Hockey Balls are MAGIC!!!!!

[rossie]

I bought Buzz a road hockey ball two days ago. Since then...

 

1. He figured out how to play fetch (not just get the ball once and then play with it independently, but actually going and getting it and bringing it back and dropping it at my feet.) We have been working on this with MINIMAL progress for weeks. Now, all of a sudden, poof! He gets it.

 

2. He was exceedingly sweet to a puppy that was loose at the park and got in his space. This is a people-park where dogs are supposed to be on leashes. Buzz was on his leash. I was yelling "come get your puppy! My dog eats puppies!" Buzz did not eat the puppy. Buzz played really nicely with the puppy!

 

3. He made amazing progress with the command "wait." I usually only say "wait" when we are walking and waiting to cross the street. Today, I needed him to wait in a totally different context, where I left his side for about 15 seconds. He waited perfectly. We haven't even been working on this! I said "wait" without thinking and was so surprised that he understood and obeyed!

 

I think it is all due to the magical hockey ball!

[RaisingRiver]

Sounds great!

I am sooo getting one! These, right?

 

Choose Red or Orange:

http://www.inlinewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=MHB#

 

Or Glow in the Dark!

http://www.inlinewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=MY216

[Bo Peep]

The question here is do they squeek?

[notailabigail]

The question here is do they squeek?

 

Nope, if these are the same as the couple that I have, they don't squeak or bounce. Abby won't touch hers unfortunately. She only likes the squishy dollar store balls!

[rossie]

These, right?

 

Choose Red or Orange:

http://www.inlinewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=MHB#

 

Yep!

 

 

The question here is do they squeek?

 

No, they don't squeek. They also do not bounce around very much. And they aren't squishy. They are a no nonsense ball.

 

I suspect that their lack of bounce, squeek, and squish is why Buzz will play fetch with them: there is no other fun to be had with them! With anything that bounces or squeeks he can have fun chewing on it or playing soccer or tossing it to himself.

[Bo Peep]

They look pretty indestructible. But that's what catagory the cuz balls were in.

I guess he didn't like the feet. Or the horns.

[border_collie_crazy]

lol all the hockey balls in my house last forever, I have NEVER had one break, and my dogs LOVE them, the only thing I dont like about them is that they are hard and smooth, so if it gets slippery my dogs catch it, let it slide from their mouth and send in flying into something breakable lol

[tualizzy]

Brass LOVES her hockey ball!

She chases for them, out smarts Jak (he's too speedy for his own good), and then lays ontop of it so Jak can't get it!

I like then 'cause I can actually see them in the grass, unlike a slobbery tennis ball.

[Alaska]

They look pretty indestructible.

 

They're NOT indestructible. We're on our third since February, and my dogs are not especially hard on their toys (and, as Rossie says, they only use them for fetch as these balls seem to otherwise hold litle interest for dogs). Also, when I was in Canada in doggy sorts of places, I frequently found destroyed orange balls cast aside in the shrubbery.

 

But for $1.98, what do you want? Get a dozen.

[borderlicious]

How hard are they? Do they have any give to them, or could a dog break a tooth on one?

 

I still need to order a few.

[MrSnappy]

For the record, not all road hockey balls are created equally.

 

Those ones pictured with the insignia on them are, in my experience, the worst of the bunch. They are much harder than the ones we usually buy and prone to shattering.

 

The ones we use seem to come in two qualities - the ones that last a year or more, and the ones that bust right away. I have not figured out the trick to selecting which is which, but typically the ones with more give tend to last longer, as they flex when gripped by teeth.

 

Tweed likes them best when they develop a small leak in them, as they make a satisfying "squoosh" sound of air when chewed. He will go through all the balls and test them before he decides which is the squooshiest and therefore the most superior.

 

I'm not totally sure, but I think the ones we buy are actually like the Walmart of hockey balls and the ones from sporting good stores are actually better for road hockey, but the ones we buy are definitely better for dogs. I have tried every kind of ball under the sun and at $1.00 apiece, these really are the best ones.

 

RDM (all secrets revealed!)

[marky48]

PLEASE NOTE.....BEFORE YOU GO OUT AND BUY HOCKEY BALLS FOR YOUR DOGS, I'VE GOT AN EMAIL INTO MYLEC..THE MANUFACTURER OF HOCKEY BALLS TO SEE IF THEY ARE MADE FROM A PET SAFE MATERIAL OR PVC MATERIAL.....PVC USUALLY CONTAINS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF LEAD.

 

I'LL POST WHEN I HEAR BACK FROM THEM.

[MrSnappy]

I think the ones we buy are made of polyurathane actually. Designed for field hockey?

 

Oops! ETA : not made by Mylec either. Those are the ones that shatter! We don't like those ones.

 

RDM

[border_collie_crazy]

ours have never broken, but mine are quite flexable as well, ther is no sign on them, just plain solid orange. I couldnt even tell ya what kind they are because my dad was the groundkeeper at the RCMP, he used to find baseballs, and soft balls, and hockey balls and hockey pucks etc.. just randomly throught the grounds and he would bring them home for us. whatever kind we have though has never broken, and our dogs are EXTREMLY hard on toys.