anyone tried Boomer Balls for Dogswith their labs?? those things that are like bowling balls only lighter? my two had a try of one at my sisters house ( her two labs arent fussed with it) and became partially unhinged with excitement. bought brods one for his birthday and they are both frantic when it gets taken out, like rabbit skin dummy x million. we have to play in remote areas because brods loses the plot and barks uncontrollably while tearing up grass in between headbutting it forward, doing somersaults down hills in pursuit of it, and flipping it. cuillin becomes bordering on insane, rather like a feral cat hunting something, and dribbles it manically while licking it..i do see wagging tails and its the best thing in their world just now and an absolute hoot to watch them, but they are both almost bordering on too frenzied after more than ten minutes and collapse panting after ...weird....i looked them up on web and apparently mainly a herding dog toy... you wouldnt have thought retrievers would have liked as they cant be picked up...anyhow on the plus side brods wouldnt know if a pheasant marched right up to him when hes playing with it he is so frenzied...its now being rationed to small sessions of intense fun, and on walks used as a reward for spectacular recalls away from wildlife ( whistle and a shout of 'I"ve Got Boomer Dogs does the trick). who'd have though what looks like a rubbish unbouncy unpickable up ball could cause such a commotion...anyone else??
Re: Boomer Balls eight inch...i think you have to watch they dont wear their teeth on it which is another reason to ration... Helen good old Amazon stock them. eight quid but indestructable. i would advise not to play with where theres gorse at bottom of hill. they sent it flying into thick gorse today and guess who had to crawl in to get it....still finding gorse thorns in my arms... :
Re: Boomer Balls Can't see any for £8 for the 8" they are all £12 and over. Also one reviewer said she thinks both her dogs teeth were damaged and need treatment
Re: Boomer Balls yes thats what you need to watch for apparently. ive bern observing proceedings and my two don't bite them, brods uses his nose and cuilli dribbles with all her legs then licks it for sone bizzare reason!
Re: Boomer Balls Would a childs large plastic ball do the same thing and no potential teeth damage or has the boomer ball got that extra bounce?
Re: Boomer Balls hmmm not sure. brods would destroy a kids ball in a flash he's a real chewer...if yours arent chewers worth a try!!
Re: Boomer Balls [quote author=debsie link=topic=4887.msg60965#msg60965 date=1394833353] yes thats what you need to watch for apparently. ive bern observing proceedings and my two don't bite them, brods uses his nose and cuilli dribbles with all her legs then licks it for sone bizzare reason! [/quote] Video please!!! ;D
Re: Boomer Balls Ill try and get a pal to video as Im so busy as Chief Ball Thrower dodging Flying Brodicks ( he leaps to head height) i need all limbs for defensive manouvers...i will really try as its an absolute hoot to watch
Re: Boomer Balls Amy has also gone crazy with hers. Lead to many a crazy over excited biting session as a puppy! It's stuck in the bushes in our garden at the moment!
Re: Boomer Balls I recently purchased a giant tennis ball for Harley and she goes nuts for it. It cost £10 for 3. She can't get her teeth in it, it is light and in different colours (sports direct, size 8 ball). I personally love it as she can't get her teeth in it and it won't hurt her teeth
Re: Boomer Balls I'm not sure why these boomer balls would hurt teeth? In what way? The only balls I've heard of that can hurt teeth are sandy tennis balls - the grit on the fabric has a grinding action and if dogs carry/chomp them on a very regular basis over time they can damage teeth.
Re: Boomer Balls [quote author=JulieT link=topic=4887.msg61003#msg61003 date=1394871000] The only balls I've heard of that can hurt teeth are sandy tennis balls - the grit on the fabric has a grinding action and if dogs carry/chomp them on a very regular basis over time they can damage teeth. [/quote] Gosh Julie. I hadn't heard of this. Good point :-\
Re: Boomer Balls [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=4887.msg61006#msg61006 date=1394871770] [quote author=JulieT link=topic=4887.msg61003#msg61003 date=1394871000] The only balls I've heard of that can hurt teeth are sandy tennis balls - the grit on the fabric has a grinding action and if dogs carry/chomp them on a very regular basis over time they can damage teeth. [/quote] Gosh Julie. I hadn't heard of this. Good point :-\ [/quote] Yes, I use rubber tennis ball size balls now. I came across the info during the "are antlers safe" debate. The details are here: http://www.dentalvets.co.uk/docs/ In the doc "toys for dogs from a dental perspective".
Re: Boomer Balls I'm going to be a complete and utter spoil sport and say that I don't like these toys that whip up a dog into a frenzy. What if the dog wants to desperately retrieve such a ball but can't because of its size? The only thing the dog is going to feel is total frustration, hence the frenetic behaviour. My cocker Murffi is very excitable and his frustration threshold is very low at the best of times so something like this would make him blow a fuse without a doubt, and I hate seeing his nervous system frazzled like that. I can see how they can be used for dogs with a strong herding drive, one could even teach the dog to move the ball through gates etc, like sheep. But for dogs with a strong retrieving drive? No, sorry again for being a spoil sport. :-\
Re: Boomer Balls hmmm yes heidrun thats what i meant when i said they almost look too frenzied....so thats interesting feedback on them. brods looks different to cuillin when he is playing with it. hugely wagging tail and he seems to enjoy flipping it in the air and prancing about. cuillin on the other hand looks almost hunted....and she has a strong retrieving drive...and is much more hyper than brods in general....my love of it for brods is because he has been stuck to me like gluenon walks for the past week since we got it, ignoring the temptations of smelly pheasant patches, waiting it to appear...and he does seem to enjoy it. Mind you, i guess not everything enjoyable is good for you! But that does make sense..
Re: Boomer Balls I think I am in Heidrun's camp here. I suspect Lilly wouldn't be in the least interested in it on her own but if it was a competition between her and another dog I forsee lots of bad manners from her. Similar thing happened with the kong bounzer a friend had. So many pups suffer from getting wound up too much it would make me think whether its a best idea. I guess that is where knowing your dog as well as appreciating when to know too much is too much comes into it. Perhaps a considered choice then? I would still laugh at the video though ;D
Re: Boomer Balls and now Im thinking about it, cuilli gave her BFF Ellie a massive row yesterday for daring to play with it, and she never gives Ellie a row and plays ball with her with regular balls quite happily...and cuilli doesnt need winding up... oh darn it. For Cuilli anyway probably not such a good thing then... what do we think about Brods? not so good for him either?
