A veterinarian has issued a stark warning to dog owners about one of the most beloved pet toys on the market, claiming it can cause irreversible harm. Dr Chris Brown says he has spent over a decade monitoring the damaging effects of tennis balls on dogs' teeth.
The Danger of Tennis Balls
The 47-year-old explained: "The nylon fibres on a tennis ball are designed to withstand the hardest tennis courts in the world. When they go into your dog's mouth, they're designed to be tougher than their teeth. They essentially wear down their teeth. The nylon fibres are like sandpaper." He cautions that the damage can be permanent, frequently resulting in severe dental complications further down the line.
"Once they wear them down and expose the pulp or the centre of the tooth, where the nerve sits, there's no repairing that. You can fill that, but you can't get the teeth to grow back," he said.
Visible Signs of Damage
Brown reveals he can now immediately identify affected dogs at a glance. "I've seen a cattle dog at the age of four that essentially had the teeth of a 14-year-old dog, because of just how much time that dog spent with a tennis ball in his mouth," he shared. In a separate case, a boxer named Duke had worn down the majority of his canine and incisor teeth.
Color Blindness and Toy Visibility
Brown, who is colour blind, also points out that many dogs struggle to even spot their own toys. "I see the world the same way dogs do. The biggest frustration for a lot of pet owners in the park is that they'll throw the ball for their dog, and the dog runs straight past it, and the dog can't find it," he shared. "Most balls for dogs, if they're not tennis balls, are orange... for a dog's eyes, the orange is no different to the green grass. So the ball disappears the moment it lands on the green grass," he explained.
Dog owners are advised to consider safer alternatives such as rubber balls designed specifically for pets, which are less abrasive and more visible to canine vision.
