ARE GOLF BALLS GOOD DOG TOYS?

I have chucked golf balls for my retriever to fetch in the past. I think I may change my mind about this after reading the articles below!

PUPPY EATS 8 GOLF BALLS

Dog Undergoes Surgery To Remove Golf Balls

TheBostonChannel.com.

X-ray of Wally's belly - yes, those are golf balls!

BOXBORO, Mass. -- An 8-month-old puppy is recovering from surgery after eating eight golf balls. Wally's owners said the Rottweiler pup started acting weird last week. He eventually threw up three golf balls, including one that was wrapped in a sock.

But when the dog still was acting strange, Wally's owners took him to the Boxboro Animal Clinic. "Lo and behold, there was another five golf balls sitting in there," Veterinarian Stewart Bleck said. Wally underwent surgery to have the other five balls removed.

Wally's owner Julianne Bonfilio said some friends like to putt around golf balls at their home, but they never noticed that the balls were disappearing. Bleck estimated that the balls had been in the dog's system for about a week.

DOG HAS 13 GOLF BALLS REMOVED DURING OP
'He hunts them down like truffles,' says owner

Scottish Press Association

Oscar loves to eat golf balls.

A dog had to have 13 golf balls removed from his stomach after eating them on walks near a golf course. Oscar, a five-year-old black Labrador, was taken to the vet after his owner noticed a rattling noise coming from his pet.

The vet, Bob Hesketh, was stunned: "When I went into his stomach I was expecting one or two balls, but they just kept coming." One of the balls had been in Oscar's stomach so long, it had turned black. Oscar's owner, Chris Morrison, takes the dog for regular walks near Pitreavie golf course in Dunfermline, Fife. Oscar is thought to have swallowed the balls over a period of months.

Morrison said: "He normally picks up golf balls and brings them home but must have been swallowing some all along. I take him out early in the morning and late at night, normally around the areas of the ninth and 12th fairways. "He hunts them down like truffles. He finds them in all sorts of places where golfers lose them."

Oscar has recovered from his operation and is said to be in good health. His food is being watered down to help repair his digestive system and he is wearing a muzzle during walks to break his habit. Chris said: "He does get a bit frustrated now and again. He couldn't go running around straight away but he is now off the lead again."


DOG EATS 28 GOLF BALLS - AND SURVIVES
Nick Towle
Sout Manchester Reporter

April 26, 2004

WHEN German shepherd Libby went off her food her owners were at a loss. The 18-month-old pup had begun losing weight and coughing up blood. Owner Mike Wardrop, a Man United reserve player in the 1970s, knew something was seriously wrong. Just how wrong was not clear until he took Libby to the vets and discovered the real reason - she'd swallowed 28 golf balls.

Mike, 47, said: "I was absolutely gobsmacked when the vets said they had found 28. "To see all those golf balls at once was a staggering sight and they weighed over six pounds, so it was no wonder Libby wasn't feeling well. "The vets gave every ball back to me - they were slightly discoloured but otherwise in great condition, and they will be great for practice although I was upset to see there were no ProV1s amongst them!"

John Ford, a partner at the Greenbank Veterinary Clinic, said: "It was unbelievable. Never in my entire career have I seen anything even approaching 28 golf balls in an animal's stomach. "We didn't even need to x-ray her when she was brought in - she was clanking and we could feel them in her stomach. They could have been in there for several weeks." As Libby underwent a two-and-half operation to remove the golf balls, vets placed bets as to how many golf balls they would find. "The highest bet was 11 by Caroline Merry, the vet who carried out the operation, but she just kept finding more and more," said Mr Ford. "It's not unusual for dogs to eat stones and glass, but God knows what made the dog think the golf balls were a tasty morsel. Thankfully she came through the operation well and has made a good recovery."

Libby has to go back to the vets next week to have 38 stitches taken out and is still feeling a little ruff. She had been gulping the balls while her owner Mike, 47, took her for walks near the practice greens at Didsbury Golf Club, where he lives and works as the house manager.

Mike and wife Julie, 45, are now trying to steer Libby away from her favourite snack by changing her walking route and keeping her off the practise greens. Mike added: "Libby is a great guard dog as well as a family pet and is now running around again like her old self. Like any young dog, she likes playing with balls and I have often seen her with several in her mouth at a time, although I didn't think she was swallowing them!"

