About bestdogball.com
A single-subject review site about dog balls, run by people who play a lot of fetch.
What this site is
bestdogball.com does one narrow thing: it works out which dog ball suits which dog, and says so plainly. There are no reviews of harnesses, no listicles about dog breeds, and no attempt to cover the whole pet market. A site about one object can afford to actually understand that object.
We publish under the site's name rather than an individual's. That is a deliberate privacy choice and not an attempt to hide anything about how the site works - everything below is the part that should determine whether you trust a recommendation.
How we test
Every ball is bought at full retail price with our own money. We do not accept samples from brands, and no manufacturer sees a review before publication. Testing runs for a minimum of six weeks with four dogs chosen for different jobs: a Labrador for volume, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier for destruction, a whippet who catches in the air at speed, and a small terrier cross for the size-and-weight questions. We record bounce height, buoyancy, throwing distance, catchability in flight and physical condition at two, four and six weeks.
When we have not tested something properly, we say so on the page rather than inventing a verdict. There are currently two places on this site where we do exactly that: the light-up ball category, and the automatic ball launchers, which are researched from specifications and owner reports rather than bought and used. Both carry a visible notice saying so.
How we make money
Through affiliate commission. If you buy a ball after clicking a link here, we earn a small percentage at no extra cost to you. That is the entire business model: no sponsored posts, no paid placements, and no brand has ever paid to appear on this site or to be ranked higher.
The obvious conflict is that we get paid when you buy something. Our defence is the negatives - every review here has a "where it falls short" section, we recommend not buying a launcher for some dogs and not buying a light-up ball at all for others, and the highest-earning page on this site tells you the cheapest ball is the best one. Full detail on our affiliate disclosure page.
What we are not
We are not vets. Where this site discusses choking, dental wear, joint loading or heatstroke, it is summarising general information and pointing you at the right questions - it is not a substitute for your vet, who knows your individual dog. Anything urgent goes to a vet, not to a website.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it and say that we have. Get in touch.
How we test
Every ball on this site is bought at full retail price with our own money. Nothing here is a sample sent by a brand, and no manufacturer sees a review before it is published.
Testing runs over a minimum of six weeks with four dogs chosen for genuinely different jobs:
- A Labrador who fetches hard but chews gently - the volume tester. If a ball survives him it has survived a lot of repetitions.
- A Staffordshire Bull Terrier who destroys most things within a fortnight. He decides every durability verdict on this site; the other three rarely mark a ball at all.
- A whippet who runs flat out and catches in the air. She is the reason we care about how a ball behaves in flight rather than just on the ground - whether it tumbles or flies true, whether it is light enough to catch cleanly at speed without jarring, and whether the surface gives enough grip for a dog to take it out of the air rather than bat it away. A ball that is fine to pick up off the grass can be genuinely unpleasant to catch, and nothing else in the group would have shown us that.
- A twelve-kilo terrier cross used to check whether smaller mouths can carry a ball comfortably, and whether the weight is manageable over a full walk.
We record bounce height from a two-metre drop onto paving, whether the ball floats in still water and how much of it sits above the waterline, throwing distance with a standard launcher, catchability in flight, and the physical state of the ball at two, four and six weeks. Balls that split, delaminate or lose their shape inside six weeks do not make the recommendations regardless of brand.
Where we have not tested something, we say so on the page rather than inventing a verdict. That currently applies to the automatic ball launchers, the light-up ball category, and some of the squeaky and treat-dispensing products - each carries a visible notice.