What about Tennis Balls?

I noticed That in Samsintentions post with the new kennel there is a tennis ball with the dogs. So I thought I might bring it up.
My dogs love them, but. I got a 3 pack of them on Wedensday and couldn't even get in the yard before letting Dowser have one. He could smell them in the bag through the plastic package. He ran to the gate to show Duncan and then *POP* it was smashed and stuck to his teeth. He loves to do that.

Got in the house opened the back door and gave Duncan and Pepsi there balls while Dowser ran the back yard with his stuck ball marking all Duncan's spots, (we do this every day). Duncan and Pepsi are in the house running back and forth to the back deck showing off the balls to each other.
Dowser comes up the stairs to the deck and pushes the ball of his teeth to the deck. Duncan grabs it like a prize while Dowser steals the abandoned ball Duncan dropped and *POP* stuck again and running the yard happy as can be. He pulled the same exact stunt on Pepsi for her ball 10 minutes later. They all took turns tearing the balls to shreds and letting me throw the largest parts for some fetch and return.
I have heard of people with dogs that got the rubber chunks lodged in the stomach or intestines so I always pick up the chunks and throw them away. I have never found any tennis ball that can last more than 30 minutes in my yard before it is missing at least one side of it. Even the kid that threw his prized soccor ball in the yard learnd not to ever let Dowser have the ball. (Sure was fun to watch though *POP* sssssssssss)

 

Molly tears into them too or loses them. She likes squeaky toys better - much to my chagrin :roll:
raising a whole new question - why is it when you tell a dog to stop the squeaking they must get that one last squeak in?

 

The tennis ball in their pen is like the size of a BIG grapefruit. I will not give them regular tennis balls, they will swallow them whole and I'm scared they'd choke on them. This one they can put in their mouth and you can't see it!!! :shock: That should tell you how big the girls are.

Kabuki is right at 31 1/8" tall at the shoulders and weighs 128lbs! Precious is 29" and weights 115lbs.

The tennis ball you see is BRAND NEW! They get a new one once every other week. I think its their main mission and goal to break them in half!!! I don't know how they do it, but they do. And the fuzz goes EVERYWHERE! If yall want one this size, I belive its about 7" diameter. I get them at Wal-mart for $1.87 a peice. They have a rope toy as well, its 3 ft long.

Squeeky toys, SQUEEKY TOYS!! Lemmi just tell you... they don't get them ANY more!!! Precious took one one night, and had it hid in her crate so I couldn't get to it. Then ALL night long, * squeek, squeek, squeek!!!* Ugh... ](*,)

That and when they get ahold of it at the same time, inevitably they tear the thing in half by playing tug o war and stuffing goes EVERYWHERE! They can have them when they are separated, and I take the squeekers out. Humph...

 

I have used those big big tennis balls before. They last a little longer than a normal sized tennis ball and are just as sticky to Dowser teeth as a tennis ball or football.
Funny enough though today I went to the grocery store to get the weekly supplies and in the pet section I found "Tuff Balls", 2 in a pack very strong walled minty tennis balls. Got 2 packs at a buck 99 each set. Dogs love then and they seem pretty stron.. (*POP*)... GRRR.. nevermind.
Well he has popped 2 of three and Pepsi is guarding her ball like it was food. Even though they are popped they are still whole and good for fetching.
They actually lasted about an hour before the pop.

Mary_NH,
I have some squeek toys my dogs love, they are called Cuz (white) and Bad Cuz (red). They look like Kirby. A ball with feet. They are larger than a tennis ball and are a good solid rubber. These have lasted nearly 2 years and Bad Cuz even still has the squeak in it. Those cheap fur squeaks last 5 minutes and then become a fur toy.

Oh yeah....... *squeak*... :y_the_best:

 

I have those too!! They are good toys. One of them is in the shape of a pig and the other is in the shape of a kirby looking thing.
Neither have the squeek anymore. But the pig has a bell in it that drives me NUTS!


*squeek Squeek*

 

haha. tennis balls do okay at our house, since snickers is teh chewer and she won't touch them, and i have smaller dogs. I got them some stuffed animals though, and they used to do fine with them, they'd last 6 months before i decided they were just too dirty. The last three though, wow, they've had fun. The first one they pulled all the arms and legs off of, the second one they performed open heart surgery on, and the third one they beheaded (or is it deheaded, i can never remember). At least i was buying the ones with the speical stuffing that is all one piece so they can't swallow it. and teh squeaker is inside that, so they can't get to that either.

 

I have actually heard that the stuff they use to make tennis balls is really bad for dog teeth. I don't know if the "tuff" ones they sell at pet stores are made differently ore not.

 

Hi all...it's been a long while since I have posted, but I had a day off (finally!) and thought I would check in.

Flyball being the sport of choice around here..tennis balls are held in high esteem!!! Their new favorite is the Air Kong Squeeky tennis ball. It's rare that one of mine destroys a tennis ball..that happened mostly when Witt was a puppy. Witt isn't all that keen on tennis balls..he likes his bowling ball, but the rest of the dogs are tennis ball fanatics.

 

I'm turning my youngest dog into quite the Retriever to the point where she will fetch the ball and bring it back..........more than once!!!!. It's great! For those of you who don't know ridgebacks are not favourably ball dogs ;-) Unless of course it involves playing keep away from us or the other dogs. This pup however loves to work, her drive is amazing. So I've really been working on it so she doesn't lose it. Oh and lots of tasty rewards help too!

Now wasn't there something about tennis balls being dangerous? Popping in the dogs mouth and getting lodged? I can't remember where I read this.

Jas

 

Dowser loves it when things pop in his mouth. He will squeez toys down then let up real fast to make them pop. He will walk right up to your face and do it once or twice to get you to try and grab it then run *pop* , *pop* all the way out the door.

ridgebacks like to own everything so I can see how fun that might be for a dog to show you the ball then walk away.

 

Hmmm.. Precious does this. She goes and gets toys, brings them to you and just as your about to reach for it, she takes off... Then if you don't follow her or chase her, She'll let out a "buff" to get your attention and turn in circles a few times until you either come after her or ignore her more..then she comes back to you and starts it all over again!

Silly girl.