Are They Really Indestructible?

It took us literally 5 months and at least $100 to discover which toys our Labrador Retriever, Chelsea, could and could not have. We were making trips to Petco on a weekly basis and let me just say it got to be a bit ridiculous!

Fortunately, Chelsea was never a chewer when it came to things in our house. She knew what she was allowed to tear apart and what was off limits. However, this was not the case when it came to her toys. I still remember the first toy she chewed up, a tennis ball, something I thought was innocent and fun for her play with. I left it in her crate at night so that if she became bored, she had something to keep her entertained. Well, one summer morning, I woke up and noticed the tennis ball was no longer in her crate. I thought to myself, well that's weird, maybe she buried it in her blankets. As I began to search, I found little pieces of what appeared to be the ball and then realized that she ate it, the whole thing! A few hours later, she began vomiting and I knew something was wrong. I called the vet and he told us to bring her in immediately. They did several x-rays and discovered that she did in fact eat the ball and that she took breaks in between. The prescription was to keep an eye on her and make sure she passed it. If her condition became worse, they were going to have to operate. Thankfully, a day later, she was 100%. Needless to say, she is no longer allowed to have tennis balls.

Along with the tennis balls, ropes, stuffed toys, and anything with squeakers joined the list and then finally, we discovered toys that she could chew, thoroughly enjoy, and that would hold up! Chelsea's favorites are Kongs, "Tough Toys", and Nylabones.