Dangerous Dog Toys
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Some Examples of Safe Toys
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KONG Extreme Dog Toy, Large, Black
Price: $4.39
List Price: $12.75 |
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Kong Dental Jack Large
Price: $9.29
List Price: $12.99 |
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KONG Flyer Dog Toy, Large, Red
Price: $3.68
List Price: $11.55 |
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KONG Classic Kong Dog Toy, Small, Red
Price: $2.55
List Price: $7.38 |
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Kong Medium Puppy Toy
Price: $3.26
List Price: $9.57 |
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KONG Ball Dog Toy, Medium/Large, Red
Price: $5.49
List Price: $11.10 |
Just because a toy is marketed for dogs, doesn’t mean it’s safe for them to use. There are a lot of companies out there making a fortune on crap toys that can harm your pooch. Today I’m going to list five you should stay away from.
The Tennis Ball
No, that’s not a joke. For starters, large breed dogs can swallow them – which can lead to a painful death. Why would they swallow it? You’d have to ask a dog that question. Just know that some do, and some die. Need another reason to avoid them? A German study was done that suggests the glue used in tennis balls is very damaging to a dog’s tooth enamel. Not to mention, a dog can chew through a tennis ball pretty easily. Do you want to risk them swallowing the pieces? I don’t think you do.
Tug Toys
These specifically encourage a dog to vie for dominance. This can be a problem if your dog already has aggression issues. Don’t engage in these games with your dog, it may seem like fun to you, but every time your dog gets the toy away (whether you let him or not) he is being told he’s the more dominant. And he should never think he’s more dominant than his owner, it will only lead to problems. If you’re currently having issues like this, get rid of that toy, and you will probably get rid of some of that aggression as well.
Cat Toys
Just because it’s a ball, doesn’t mean it’s made for Fido. Cat toys are far less resilient than dog toys and you don’t want pieces breaking off in your pooch’s mouth. Sticks with feathers, balls with bells inside of them, catnip pouches, etc – you need to consider whether or not these are safe for your dog. You may well have to put them out of reach and only bring them out when you are there to supervise Garfield playing with them.
Squeaky Toys
It’s a funny cartoon, the dog swallowing the toy newspaper and squeaking every time he barks. In real life, it would not be funny and would surely require emergency surgery. Don’t tempt your dog with these unless you're there to supervise them. Personally, I don’t keep this kind of toy in my flat, because I don’t want the temptation around. And let’s not forget the most important thing – they are annoying as heck!
Plush Toys
These are sold in pet stores just like you see them in kiddie stores. Hello? It’s a dog, not a child. Fido doesn’t know he’s supposed to cuddle with the teddybear – and when he’s feeling friskie, guess what? Mr. Teddy will be headless, armless and legless before you know it. Do you want to risk him swallowing any of that? Do you want him swallowing the stuffing? I should hope not!
Four Paws Pimple Ball with Bell
It has been said that this toy can "suck" a dog's tongue into the hole and require surgical removal.
Safe, quality toys are easy to find these days, so do Fido a favor and retire anything that fits in the above categories. They aren't worth the risk. If you need ideas for replacements, see my next article, where I will list my favorites.
xx Isabella
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Comments
My dog died this year and my other dog had emergency surgery, both by eating pieces of rubber dogs balls. Not their own, I don't give them these, but remains from someone else's dog, left lying on the path of dog walks, and my dogs are great scavengers and eat these things. If your dog's ball is chewed up and pulled into pieces, PLEASE discard it as you would rubbish, so no other dog can swallow it. Better still, give your dogs safer balls to play with. There are some on the market that are much much more durable.
My dog Indi just had surgery to remove the squeaker from his intestine. It's sad how much my dog loves the plush squeak toys because I just can't see giving them to him anymore after spending nearly $3000 (USD) for the surgery. Indi is a lucky dog because we had the money to do the surgery (we are NOT rich nor have the cash laying around) but how many people will have to put their best friends down because of some cheap toy made in china!
PLEASE DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOG SQUEAKY TOYS..... Indi was sick for weeks and we thought it was his food.... despite multiple trips to the vet. It wasn't until we ultrasounded him ($575 later) that we found it. The vet thinks it was in his stomach for almost a month until it passed into (and flully blocked) his intestines. He told us if we didn't catch it as soon as we did the intestine could have atrophied past the blockage and he may not have been able to help him at that point.
The good news.... Indi is feeling better (albeit with less belly hair right now) and with lots of love & careful supervision we expect him to make a full recovery.
p.s. the squeaker was about the size of a full sized dog intestine (stretched a bit).... so keep in mind if they swallow it.... a full intestinal blockage is inevitable..... IF you catch it in time..... if not DEATH is the next step.
I hope this post finds and is shared with as many people as possible.... I don't want to see any animal suffer simply because there is no safety regulations for pet toys.
Oh and my GF & I are hyper-vigilant about watching what he plays with and what we give him.... so to those who may think we are simple dolts without a clue who didn't supervise their dog.... think again.... I am JUST LIKE YOU!
thanks for sharing this with others and hopefully we can all learn a valuable lesson.... without the pain, surgery or vet bills!
-joe
i never thought a tennis ball was that dangerous!!!
Is it dangerous to let my dog play with a tennis ball that is inside a thick sock? I was planning on doing that but when i read this, i have to think again.
My Neapolitan Mastiff just had surgery today. They removed 2 "puppy Kong" toys from his stomach. Both toys actually swelled up after time and caused serious problems. He's OK now but has to spend the night in the vets for further observation. Be Careful!!! Thank God we found it time. BIG TOYS ONLY FOR BIG DOGS.
See my note sent in 9 months ago above - can't believe I'm doing this again. Roscoe, who just a year ago ate the left behind remants of some other dogs rubber ball and needed an op to remove it (this was just a couple of months after another dog of mine did the same and died from it!), has now DONE IT AGAIN. I so wish I could get these balls banned, you always find bits of chewed up balls lying on dog walks, loads of dogs eat bits every day and the lucky ones find it comes out the other end. The unlucky ones don't! That's 3 operations in 18 months to remove these balls. How can I start a petition to get them banned, does anyone know? There's much safer options on the market. Please help me.
steve says:
2 years ago
Hi,
My friend has a german shepherd dog, which he gives a tennis ball to, and she allways chews the ball in no time.
I will pass this info onto him about this, i am not sure if he has thought of this.
steve