Playing Fetch With A Ball Can Kill Your Dog

Can you imagine anything worse than going out for a fun game of fetch with your canine friend and he or she ends up dying from the experience? That may sound rather dramatic to some people, but it is a fact that balls have killed quite a number of dogs. What I'm talking about here is choking. Larger dogs should not be allowed to play catch with balls that are too small. For example, I read recently about a horrible experience a German Shepherd owner had.

He had a place near his house he could hit golf balls with his dog. The dog enjoyed fetching many of the balls and bringing them back to the golfer. Of course this was great fun for both of them until one day on the trip back with the ball in the dog's mouth it somehow went down his throat. Because of the dog's size and the smallness of the ball, it became lodged in the dog's air way. Of course by the time the owner realized what was happening, it was too late. There was no way to retrieve the ball from the dog's throat or enough time to take him or her to the vet before he died.

Some people even use tennis balls for larger dogs and these may not be large enough even. For small German shepherds a tennis ball may be fine. But for very large German shepherds and other large breed dogs, the tennis ball could be the perfect size fit to clog their way should it be swallowed. It's always best to err on the larger side and play with balls that are absolutely impossible for the dog to swallow. In fact, only extremely small dog should ever be allowed to play catch with a golf ball. Larger dogs probably are best suited for playing fetch with old softballs.

Another problem that could be encountered when playing fetch with your dog is with a frisbee. You may have seen dogs on TV catching frisbees way up in the air and having great fun with them. But be aware that most Frisbees are extremely hard plastic and they can result in chipped or broken teeth should the dog hip and just wrong. Look online and find a frisbee that is made specifically for the purpose of playing fetch with your dog. These have softer and rounder corners and will not hurt the dog's teeth.

If you have any questions as to the proper size of the balls you should be using to play fetch with your dog, take the ball with you on the next trip to the veterinarian and ask his opinion about the size of the ball and if it would be safe for the dog to play with. In most cases, the doctor will easily be able to determine if the size of the ball is large enough to be safe for your dog.

Learn on our site how Syn-flex glucosamine can be used to safely treat arthritis in canines.