TENNIS balls! Why didn't I think of this before?

[BG and Gavin]

With the cooler weather, Gavin was a big bundle of energy this morning and I figured our regular walk just wouldn't do it.  So DH and I took him to the park with my tennis raquet and his tennis balls.  I began smashing balls the entire length of the park.  He ran and retrieved,  ran and retrieved, ran and retrieved until he just lied down.  He was spent and it did not take long at all.  He is now happily passed out at me feet.  What took me so long to put two and two together?

[Karen and Bridget]

Our lab LOVED to have us hit tennis balls to him in the park.  One day we used the school playground since the fields were being used for soccer and baseball games.  Poor Chief's foot pads were bleeding in a matter of minutes :(   The emergency vet said he ran so hard on the pavement that he tore the pads.  Be careful if you hit balls on a tennis court for your fur baby, especially if he runs hard!

[BG and Gavin]

Good point Karen.  Always stick to grass.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Quincy had the same problem once when we played with him on ashphalt. His pads developed blisters so no more ashphalt and tennis balls for us.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

We use a "chuck it" ball throwing tool.  It makes the ball go FAR and those balls are very durable and don't get all dirty. :)

[Sharon & Monty]

Once upon a time I had a golden retriever who was tireless.  I would take her for a two mile walk, she would collapse on the kitchen floor for 10 minutes, and be right up........."what are we gonna do now"  then it was ball, she had an entire acre of yard to roam in, perhaps another walk later in the day.  The vet was always complaining that she was gaining too much weight for her age. I was so pissed off, this dog was running me ragged.  I said to him " 3 miles per day and I'm not losing weight neither!"  geez.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I used to do this as a kid with my Australian Shephard, Pepper.  We lived on 5 acres and she loved when I would hit the tennis ball to her with the racquet! 

[Christine & Camus]

I recently found out that the material that covers tennis balls contains fiberglass, so I only use chuck-it balls or other safe rubber balls.  I did see a couple of dogs who were "ball focused" with canine teeth that were flat.

[Dori & Rua]

Rua isn't into balls.  Since she is so short, we play chase in the house (I really meant DH).  They go back and forth...him chasing her and her chasing him and they run and run.  It was great with Lilly here for 5 nights...they played together.  Lilly did the chasing of Rua, mostly!  We really tried to get Mimi Linna to leave Lilly with us, but she didn't go for that!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Sounds like a great workout-now he'll want to do that everytime!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Before we got our yard fenced, we went to the nearby tennis courts every day for some off leash fun.