Wunderball Dog Ball

How many times have you been told that a dog toy or ball in indestructible? A lot, right! If your dog is a real destroyer of toys, it can be frustrating and a waste of time and money if whatever you buy for them simply doesn't last.

This became a personal search for us 8 years ago when we adopted a German Shepherd, Zena, who can easily destroy any dog toy you give her. I timed her once with a black Kong and it lasted less than 20 minutes. So we only allow her to play with toys under strict supervision. Leaving her no time to chomp a dog ball was the only way to guarantee its survival.

Chuckit dog balls

We did have some success with Chuckit dog balls, especially Chuckit Ultra Dog Ball and one of the large Orbee-Tuff balls. Chuckit in particular became a firm favourite with both our dogs but Zena still couldn't be left to her own devices with them, if we wanted them to last. They do hold up well with an average chewer though.

Our terrier was a big fan of the squeaky version of the Chuckit dog ball. Quite often the squeaker will go rather quickly in most other balls but you can see him here, putting Chuckit Ultra Squeaker Ball to the test. It would not die, lol.

Testing Wunderball

Anyway, back to The Wunderball. After 8 years with Zena, and 19 years of running D for Dog and testing just about every dog ball available, we concluded that no dog ball is completely indestructible if a dog is intent on destruction rather than normal play. Some dogs can simply destroy anything.... can't they!

But was that about to change? Six weeks ago one of our suppliers gave us two Wacky Walk'r Wunderballs to test in sizes medium and large. Advertised as a ball like no other that even the toughest chewers can't destroy, how could we resist putting it through it's paces. Their promotion video certainly looked exciting.

Knowing what an expert our Zena is at toy deconstruction, she is the perfect tester. Expecting carnage in less than 10 minutes, we set Zena loose on Wunderball. We let her play appropriately with it and then we let her go to town on it in any way she fancied. She even had our permission to take it off to her bed and chew on it to her heart's content.

Is it fun to play with?

In the past when we have tried Zena with other solid dog balls, she has hated them. As much as she loves a game of fetch, if you throw a solid ball she will usually drop it like a brick. Wunderball is solid natural rubber so we were expecting her to also reject it. However, it doesn't have the feel she usually dislikes. It is lighter than other solid balls we have tried and rather than a smooth surface, Wunderball has an exciting lumpy composite texture that Zena seems to find exciting.

As you can see, not only did she accept Wunderball, it became her new favourite. You can see her playing with it, chomping at it and even preferring it to her usual favourite ball.

Did Wunderball survive?

I was expecting Wunderball to put up a good fight as it is made of solid natural rubber, so there is nothing to pierce or puncture. What I wasn't expecting was for Zena to like it so much and for her to even prefer it to her usual favourite. And I wasn't expecting her to still have it 6 weeks later. Yay!

With other solid balls, they usually survive because Zena simply doesn't like playing with them. They tend to sit in the toy box unloved and unused. They can also be really heavy, making them not much fun to play with and you live in fear of your dog's teeth getting knocked out.

However, unlike other solid dog balls we have tried in the past, Wunderball is lighter to throw and catch. Zena seems intrigued by it. She can get her teeth chomping into it and she seems to really like the texture. She shows great happiness and excitement when she sees it.

Update - 6 months later

Zena still has her Wunderball albeit almost half the original size. It has slowly gotten smaller and smaller as she has worked out how to pull all the little pieces of rubber off. But yes, she still has it and plays with it every day. Amazing.

I think in the next few weeks it may be a size I consider to be no longer safe for a large dog so she will be getting a new one. She still loves it and it lasted a long time so it has been a success.

The Wunderball challenge

Don't just take our word for it. Let your dog put Wunderball to the test. Get yours here Buy Wunderball

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