Sticks!
It is a fact universally acknowledged that dogs enjoy sticks or things that resemble sticks. They like to chase and retrieve them, or chew them, or guard them, or play tug of war with them, or simply lie on them and go to sleep.
Many dogs will seek out a stick as soon as their paws touch the forest floor, and the bigger it is, the better. Roxy Labrador picks up a stick the minute she gets out of the car.
Dogs will navigate gateways and narrow paths with sticks that are much longer than it would be thought possible to manoeuvre. Cariadd Dalmatian used to carry sticks that looked more like telegraph poles.
Some dogs are possessive about their sticks and will not relinquish them. Arthur Cocker Spaniel loves to play the ‘Is that my . . . ?’ game. He will not give up his stick or toy until he is ready. He makes lots of noise, but he is the sweetest little dog.
Sam Jack Russell insisted on taking his sticks into the back of the car and would not release them until he reached home. He and his sister, Daisy, played sticks with their mother, Biddy. The three of them ran along, two going forwards, one backwards. Biddy was also an accomplished tree climber.
Sticks and water go together. Labradors are persistent retrievers and bob their heads under water, looking and smelling for sticks that have sunk. Atavistic behaviour deep in the retriever memory from their origins, perhaps, from hauling in fishing nets in the chilly Newfoundland waters.
We always make sure that sticks are thick and long enough not to stick in the dogs’ mouths and throats. Mostly, we encourage our dogs to play with Kongs and balls, but sometimes, only a stick will do!