FOODS THAT MAY KILL YOUR DOG!

After our recent episode with Bella, I have been looking more carefully at some of the food products around that are dangerous to my dog. While dogs are closely related to us, their physiological make-up does not necessarily enable them to handle the same foods and chemicals that we can. This may be in part because the natural diet of the dog and its relatives is dominated by carnivory (they mainly eat meat), while we primates are omnivorous. Thus, they do not process the constituents of some foods in the same way. Take these foods for example, that we can consume in mass that are harmful to our canine companions:

Grapes and Raisins: Grapes are deadly to dogs… really? This is how ill-equipped Janine and I once were. We used grapes (and the occasional raisin) as a treat for our golden Ruby! In fact, I can remember giving her a handful of grapes that were too ripe for my liking, as a special offering to exhibit just how much I loved her! WHAT A MORON I WAS! I have now found some sources that say as few as seven or eight grapes could kill an adult dog! I guess, the toxicity of grapes and raisins can vary depending on the individual dog and in the case of “ole’ iron-guts” (i.e., Ruby), they didn’t make a dent! In fact, in many cases a dog that has eaten grapes or raisins will vomit – Ruby never barfed up these fruit, no matter how many she consumed.

Onions: I don’t know about you, but I am not likely to hand my dog an onion as a snack. However, there are a number of human foods that you might treat your dog too that do contain these vegetables. For example, our old Golden loved hot sauce (we would let her lick the plate after an enchilada). Of course, most good salsas contain onions. When they eat enough of these vegetables (whether fresh, cooked, dried, spoiled or unspoiled) dogs can develop hemolytic anemia – that is, red blood cells erupt with anemia resulting. It seems that a large quantity of onions/garlic are required to produce a dangerous physiological response (some suggest a whole onion would be needed to cause problems). That said, the effect of frequent eating of onions can accumulate – that is, if you feed your dog onions several days in a row, it could develop anemia. Another thing that you should be aware of, is that the negative impact caused by onions does not occur immediately. In fact, it may take three to five days before the dog exhibits ill-effects of onion ingestion (e.g., hematocrit levels are often the lowest five days after onion ingestion). To be safe, Bella will certainly not get any onions if I can help it!

Garlic: there is a lot of debate about garlic. Some say it is dangerous, at least in quantity, others say a clove every once in a while is good for your dog! Of course, the internet is full of stories from folks that say giving their dog garlic has helped with excessive scratching, coprophagy (poop-eating), de-worming, discourages flea infestations, and on and on. This may be one of those items that is OK in moderation, but I would be wary about giving my dog garlic (in fact, I wouldn’t be giving Bella any Garlic – not worth the risk). The American Veterinarian Medical Association lists garlic as toxic to dogs (but what do they know, right?). For more information on the positives of garlic feeding, check this site out. It seems like a well-researched treatise on the subject (I am still not giving Bella garlic!): http://www.natural-dog-health-remedies.com/garlic-for-dogs.html.

Chocolate: this is a no-brainer. While no chocolate is good for your dog, semi-sweet and bakers chocolate contain more theobromine than standard chocolate. Theobromine is the ingredient, along with the caffeine, that is dangerous to dogs. Anything containing cocoa or chocolate is best avoided. I see that some people on the web insist on giving their dogs chocolate as an occasional treat – I guess these dog owners love their chocolate so much that they consider it to be a more special treat for their dog, than say, a milk-bone biscuit. What are you nuts!? Why take the risk.

Macadamia Nuts: these heavenly seeds from members of the family Proteaceae are so tasty, why in the heck would I give them to my dog!? But if you are tempted to do so, resist the urge. If your dog eats these nuts, they may suffer from macadamia nut toxicosis. Symptoms usually develop within 12 hours of eating the nuts – these include inability to stand, ataxia (walking wobbly), vomiting, muscle tremors, elevated body temperature, weakness and an elevated heart rate – in the worse cases, shock and subsequent death may result. If your dog is fortunate, the symptoms go away in 48 hours. Remember, there are cookies out there that contain macadamia nuts.

Other foods that are reported to be possibly dangerous to your dog include: coffee grounds, yeast dough, avocado (yuk!), tea, alcohol and excessive salt.