Maybe use a chuck it ball that's not too small?

 

I use this for my dog in the pool:

KONG AirDog Fetch Stick with Rope Dog Toy, Large - Chewy.com

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Hello, I was watching a youtube video from a dog trainer who mentioned the risk of playing fetch with tennis balls and chuck it balls. He said in warm weather dogs have been known to aspirate the ball and die. When trying to cool themselves, the dog's pharynx can dilate quite a bit. He recommends playing fetch with a bumper instead.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Can anyone suggest what kind of bumper and where to buy one. We would just play fetch in the yard.

Oh, boy. Sounds like he is wayyyy overthinking things. Did this ever happen to a dog? Perhaps, but on my long list of life’s worries this is dead last.

My $0.02? Play fetch, have fun, don’t overthink it.

 

x 1000.

 

I use chuck it balls or a bumper when I play with my girl.

During the summer months, we have triple heat indexes on the NC Coast.
I make sure to play with my girl in the early a.m. hours and later in the evening when it's cooler to prevent overheating her.

Majority of the afternoon when it's the hottest, she's inside enjoying the AC.

I have a small beach at the end of my street where I have always taken my guys swimming in the ICW. Again, I take them in the morning before it gets too hot.

 

That sounds like a scare tactic… but I do prefer to use a bumper over a ball. They don’t get as slimy and my dogs don’t chomp on them like they do balls.

 

my dogs don’t chomp on them like they do balls.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

 

That's a new one.

The typical one I've heard is retrieving tennis balls and letting dogs play with them will scrape the enamel off their teeth. <= I've always thought that if anything, might help keep teeth clean.

My dogs have zero interest in tennis balls and we do not play fetch, so no real opinion. Retrieves with my dogs - they are expected to hold a wait, pursue with speed, pick up cleanly, and return with speed. That's not what most people do in their backyards when throwing tennis balls repeatedly until the dog is too tired to come back and plops down as a signal to the owner the game's done. <= I'm sorry I had to add this explanation, but seemed necessary to clarify.

 

My dogs have zero interest in tennis balls and we do not play fetch, so no real opinion.

They have fabulous top lines though.

 

Much better than throwing a snotty tennis ball

Avery Hex Bumper

Hex Bumper – Durable Retriever Training Dummy with V-Grip Design The Hex Bumper is designed to solve the problems of traditional round training bumpers while holding up to the demands of professional retriever trainers. Its six flat sides and raised V-Grips give dogs a more secure grip, making...

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These are the ones I have. Easy to throw and fly pretty far.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Riveting commentary, as usual.

 

Thanks for noticing, Shug! It’s always great to be noticed!

 

Hello, I was watching a youtube video from a dog trainer who mentioned the risk of playing fetch with tennis balls and chuck it balls. He said in warm weather dogs have been known to aspirate the ball and die. When trying to cool themselves, the dog's pharynx can dilate quite a bit. He recommends playing fetch with a bumper instead.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Can anyone suggest what kind of bumper and where to buy one. We would just play fetch in the yard.

Hello, We have a 14 month old Golden Male, "Mack". One day we were throwing tennis balls for him, and he picked up one, and on his way back he picked up a second ball in his mouth. Now he only wants to bring back two at a time, and sometimes he tries to pick up a third. We are always with him when he plays with the tennis balls. I agree with the other Golden owner that said just have fun and don't overthink things.

 

My dogs are very motivated to retrieve. Especially the bumpers we have. We use the bumpers more in the summer so maybe the drive is more because they aren't has common as tennis balls. I literally have to hide the bumpers when we're done or they won't stop. I just ordered a mallard training bumper so we'll see what they think about that.

 

Can I ask where you order from and what style bumper your dogs love?

 

Goldens love to retrieve bumpers. But they like balls more, because the balls have more motion and bounces, and are therefore much more stimulating than a bumper that goes plop! on the ground and doesn't move much more. But we throw bumpers, too.

I think your dog has a better chance of being struck by lightning while playing fetch than to swallow a tennis ball because the weather is warm.

 

I think your dog has a better chance of being struck by lightning while playing fetch than to swallow a tennis ball because the weather is warm.

I agree.
The real risk when playing fetch is with uncontrolled retrieves, once called "happy retrieves" or "happy bumpers" in field training lingo. This is fine with a low keyed, laid back dog that likes to fetch occasionally. With a dog highly driven to retrieve it can and has cause very serious injuries. A dog scrambling to turn and chase a bumper can tear cruciates, break toes, pull and tear muscles...
A friend of mine witnessed a dog jumping after a bumper and breaking its back when it hit the ground in an awkward position.
Those that have seen a truly driven field trial retriever will understand how this can happen.

 

Yep. I don't do fun bumpers anymore. Fisher was out of training for six months after tweaking his knee on a fun bumper. I also don't throw balls unless it's in the water or high cover, for the same reason.