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Tennis balls WARNING

20 replies

Lincolnfield · 15/11/2018 21:05

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Today my heart is broken. I'm writing this with tears pouring down my face. My darling boy Taggart, one of my flat coated retrievers, on Sunday morning, got a tennis ball stuck in his throat. By the time I'd managed to get it out, he was not breathing so I gave him CPR for twenty minutes but to no avail. I've now thrown out every ball in my house. We're all aware of the stick problem but never in forty years of owning and loving flat coated retrievers did I expect this. I hadn't thrown the ball - he'd stolen it from Drummer, my other flatcoat, when he already had one in his mouth so I think one ball had pushed the other into his throat. He couldn't even bark to alert me. I am beyond sorrow. Please be aware of the dangers of tennis balls if your dog likes to carry more than one.My darling boy. Then today I looked on the internet and too many beautiful dogs have died this way. Even Oprah Winfrey lost her golden retriever in the same horrible way. Please get this out as much as possible. Tennis balls and big dogs are an absolute no no.

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pilates · 15/11/2018 21:07

Omg I’m so sorry, how traumatic for you 💐

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BabiaMajora · 15/11/2018 21:10

So sorry @Lincolnfield - you did everything you could for the poor love. Flowers

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Jayfee · 15/11/2018 21:11

Very sorry for your loss. The is a rare accident but my friend's daughter had exactly the same thing happen.

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Lauren5071 · 15/11/2018 21:44

I am so sorry you’ve gone through that. You did all you could x

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speakingtruthfully · 15/11/2018 22:02

So sorry for your loss Thanks
Not that uncommon unfortunately, my friend lost her Alsatian the same way , could touch the ball but it was so slippery she couldn't get a grip to remove it fast enough

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MuddyWellyNelly · 15/11/2018 22:10

I'm so sorry for your loss Sad

May I ask if the hard chuck-it balls are considered safer? Is there some that's out the tennis ball coating that makes it hard to remove? Our vizsla is still a puppy but will be retriever-ish size when fully grown.

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MuddyWellyNelly · 15/11/2018 22:11

*something about.

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speakingtruthfully · 15/11/2018 23:00

I think it's the ball size not what it's made from

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Jayfee · 15/11/2018 23:13

Are the balls on throw ropes safe?

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Lincolnfield · 16/11/2018 06:11

The only problem I can see is that balls on ropes - which my boys have had in the past - the rope can come off. My dogs have all managed to pull them off in the past. HARD balls of tennis ball size are probably worse because they will be even more slimy from the dog's saliva.

Personally, after this, none of my dogs will EVER have a ball of any description again. There are soft tug toys and the kong skimmers which they can chase and catch but are much too big to get into their throats.

I'm trying to get the message out as widely as I can because I don't want anyone else to go through the shock, horror and grief that we are going through.

I went out on Sunday morning with three healthy incredibly happy dogs and less than an hour later my beautiful boy, the youngest of the three was dead on the grass.

Clearly, everyone makes their own choices but for me NO BALLS.

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BiteyShark · 16/11/2018 07:25

So sorry to hear your news.

I know balls can be dangerous but will still take that chance but for others than aren't aware of the potential issues your warning will alert them to it.

Again so sorry for you Flowers

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Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten · 16/11/2018 07:39

This is a pretty common issue unfortunately and not a risk I will ever take with any of my dogs.

The only ball to use with dogs is the holee ball. It comes in various sizes and can not cause chocking or damage to teeth

holee ball

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AgathaF · 16/11/2018 07:56

I'm so sorry for your loss. I've not heard of this so thank you for the warning.

Vallhala love the look of those balls, just ordered one, thanks.

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littlehayleyc · 16/11/2018 10:09

I'm so sorry for the loss of your lovely friend. I have a flatcoat X golden and I have often worried about him with tennis balls because he tries to carry two or three at a time. I have co-incedently just ordered one of the balls with holes in as shown in the link above and will be getting rid of the tennis balls too.

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Greyhorses · 16/11/2018 10:12

We had a dog rushed into work in the same way and we couldn’t save the dog either, even once the dog was gone the ball was still wedged and it took forever to remove Sad

So sorry for your loss

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longtompot · 16/11/2018 10:24

So sorry to hear this. My friend had two golden retrievers and one of them sadly died in this same way. She was heartbroken.
There are plenty of other things dogs can play with. You wouldn't enjoy the walks if you still let them play with balls, so its right to get rid of them all. However, I do think you can get larger sized tennis type balls. Or maybe ones whch are more of a cage, so if, god forbid, it should happen again, at least the airway is not blocked.
Just so sorry again. I can't imagine how you are feeling Flowers

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DeadCertain · 16/11/2018 14:06

I am so very sorry; same happened to a friend's dobe but he was exceptionally lucky in that they were across the road from a veterinary surgery when it happened and the staff managed to save her dog's life. Frightening.

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BrokenWing · 16/11/2018 14:19

We have a Kong tennis ball in large size for our Labrador which is highly unlikely to get stuck down his throat as its circumference is much wider than his jaw. They also do an x-large size for bigger dogs.

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Lightsong · 16/11/2018 15:35

This is so sad, really sorry for your loss

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LizzieBennettDarcy · 16/11/2018 15:37

Oh god that's awful.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Mine is obsessed with tennis balls, I've just ordered some holey ones from Amazon. Thank you for sharing Flowers

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