Ball biting

[bajoiner]

I had written earlier about Sassy's new activity of bouncing the lightweight ball of her nose; well she has found that she can bite them now and she will trap them against a tree or the ground and bite them and of course they are lightweight and they bust. At first I just thought it was an accident and went and bought her a couple more, well now she will bust them almost immediately; so now she cannot bounce them anymore. We bought her a soccer ball for playing in the yard but she cannot bounce it as it is too heavy and would hurt her, but you can see her try to roll it up the side of the house or a tree (as she did the lightweight balls) to try and get it high enough for her to bounce it up. I really feel bad but do not know how to break her from biting the lightweight balls and busting them. They are inexpensive enough
$2.50 each but when she busts them within 10 minutes it can get expensive. If anyone has any ideas how to break her from this please let me know as we so enjoyed the bouncing ball playtime.

All ideas greatly appreciated.

Barbara

[Michael Romanos]

Barbara - you are a worry. Anyway, I worry about you even when I'm on holiday.
If a play object meant for a dog is easily or moderately capable of being eaten, broken, squashed, dented, deflated etc, etc - then you would take the object back to where you purchased it from and demand your money back. All this means is this: that a play thing or toy suitable for a dog is something that is almost unbreakable or will last a long time before needing to be replaced.
Even with gun dogs and retrieving dogs, there is a distinct difference between retrieving a duck (for instance) where the dog's soft, pliable mouth won't damage the victim and those same dogs involved in general play like in fetching a stick. They'll more than likely break the stick up if it is not sufficiently solid.
A Corgi is not a gun dog/retriever and therefore the balls you have her playing with should be either a tennis-type ball or a larger ball capable of withstanding a Corgis 'attack.' I had Corgis who just loved to play back to me a basketball by using their nose to direct it back in the air for me to catch. I didn't keep this game going for too long at any one time, being conscious of the hardness of the ball. We use to also play soccer up and down the field. So you just have to learn to do things in moderation or you can improvise a game. With my immediate past Corgi we use to play the balloon game ( not letting it touch the ground or floor) on countless occasions and he never burst the balloon once - because we both stuck to the rules of our game - his nose and my hands. No teeth.

[corgimom]

I got a ball today called the "Little Doggie Babble Ball" from Only Natural Pet
Store - I ordered it. It is about the size of a tennis ball - anyway, it talks,
and growls(a friendly growl) and says phrases like "I'm going to get you and
oh no" and some other phrases. All my dog has to do is push it around with
his nose and it keeps on talking; and stops when there is not motion. He loves it. It is hilarious to watch him. It is a hard ball, not a rubber one. He chases it and barks at it like he does when chasing his big rubber ball. If anyone is interested go to www.onlynaturalpet.com.

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

Hi Linda
What a great ball. I've just got to get one of those. I'll look at the website you selected and go see a local pet shop and find out if they can order me one.

[KatC]

Abby destroys most toys and will not play with doggie tennis balls, but loves her sponge rubber balls. They seem to be everlasting - are now covered with teeth marks and little bits missing. She vary rarely sits and chews them, but if she does - spits out the little pieces whereas she used to eat the stuffing of the other toys. Her teeth just go straight through any hollow rubber toys or balls and she does not like the solid rubber ones.

[corgimom]

Michael, you can go to that website also and request a catalog.


Also, Katc,

My Cody also loves those sponge balls with fabric on them. They are the
ones they sell at discount stores and are used for fun in swimming pools - about the size of a softball. Cody loves to knock those around, very light weight, but he will bite them and eventually I have to take them away
once the sponge part is showing.

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

spongy, rubbery balls are good. Small balls need to have some 'give.' But big balls (large enough, hard enough and smooth enough so that Corgis can't grab any part of them with their mouths) are best used for a Corgi to be able to control a ball whilest on the run - much as I've previously said - soccer style. There is great skill in this and it can include a joint game between dog/s and person/people.

[corgimom]

Michael,

There were other balls from "Natural pets" that made different sounds also -
a bulldog and a kitty.

I also got Cody a ball from PetsMart - hard rubber, that bounces pretty well.
It is about the size of a tennis ball also. It is red and lights up and makes
these "laser sounds", like the ones from those toy guns for kids. He really
enjoys that one also.

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

Yes, Taylor has adopted a kind of ball that flashes red and green lights after it is firmly squeezed.. So Taylor does this gripping action and plays merrily with it for short periods of time. I had originally got the thing for the top end of my staff when I had to dress-up as a wizard (a la Lord of the Rings) for a medieval party.

[KatC]

The sponge balls we get here come in two sizes - one is the same size as a tennis ball and the other a lot smaller. They are very bouncy and lightish but solid and would not float. They are sold as pet toys and when a new box of the tennis ball size is put on the supermarket shelf it empties almost immediately.

[corgimom]

I looked at the back of the packaging for the Babble Ball and the Website
is www.petqwerks.com - you can go to that to see and hear the balls. It looks like they only sell to retailers, I am going to check on that. Anyway,
they are interesting. They have one in my magazine called the "windy Farting" ball, I wonder if Cody would like that????

Cody loves to play with his new Babble ball; however, with all his small
balls he plays with, he loves to push them under or behind a couch, or under
a recliner or china cabinet, and then he whines and barks at the ball waiting
for me to retrieve it for him, only to push it right back under something again.
Why does he do this?

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

Linda- one of the best lounge games I developed with Taylor and my immediate previous Corgi is Coffee Table Tennis or Coffee Table Bowls.
I roll a tennis ball over the table and the Corgi stops it with his muzzle and nudges it back with his nose. If he misses it or I do or if it rolls off the edge before reaching the "service" line it's a point to the opposition. The same with under the table only it's trickier because our coffee table has thick legs and a magazine shelf and the Corgi here is allowed to "feel " the ball (giving it a bite or two) when served to him before pushing it back.
Games go on until one of us gets bored or hungry.

[corgimom]

Michael, that sounds like a fun game.

I was directed to two web sites yesterday where you can buy animal supplies
and toys at wholesale prices. If anyone is interested, they are:

www.jbpet.com

www.jefferspet.com