Tennis Balls - Dangerous?

[pomtzu]

I can understand tennis balls being dangerous. Even my Myndi who is a little 10lb Pom, used to chew right thru them, and they were regular size ones too - not the smaller ones. I finally had to take them from her, and any toy that had a tennis ball as part of it.

Didn't one of Oprah's dogs choke to death on a tennis ball? I vaguely remember something about that a few years ago.

[CountryWolf07]

I can understand tennis balls being dangerous. Even my Myndi who is a little 10lb Pom, used to chew right thru them, and they were regular size ones too - not the smaller ones. I finally had to take them from her, and any toy that had a tennis ball as part of it.

Didn't one of Oprah's dogs choke to death on a tennis ball? I vaguely remember something about that a few years ago.

Yes, her dog did choke to death from one.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

When I was a teenager, we had a bird dog named Bowser who swallowed one. Lucky for him, my dad was there. He saw it in his throat and was able to scoot the ball up his windpipe and Bowser finally spit it out.

[Taz_Zoee]

Yes, I've also heard they are dangerous for dogs. The real tennis balls are made with a certain kind of material that is dangerous. However, we have tennis courts right over our backyard fence so sometimes we (or the dogs) will find a tennis ball outside. Luckily they do not chew them to pieces, so I'm not worried about it.
They do sell "tennis balls" that are specifically designed for dogs to chew on. Is that what you got for Ryder?

[pomtzu]

If you have a dog that's a chewer, or one that likes to run with a ball in his mouth, I don't think it matters if it's a "real" tennis ball, or one made specifically for dogs. They can still choke on the whole ball, or pieces that get chewed off. I'd rather find a different type of ball - better to be safe than sorry.

[happylabs]

Oh Oh ... Grandpuppies have these! Zoey and Sunshine pretty much just chase and fetch them though. I have not seem them actually chew them.

[Karen]

I think you have to wait until he is out of the teething stage to worry about tennis balls at all. For now, random sticks in the yard will be as exciting to lear to fetch as any ball!

[Taz_Zoee]

If you have a dog that's a chewer, or one that likes to run with a ball in his mouth, I don't think it matters if it's a "real" tennis ball, or one made specifically for dogs. They can still choke on the whole ball, or pieces that get chewed off. I'd rather find a different type of ball - better to be safe than sorry.

See, I didn't hear of them being dangerous for the choking hazard, but for the material it's made out of. Lots of toys could be choking hazards if you think about it.

[CountryWolf07]

I did buy Ryder three tennis balls, but I'm not sure about that anymore because it was only a $1 from the Dollar Store. Maybe I should ditch them? I ended up buying him a 6 inch blue Jolly Ball with a handle - so I think he might like that - just have to supervise, so he doesn't chew off the handle or anything like that!