[3TailsWaggin]

Ruger loves his tennis ball. Unfortunately, he is wearing away four teeth in his mouth (right where he holds the ball).

I would love to find a rubber ball alternative, about the size of a tennis ball, not too hard (so it won't do more damage to the teeth) but not too soft to fall apart easily either.

Anyone have any ideas for a ball of this type?

 

[hifive]

That would be a great find because Maggie is wearing her teeth down also and she is only 2 1/2. What are we gonna do? Hers get so worn down beause where we throw her ball it gets full of dirt and she chews on that and it makes it like sandpaper.

Maybe a Kong Ball?

 

[3TailsWaggin]

Does Kong make a ball? Going off to check now....


Tennis balls do act like sandpaper on the teeth, wearing them down quicker than if the dogs did not play with them. But they are Ruger's most favorite thing. I need to wean him off of them though, before we end up needing teeth pulled or root canals. :-[

 

[4yelloweyedogs]

My dogs like larger size balls than the tennis ball size, so I'm not much help. I did read though, that the glue used in actual tennis balls reacts to the dogs saliva and actually eats the enamel off their teeth! I read this in the Leerburg catalogue !

Melissa

 

[HersheyK's Dad]

Okay gang! You just set off the alarm bells. Not sure how to go about this.

History: Short version.

HK had dental problems upon the entry of her adult teeth. Had to have about $1500 of dental work done. Extractions, restorations, and shehas additional missing teeth. She will get along fine with the missing teeth, all upper incisor, one lateral incisor, and one pre-molar. But she will have to go in for annual checks on the three teeth with restorations, and potential annal cleaning at ~$1100. Thisof course does not address the stress of the anesthesia.

Instructions from Vet. NO access to tennis balls other than to fetch. When done with the game, the ball comes away. Dogs will weadown their teeth with tennis balls. They told me that the Kong products are NOT AS SEVERE, and is I felt that she needed something to gnaw on, they would be better, but not recommended. This did nto come fromour regular vet. HK goes to the U of MN Veterniary Hospital for her dental issues.

Just thought I would pass on what I have learned. It appears some of you are already experiencing similar issues with the tennis balls.

 

[3TailsWaggin]

Ruger only gets tennis balls in the morning for our retrieves, but he constantly chews them as he runs. He's five years old, soon to be six years, and I am seeing wear now. I think he'll be okay, but I want to minimize any more wear on those little pre-molars in his cheeks.

Kong makes a "tennis ball" that they claim will not wear down the dogs teeth.

Maybe I'll have to try a soccer ball? But I don't think Ruger would like that size (Remington might really like it though).

 

[imported_kiddsmom]

Racquetballs are a bit smaller than a tennis ball. My other dog loved them, but you do have to watch them with it, could possibly be swallowed.

There are these things:
http://thepuppyshop.com/pattenbal.html

http://www.doggonegoodstuff.com/rubberballs.html

http://www.doggonegoodstuff.com/splashers.html

 

[imported_oakley]

Oakley destroys tennis balls so I switched to orange road hockey balls.
I didn't let her keep the tennis balls other than when we were playing with them but she still destroyed them. She doesn't destroy the hockey balls and they fit in the chuck it.
I did find the Kong tennis balls but we lose balls pretty easily too and the $2.50 for the hockey ball fits in my budget easier than the $10 for a set of 2 of the Kong ones.

 

[meandclint]

Clint and Wigeon both have worn teeth. Clint's began to wear early but they stayed pretty much the same over the last five years or so. It comes with being tenacious retrievers. He retrieves a soccerball mostly followed by bumpers and then birds. Wigeon loves her bumper. Tennis balls scare me as my neighbor's Boxer choked and died on one in front of me when I was a kid. My mother is a tennis pro/teacher and yet none of my dogs have ever played with a tennis ball. Raquetballs would be worse - very dangerous in my opinion.

 

[kaytris]

I was told that tennis balls have fiberglass fibers in the fuzzy coating, that's why they wear teeth down. I usually use the street hockey balls - they fit into chuckits fairly well and are sturdy enough for most dogs

 

[rottnlabs]

Murray pops the tennis balls so we use racket balls/hand balls.

I also have a somewhat harder ball that has a blinking light in it for night retrieves. It fits the chuck it perfectly.

Looks like this except mine is not the jr.

I wish I could think of the name of this one toy the dogs really love. It's a very flexible/floatable rubber bone. I think they make other shapes too. I'll have to see if they make a ball. It would be good too.

 

[Darlinghurst]

Clancy just turned 3. By 18months of age, he had already worn his canines somewhat from tennis balls, so we try not to use them now (not always successfully). We use the Fetch and Flash in winter, and now mostly use Orbee balls.

http://www.sitstay.com/dog/supplies..._64426_-1_Medium+Orbee-Tuff+Ball_13251_13356_

I actually have mine on a rope, and Clancy will, if jazzed, use it as a tug toy. That helps around trials etc where I can't throw the ball.

Another option might be one of the Chuckit Ultraball ...

http://www.chuckit.com/products/ultraballs/ultraballs.html

Clancy liked this fine, but I found it hard to control. It is a firm rubber ball that bounces a lot. We mostly play fetch in smallish city parks, and after a scary encounter involving an Ultraball, a poor throw, a busy road and a bus , I discarded the Ultraball and we now only use Orbees. The Ultraball would be fine elsewhere, though.

Good luck and happy fetching !

 

[momofalab]

Just becareful on choice of balls that you give to your dogs. Not sure size of a raquetball, but when I worked for a vet, a lab passed away when it choked on a lacrosse ball that they couldn't get out of his throat.

Pitch has the Kong Ball....He loves it. And hasn't destroyed it yet...Yeah!

 

[budbud]

Chuck-it makes some nice rubber type balls very bouncy and soft but not to soft
Luke ,Taylor and Penny's Mom posted about them I really like them and so does Buds

 

[HersheyK's Dad]

Racquetballs are a bit smaller than a tennis ball. My other dog loved them, but you do have to watch them with it, could possibly be swallowed.

There are these things:
http://thepuppyshop.com/pattenbal.html

http://www.doggonegoodstuff.com/rubberballs.html

http://www.doggonegoodstuff.com/splashers.html

Of course, I am thinking about HK and her issues, but the racquet ball is a great idea. They are a bit smaller, but much softer, and a more lively bounce. We had one in the house and HK loved it until it got lost. I am going to have to pick up a few. They tend to split in half with age, perfect signal for it being time to get rid of one.