Hagen BIONIC Ball - S

The Hagen BIONIC Ball is a fetch ball with a hole through the middle, which is what separates it from an ordinary rubber ball -- you can pack food into it and turn a two-minute game of fetch into something a dog has to work at.

Key Features

• Treat Hole: The channel through the centre takes kibble, paste or a smear of something sticky, so the ball keeps a dog occupied once the throwing stops
• Bounces And Floats: It bounces unpredictably off hard ground, which is most of the fun, and it floats for water retrieves
• Three Sizes: Small, medium and large. Hagen note that the medium fits most ball launchers, which is worth remembering if you use one -- the large will not go in a standard launcher cup
• Dishwasher Safe: Top rack of the dishwasher, or hot water and a brush. Rubber holds the smell of old food, so wash it after anything greasy has been inside
• One Piece: No squeaker to be dug out and swallowed, and nothing glued on

About The BIONIC Range

BIONIC toys are built around what the maker calls defensive geometry -- thick ribs and curves placed so that a bite lands on the strong part of the shape rather than on a thin edge. The material is a rubber-like polymer, harder than a latex squeaky toy and more forgiving than nylon, and the whole range comes in the same bright orange.

Getting The Size Right

Pick by the dog, not by the price. A toy small enough to sit behind the back teeth can be swallowed or can block the airway, so when a dog is between two sizes, take the larger one. A toy that is too big simply gets ignored, which is the safer mistake.

The Orange Is For You, Not The Dog

Dogs see colour differently from us. They have two types of colour receptor where we have three, which means they distinguish blues and yellows well and see reds and oranges as a muted yellowish shade. Bright orange on grass stands out sharply to you and much less so to the dog, which finds the toy by scent and movement anyway. Useful to know if you have ever wondered why a dog runs straight past a ball it is almost standing on.

No Toy Is Indestructible

Hard rubber toys last far longer than soft ones, but every one of them has a limit. Check this over whenever you pick it up: a split along a seam, a chunk missing or a chewed-down edge means it goes in the bin, not back in the toy box. Swallowed rubber does not show up on an X-ray and is a common reason for emergency surgery. Dogs that destroy things in minutes should only have a chew toy while someone is watching.

If You Stuff It With Peanut Butter

Check the jar first. Some peanut butters are sweetened with xylitol, sometimes listed as birch sugar or E967. It is harmless to people and can kill a dog from a very small amount -- it causes a collapse in blood sugar and can damage the liver. Use a plain peanut butter whose only ingredients are peanuts and perhaps salt. Freezing a stuffed toy makes it last much longer, and whatever goes inside counts as part of the day's food, not as an extra.

Who Makes It

Rolf C. Hagen was founded in Montreal in 1955 and is one of the largest privately owned pet product companies in the world. Its brands include Catit for cats, Dogit and Zeus for dogs, Living World for small pets and birds, Exo Terra for reptiles and Fluval for aquariums.

Good To Know

• Never throw a ball directly at a running dog's mouth or let it catch one at full stretch repeatedly. Jaw and neck injuries from mid-air catches are more common than people expect.
• Rinse the treat channel out properly. Food left in the middle of a rubber toy goes rancid and is the reason an old ball smells the way it does.
• Fetch is harder on joints than it looks. For an older dog or one with hip or elbow problems, shorter throws on soft ground beat long ones on tiles.