[Dailydrool] Meet Eli and Tennis Ball Question

[Susan Fulmer]

Dear Droolers,

I have been reading the drool for the past 6 months or so.  I started a few
months after my beloved Noah passed away at 12 yrs old.  I have really
enjoyed reading about everyone's hounds, especially as I was missing Noah so
much.  We adopted our new baby Eli almost 3 months ago from BaRCSE.  He is a
very sweet boy, somewhere between 1.5 to 2 years old.  He is a beautiful
white and red boy (white with red splotches and freckles), and he is long
but with the smaller basset frame (a healthy 38 lbs).

I still can't quite understand how Eli ended up bouncing around from home to
home, but I'm glad he ended up with us.  He is very friendly and snuggly and
not very hyper for a young boy.  The only real issues we ever noticed with
him were some separation anxiety and bad leash manners.  I think
the separation anxiety was mostly due to boucing around, and now he seems
pretty well adjusted.  He's also doing really well on walks now.  He used to
pull and chase after squirrels and completely freak out that he couldn't get
to them.  Now he pretty much stays by my side, and although he still gets
excited about squirrels and bunnies, he is learning to leave them alone.

Eli really enjoys running around with his toys, especially playing fetch.  I
never knew a basset could love to fetch as much as he does.  He will fetch
his tennis ball over and over and over, and he is so good about bringing it
back and dropping it on command.  (Lest you think he is an angel, he did not
drop the dead bird he found in the yard yesterday on command.  He also ate
one of my eggplants off the plant.)

Eli is also quite the soccer player.  Yes, soccer.  We figured that out by
accident when he saw my nephew kicking the ball around.  Eli now has his own
full-sized soccer ball.  We usually kick it around for him and he'll chase
after it, jump over it, and even try to fit it in his mouth (luckily he's
never succeeded with that).  It is pretty hysterical to watch.

Now my question about tennis balls.  Today I was talking to a co-worker, who
told me not to buy yellow tennis balls, which is what Eli has.  He said the
yellow dye is toxic, and to get white ones at the pet store.  I have never
heard this before and didn't find much info about it online.  The only thing
I really saw was possibly an increased risk of cancer.  Does anyone know
anything about the toxicity of the dye or the increased cancer risk?  Eli
has been playing with his tennis balls for 3 months.  I feel like if it was
toxic, he would have been sick already.  Not to mention the fact that there
are thousands or millions of dogs that play with tennis balls, and I've
never heard of any dropping dead from it.  I certainly don't want to
expose Eli to anything harmful.  Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks,
Susan & Eli (I want my ball back)
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