To despair of dogs balls?

[Toooldtobearsed]

I would be a millionaire were it not for my dogs balls.

I have two dogs. Youngest is ball obsessed, but both love retrieving strange, being labrador retrievers and all
I buy tennis balls - they take delight in removing all the flocking.
I buy rubber balls - they pull chunks off until I am throwing a piece of 'I' shaped rubber.
I buy expensive, non chew, non flocked super balls - and promptly (and with great enthusiasm) throw them into thick brambles, or up a tree.

Todays pm excursion involved a ball on a rope stuck up a tree, two out of a pack of three cheap tennis type balls punctured and therefore, akin to throwing a frisby, and a forgotton tennis ball in the boot thoroughly deflocked on the way home.
Boot looked like a mass chick massacre.

No more balls. None. Ever again.

I feel your pain. My dog is crazy obsessed with balls. The worst ball moment for us was when I threw his expensive "indestructaball" into a field for him and he came back with a cheap plastic red ball with a mocking smile on the front. We never got the expensive one back as he then refused to look for it and it could have been anywhere. His current favourite is a football that has been chewed so much it is now just an inch square of plastic

I thought this would be a thread about testicles...

lljkk me too! I came on to say DDog1 never stops licking his and then noise drives me crazy!

On the other type of ball we bought a dummy - the kind they use for training gundogs. It's tough, it floats and it's bright orange. It's nicely weighted so you can throw it a long way.

Only allow balls when out of walks, strictly for retrieval purposes only. Or swap to dummies, proper gun dog supply dummies.

I feel your pain, OP. There is a dummy stuck forever up a tree round my local park. My dog, despite being trained to sniff out stuff and being able to walk on his hind legs to retrieve high up from hedges etc, has lost many balls, mostly in rivers. eBay is your friend for part used balls.

We only allow ours tennis balls on walks when they're being thrown for them - they are not allowed them in the house or the garden otherwise (like yours!) they pull all the flocking off. Perhaps just keep some for supervised use?

I sympathise though - we once spent a shocking amount on a toy that was allegedly "indestructible". Half an hour after it got home there was stuffing all over the carpet.

The best things we've actually found are the softer squeaky toys (with squeak disabled..); they can chew them to their hearts content but because the toy gives rather than being rigid, their teeth don't puncture like they do with more solid rubber toys.

I also thought this was about testicles, I was going to say I think their red penis thing is weirder.

DDog3 is ball mad
My greatest discovery is the Wilkinson's cheap ball on a rope (less than £3 each) as I suspect they're just slightly too big for her to get her jaw right round and therefore mangle.
Had I discovered these wondrous items st the outset I would have saved hundreds of pounds

Is anyone else very relieved that this is not the thread they'd thought it would be?

Sadly missing in my two lljkk

I have a collection of 20 or so balls that dogs have found during walks. Youngest also relieves other dogs of their balls. She managed to get three tennis balls in her mouth at the same time a few days ago.
We have three walks a day and ball play is only on second walk. I have tried going without, but the ruddy beasts are clamped to my side, glaring at me reproachfully.

I like cats.

I LOVE balls on ropes Largepiecesofcrookedwood

Unfortuneately, i also love wanging them up trees or into thick brambles.

Can def recommend anything made by Nerf for ddogs!!

Don’t even go there 🙂I also have the same problem & I too have a Labrador!!! Can safely say we’ve been through hundreds of the things. He is the biggest nightmare with his balls & anyone else’s balls always completely embarrasses me particularly when someone has one of those bloody launcher thingys.... he’s so fast & focussed on the ball I just sound like a prat yelling at him to no avail..he just gets so excited it’s an utter nightmare. I have to carry a cheeed up one in my pocket to call him off the dozy sod. In all other respects he’s a lovely dog really he is 🐾

I feel your pain, I have two labs as well and have a similar life! Except we haven't go kickboards under our kitchen units and their favourite game is potting balls under there and watchIng me retrieve them (something gone wrong there!). My garden shed is covered in thick ivy, there must be 100 balls lost in it (I can't throw for toffee, clearly!).

I bought a heavy duty dog toy from Aldi last week, it's like a rugby ball, they love it and it has been alive for a good few days without them working out how to break it!

My DH still hasn’t forgiven me for throwing the ropey toy into someone’s Russian vine some years ago. I still check for it in passing.

If we go to the park, I have dog by my side looking reproachfully at the ball wanger, never leaves me except to retrieve it. Thankfully, in the woods, after once mistaking a tiny baby bunny for the ball id thrown, I have refused to throw balls, ddog must entertain himself by throwing himself into bramble patches and motor biking round like a mentalist.

I was just going to say “cats’ anuses are worse” but I see I’ve misunderstood the point of the thread.

And yes my choc used to get three balls in her mouth, much to my less intelligent yellow lab's amazement.

My yellow does the stealing the ball from other dogs too - he is obsessed with retrieving and has out run every dog he's ever met.

Chuck-its are your friend. Also, buy children's cricket ball on Amazon. You are welcome.

This is wrong if your dog likes removing the flocking, but Sports Direct do a football sized tennis ball. This is my younger dog’s favourite toy.

My dog's favourite game is "push the ball under the sofa".... he then sits whimpering until you get it, then the whole thing starts over again. Every bloody evening. Good job I love him!

Relieved I am not the only ball nicking, ball chewing and ball losing lab owner 😁

I DO think they have a slate missing when it comes to balls, but then they can amaze me by finding balls that we lost weeks before.

Lovely dogs, but definitely a sandwich short of a picnic😜

This thread is not the dog's bollocks.

I bought new sofas cos I was so fed up of retrieving his ball from under the old one ! And if he has a few on the go and he's playing with one and it disappears he won't stop until it's retrieved. You can't fool him with a different one. He climbs bushes as well !

In two years, these are the only ones I've found that my GSD-cross doesn't destroy, and actually brings back somewhere in the basic vicinity of where I am to me.

www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/pets/dog-walk-rubber-light-up-flashing-ball-dog-toy-3-pack

I bulk buy tennis balls on eBay

I think tennis clubs sell off their old balls so you can buy big bags of them for a tenner

Oh GinisLife mine are not allowed balls in the house!
Balls live in the car.
That is the law.
In lieu of balls in house, youngest ddog brings slippers, socks, knickers, cushions and once, memorably, the cats igloo bed complete with cat inside to present you with.
The window cleaner has been given a black lacy bra, flip flops, numerous odd shoes and dog toys. If she cannot get out to him, she posts everything through the car flap for him.
When he knocks to be paid he returns his spoils. It can be very embarrassing.

I might allow balls in the house.