Wild One’s Tennis Tumble Toy is Aces

In my house live two very different dogs. The first is Moose, a toothless Dachshund with the heart of an angel…and the intellect of a toenail. The second is Harper, a Lab-Pittie mix who also has a heart of an angel but with a brain capacity slightly higher than her brother’s. 

Because Harper requires more stimulation than her keratin-brained counterpart, it can be hard to find a toy that keeps her busy on her own. Her mom, Holly, and I both work from home and spend most of our days tragically turning Harper away as she begs us to play with her. Even worse, she will then turn to Moose for a game of tug of war — only to realize, for the 100th time that day, that Moose’s gummy grip is hardly a worthy challenge. 

To avoid reliving this melodrama every day of our young lives, Holly and I began investing in every kind of dog puzzle toy we could find. However, we soon found ourselves with a twofold problem. The soft toys, often marketed as indestructible, were quickly, albeit quietly, torn to shreds — never lasting more than a Zoom call. While the harder plastic toys fared better against Harper, they didn’t exactly go easy on our hardwood floors — not to mention our ears. We were all getting frustrated (well, not Harper so much as she kept getting new toys) until we found Wild One’s Tennis Tumble. 

Available in several dreamy colors, the Tennis Tumble is Wild One’s first-ever enrichment toy and an absolute lifesaver for remote working pup parents. The toy consists of two surprisingly simple parts: a rubber barrel and a tennis ball. Your dog’s job is equally simple, but one they will not take lightly: to get the ball out of the barrel. 

It’s a task easier said than done, and it keeps Harper occupied for over an hour — which is usually followed by a well-deserved seven-hour nap. Even better, the Tennis Tumble can withstand Harper’s powerful play (read: it has yet to disintegrate before my very eyes). And, since the toy is made out of soft, food-grade plastic, it doesn’t clang against my floors all day long — it’s more like a rubbery thud but I’ll take it. As previously touched upon, it comes in several of Wild One’s signature tones and can be paired with one of their balls or any standard-sized tennis ball. 

I truly only have good things to say about this toy, but if I were to point to a watch-out, it would be that the Tennis Tumble is only intended for medium to large-sized dogs. By Wild One’s standard that means the toy should only be used by dogs over 20 pounds. That’s kind of a bummer for pup parents of smaller dogs, many of whom (who aren’t Moose) require mental stimulation just as much as their larger buddies. Here’s hoping Wild One introduces a smaller size for more petite pups, as they do with most of their other offerings. 

Still, if you have a medium or large-sized dog (with a medium or large-sized brain) then the Tennis Tumble might be the ticket to a productive work day — for pups and parents alike.

Wild One Tennis Tumble Toy

$20

$20 at Wild One