Dog's eating sticks bad?

[dannyg1001]

As a kid my border collie was very much an outside dog, with plenty of fields and space to roam, for the 15 years she was alive she loved to find sticks and chew all the bark off them... I never really gave it a thought.

Now my new puppy has developed a taste for eating sticks when I take her out to the dog parks. Its got me thinking, is this bad for them? Can the bark get stuck in their throat and/or make them sick?

I take them off her of course, but it kind of ruins the walk because as soon as she spies one, she loses interest in her ball!

If she insists on chewing on them, should I take a knife and strip the bark off it so she doesnt swallow anything?

What do you reckon?