Tug with ball - Page 2

Duderino (and everyone else that has responded!),

Thanks for the info.  I do have to do OB for Sch of course and may get 2 balls and both different sizes.  Yeah the handle make it so much more easier.  I will look for some of the distributors out here in the U.S.  It seems like they are the preferred manufacturer when it comes to training equipment.

Right now I use the tug as the reward and the ball is mainly for 2 ball and just basic fetch.

Not sure how we'd enjoy the throwing of the knucklebone, if that suggestion was for me, LOL 

We kind of like our game and our ball with a little bounce. I've stuck my arm in my other dog's mouth, up to the elbow when we were sure he'd got a bone stuck. Looked like lockjaw the way he was acting! Anyway, I'll try the raw knucklebone for a snack, and teeth cleaner. He does need some of that. I remember LadyFrost's dogs had a good ol' time with theirs. 

So how does your dog play fetch with a ball he cannot put in his mouth?  How does he chew on it if he is playing catch?  Sounds to me like he is controlling the game.  Personally, I use a 3" Cressite rubber ball to exercise my dogs after swimming.  They hold them calmly until I tell them to release and then I throw a second one, very similar to a blind search. 


If you allow a dog to run along side a Jolly Ball with the ball rolling in their mouth, the ball essentially acts like a grinding wheel and wears down their teeth. 

Dude, he can chomp both balls, it is a workout but something he seems to enjoy. What is most fun seems to be catching the ball on a bounce, not the rolling grab. He does what is needed in any case. The game ends and I let him keep the ball for a few good satisfying chews. (That's probably a cardinal sin or something?) Also he's clever and uses the handle and the rope to facilitate the retrieve should he want to spare his jaws. He's five, and has figured a few things out.

You however, are also astute in that in the photo's I showed, he was being a total control freak! The kids had ruined him over the summer and we'd just started to come to terms to how things used to be, and to how things were about to change!

LOL


Sorry to go off on retrieve. He uses the play of tug to manipulate, really, it never is something satisfying in itself. Not like getting that ball!

Dude,
I do not think the "jolly ball" will grind a dog's teeth down. It is soft rubber and has a handle that would make it hard to roll.  Now the "Boomer" ball which is round and hard will absolutely grind a dogs teeth down.  I have first hand experience with that. 

My dog has a blast with the Jolly ball and no teeth issues. 

Jim

5000 DOLLARS of dental work, 2 root canals, two k9 extractions, 300 dollars worth of antibiotics and I can tell you most DEFINITELY that any rough surface rubber ball rolling when a ball crazy dog grabs it most certainly wears their teeth down.  Combine that with an unlucky infection and you have a 2000 dollar dog with 5000 dollars worth of surgery that can never do bite work again.  DON'T use any rolling rough surfaced ball, including basketballs and Jollys with a textured surface.  It is not worth it

Wow. If it comes to that, I'm going to ask for those titanium replacement ones.

I have heard nothing good from those who have used them, Beetree. Everyone who I know who has had to use them has said they have either had to be redone or gotten rid of altogether after repeated attempts to make them stay put. With the kind of dogs who typically end up needing them, they don't last. :-(

I know I'm going to have to dump some money into Caleb's mouth eventually. He has broken almost every single one of his teeth. I can see the dentin in each one of them. His canines are about 1/2 the size they used to be, and his incisors are all broken off. His molars aren't too too bad, (for 8yrs old anyway) but definitely have some damage. They aren't painful yet, but I know sooner or later the day will come where he will have exposed pulp and I'll have to do something. FWIW, I tried to stop him from doing things damaging to his teeth. Most of the damage is from escape escapades, opening doors, etc. At this point, to hell with it. I let him play with rubber balls (smooth). It beats chewing on stainless steel doorknobs and unraveling chain link or welded wire...or carrying small boulders, his other favorite pastime. 

One of our K-9's has 4 titanium canines.  He was a fence chewer and wore down the enamel.  He bites super hard and has had no issues with them.  The "jolly ball" I have looks like the one Bee's dog is holding, it has a handle and is not hard rubber.  My dog compresses it in half easily.  The surface is fairly smooth and he has no issues from it.  The "Boomer" ball is a completely different story.