Several years ago the company I work for (Cardinal Pet Care) had a toy in our Crazy Dog brand that was invented for kids (the Bumble Ball) and we adapted it to be a toy for dogs. It was a hard plastic ball with rubber knobs that stuck out of the ball on all sides. The ball had a motor. When you turned it on it started randomly jumping around on the floor! Babies thought it was funny, dog loved the random jumps. It game them the thrill of the chase, something like hunting we presumed. Some cats loved it too, most were scared of it.

If you picked one up when it was turned on, it was strong enough to make your arms vibrate! Amazingly, that turned out to be a good thing for some children with autism. We were often contacted by groups that service autistic children asking for Bumble Ball donations, which we were happy to contribute. There was some way that the giggeling helped them focus on a task. It didn’t work for all but was very helpful to some of the children.

One time we arrived at our hotel in preparation for a trade show. One of the salesmen went to the package department to pick up a box of Bumble Balls we had pre-shipped. The clerk commented that the box had been bouncing around all day and they wondered what in the world was in that box!  It’s a wonder they hadn’t called security!

The toy company that originally invented the Bumble Ball for children had been purchased by another company. For over 5 years they allowed us to license the toy and adapt it for dogs. Finally, they were also acquired by another company who chose to discontinue the toy because it didn’t fit their mission. Lots of pets still miss the Bumble Balls.