is and how much care it needs afterwards,” said Dr. Kaplan-Dau.

But no matter what kind of toy or treat you give your pet, there’s an easy way to drastically reduce the chances of disaster.

“Supervision over your pets. don’t allow them to have objects that they
can either swallow very easily or they can destroy, rip into shreds, and
then swallow,” said Dr. Ponder.

“Work really hard on teaching them to drop it and leave it and then
replacing that with something that is a reward. So you want to basically
reward them for doing the right thing rather than scold them for doing the
wrong thing,” said Dr. Kaplan-Dau.