Okay here’s the low down on playtime favorites for your canine companion.
As you know from my first post “Puppy Parenting” we are not into spoiling our pooch with expensive treats and toys with outrageous claims, to freshen breath, stimulate teeth/gum, calm the new addition to the family and discourages chewing on furniture. There are also the cleverly advertised with catchy jargon such as: stuff-less stuffies, food filled, indestructible dog toys and my favorite 2X the squeaks.
So that being said, our adorable little sheepdog companion needed some companions of her own. I know what you’re thinking; we went to Petco and cleaned the store out of puppy pastime paraphernalia, but your wrong! We had a few toys given to us from the beginning… the nylon bone keys, the easy catch ball, and the Job Lot special (Mr. Squirrel with 1 squeaker). As soon as our pup started showing interest in these toys…THEN we went on the shopping rampage.
Sooooo many toys to choose from, we were over stimulated walking down the multiple aisles of toy heaven. How would we know which toys would stimulate our little one? So we did what any good pet owners would do and bought one of everything! Needless to say, Wellington Tubbs loved the toys! She played fetch, shook them, rolled on them, pawed at them, hid them, barked at them, slept with them, and covered them in her slobbery slobber. LIFE WAS GOOD!
One rainy Saturday, while cleaning the basement, Welly stumbled upon a ratty, faded, terrible, no good, very bad, tennis ball. Ya know what she did with that tennis ball, she played fetch with it, shook it, rolled on it, pawed at it, hid it, barked at it, slept with it, and covered it in her slobbery slobber. We could not split the two apart; they were inseparable…friends for life. Sure she glanced at her old toys, even picked ‘em up and dropped them at our feet once in awhile, but the passion she had with that tennis ball was one of a kind. So here’s my advice to all you new pet owners…
Either save yourself some time and money, dig out your old gear from the court, and skip right to the tennis ball or splurge on all those yuppy puppy toys, and NEVER allow your pup to see a fuzzy, green, bouncing machine.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
The only problem with tennis balls is that it is generally thought that prolonged playing with them can wear down your dogs teeth. Some people believe that this is incorrect as the felt on the ball is made of wool and nylon. My dog played with them incessantly and didn’t seem to have any problem.
Although, make sure if your dog starts to chew pieces off that you take it away. We had a pug who ate a tennis ball in pieces that ended up with a intestinal obstruction. Surgery for that is not cheap!
Good to know… but as you said being made of wool, I tend to think it would be safer than most toys. Thanks Alphadog for the reminder to throw toys away that are beginning to tear or peel for the safety of our pets. Also all you BPL fans check out the pet insurance post from early in the week to potentially prepare for any accidental accidents.