"Rosie loved sticks and I thought I was doing the right thing by making sure I always threw them sideways so there was no chance of any of them getting lodged in the ground upright.

As a member of the Border Collie Appreciation Website I had noticed the link to this website and thought I would read it one day. Having not read it but thought there could be some stories to tell, I decided this particular day, two weeks ago, that Rosie was not going to get any more sticks. So, off to the park we went with tennis balls.

Rosie chased them but wasn't as excited about the whole thing. We played "ball" for quite awhile and just before we were ready to go home I thought I would give her a couple of throws with a stick because she really wasn't as enthusiastic about the balls. If only, if only.......

I threw the offending stick side ways, as I always had. It landed flat on the ground before Rosie got to it but in her Border Collie trait she lowered her head and scooped the stick up only to "spit" it out and gag. She slithered over to the shade of a tree with ears back. Straight away I thought "why?" There was no obvious bleeding but she was very docile. We walked home and she seemed very quiet. When we arrived home, she went to her water bowl to have a drink, but she couldn't. 

I thought, "Oh no, what have I done?" I had a look in her mouth but there was no sign of injury. However, on closer inspection and opening her mouth wider there behind her tongue, at the back of her throat, I could see a big hole.

I rang the Vet straight away and we got an immediate appointment.  On examination the vet said she had quite a nasty wound down there and she would need to go under a general anaesthetic to have it checked for foreign matter and then have it flushed out to clean it all. 

I was devastated. Rosie wouldn't be in this situation if I hadn't thrown that last stick for her. I had already decided to wean her of sticks so why did I throw another stick?

That afternoon when we returned to collect Rosie, the vet said she had three significant holes in the back of her throat but fortunately she would recover.

Two weeks down the track and $230 dollars later, Rosie is doing fine after a course of antibiotics. We have just had Christmas and Rosie got some lovely new toys - ball on a rope and a soft squeaky Santa. 

However, I feel so guilty and if I had read your article earlier then our unfortunate incident would not have happened.  I am now an advocate for no sticks and have printed out your poster and cards which I will give to my Vet and to our Obedience Club."