I think toys are a great distraction away from sticks Jake loves his balls, so it's a great distraction from other dogs too! Needless to say, balls come just about everywhere with us

Ah Rupert's not quite that interested. He'll drop his toy at the slightest sound and go on hyper alert for a couple of minutes. And if there's another dog around forget it, the toy ceases to exist. Still, just the fact he'll play is a big step, maybe with time he'll become more obsessed.

I'm wondering if I'm the odd one My dogs VERY rarely get any 'human' foods & I mean rarely. They get veg in their dishes on a Sunday from the dinner & raw carrot as treats through the week but thats it. Its dog food or nothing in this house

As for being outdoors, Ive never thrown sticks, its always been balls or a rope toy with a ball on & luckily none of them seem interested in sticks.

B

Oh mines spoiled rotten in some ways. He has a roast dinner every Sunday That started off accidentally coz I couldn't judge how many potatoes and veg to do for 2 of us and always did too much so Rupe got what was left with a bit of meat and a small amount of gravy. It's no trouble to do an extra couple of potatoes and veg though so it's carried on.

On the subject of sticks...

I know some people say they cant get their dogs to leave them alone. Cain used to be obsessed with sticks, picking them up ALL the time. He'd sneak them in from the garden and you'd catch him chewing them up in bed My dog trainer said to just keep taking them off of him every single time and tell him to Leave It on walks, and if he didn't, take it off him. Months of persistence worked and now Cain hardly even notices sticks.

I read a great idea for a safe stick substitute. Of course you can by Safe Stix toys etc but a cheap easy substitute is a length of garden hose pipe. Much safer, not sharp, doesn't splinter, easily washable and costs pennies. So if your dog loves chasing sticks, try hose instead

Excellent idea, has the right weight with it as well to make the dog feel he/she has something akin to a stick.