Planet Dog Orbee-Tuff Balls Review

We have a very destructive one and a half year old German Shorthaired Pointer. Luckily he does not destroy things like our furniture, but he kills toys. This dog can never have another stuffed toy because he rips them to bits, until there are pieces around the house that you have no idea what they once belonged to!

And most chew toys, even those we've bought that we thought were made for large dogs, he has ruined. And the ones that are more sturdy (like kongs and nylabones) are usually hard and not easy to throw around, and, being a GSHP, he loves to fetch and we often play indoors. The hard toys also tend to scratch up furniture and crash against the wood floor, not to mention I don't like him catching those in the air. Lastly, all of these toys cost money. I don't mind spending the money on something that will last, but when they don't, it's just money down the drain...and this is where planet dog has saved the day!

We own two planet dog orbee-tuff toys, a football and one of these fetch balls. We were skeptical at first because they are light weight and seem like they would be easily chewed to pieces. But whatever the material they are using on these things is, some type of rubbery thing, it's fantastic! They are light enough to throw and yet tough enough that my dog hasn't even put a single toothmark in them! I think part of the genius is that they have a hole in the center, which allows him to chomp down on them without cracking them. They are also safer to throw around the house, the other night the ball even accidentally bounced up and hit our tv screen and no damage was done!

Also, the company rates the toys by "chomper" points. These points range from 1 to 5 and help you determine the chewability. The balls have a rating of 5 and the football, a 4. I think to stay on the safe side we won't go lower than 4, but for those of you with less destructive dogs, you could probably try the lower chomper items.

The items aren't cheap, about $10 for the ball, $12 for the football, but frankly, no dog toys, especially when you are buying for big dogs, are cheap and yet many fall apart. Before I found these toys I had purchased two toys that looked sturdy and yet my dog was ripping pieces off within minutes of playing with them...but these don't get ripped to shreds! And truly, my GSHP is a chewer, and a destroyer...I love him, but it's true.

The only problem with the toys is that the football comes with "laces" which my dog quickly ripped out, but that was all and the football is still completely usable. Even around the hole of the football, where the material is thinner, my dog has not managed to rip apart any of it, and trust me, he tries.

We buy these at our local Cutter's Mill pet store, I haven't seen them in our local Petsmart, but here's the link to the companies web site, where you can buy them directly: http://www.planetdog.com

To sum it up, if you are like me and have struggled to find a good toy for your destructive pup, I highly recommend trying the Planet Dog Orbee-Tuff toys, and going for the 4 to 5 chomper varieties. There may be dogs out there that chew more than mine, but he's the first one I've had that's this destructive and so I am happy to finally find a brand that I can spend the money on knowing that it won't be destroyed minutes after he gets it!!

~Erin

P.S. - A few more good things to know about these toys, they are made in the USA, they are recyclable and non-toxic!! Also very easy to wash off if/when they get gross!

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