Hmmmm - interesting. I have had three dogs in my life time, all of whom had tennis balls. Throwing and retrieving tennis balls is the major activity for all the dogs in our local park. I can see where these days you need to be careful where they are made because of the risk of harmful dyes and yes, occasionally I did have to rescue balls from Louie's mouth when he had chewed them to pieces but otherwise until now I have never heard any concerns about them being dangerous. Louie, by the way was very choosy about his balls and would only play with brand name tennis balls. If they smelled funny, he wasn't interested. It's unwise I think to leave any dog alone with a chew toy other than the kong type heavy duty toys they cant destroy.
I don't think they are any more dangerous than any other toy they could chew up and eat. Just make sure you supervise him. The tennis balls made for actual tennis (buy them in the sporting goods section) are usually way better quality than the ones made for dogs/ones at the dollar store. Those are junk the dogs bite them in half in three chomps but I've had other tennis balls last for years without being destroyed.
Most toys can be considered dangerous to be used unsupervised. If your dog uses tennis balls for "normal" play, ie for fetch with you, but does not have an abnormal obsession with them (will chew/eat them, etc), then I would say they are fairly safe to continue using as you were.
I echo the fact that the ones you buy at the pet store for $1 or so are very cheaply made and fall apart within minutes of using them, and Jamie is not hard on the balls. I can easily see how those would quickly become choking hazards, especially for the "ball obsessed" dogs. I usually fork out less than $10 to buy legit tennis balls from the sporting section at Walmart and they last months/years, provided she doesn't lose them!!
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I'm don't let Levi have tennis balls. He is a chewer, and they really wear down their teeth!
Why not just get dog safe balls? The kong squeekers are fine for play. If you concerned about the size you can get them in bigger sizes.
I'd steer clear of the kong rubber balls, now there's a choking hazard.
My guys play ball everyday without any problems.
Rhi *Hooman* Clover *Rottie x ACD* (RIP to my BRD) Elvis and Tinny *The BCs* & Harri *JRT* Luna *BC x*
Interesting. I ended up buying Ryder a 6 inch Jolly Ball with a handle - He's going to be a big boy so I think he'll be fine with it.
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dedicated to the kindest,loveliest and always helpful man that one would be honored and proud to know........R.I.P. Dear Phred
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