Best Dog Ball Thrower (Jan 2023 Update)

Sending this back. Was excited to see my dog play with this. I knew by reading some reviews that I would need to teach her how to drop the balls in the machine. It work great for the first few minutes , then it stopped working. I unplugged it and waited thinking maybe it needed to reset but no. So I waited the next morning, tried it again and it worked but after a few minutes stopped again. So I’m returning it. But hope to find another type maybe just a gravity flow one.edty

I think the our little dog is training my partner. They are both having lots of fun. She is no longer bored and is so much fitter and happier. The deal at the moment is she will drop the ball for him to put in the machine, she wants him involved. The noise build up before firing is so exciting for her and she has it down to the millisecond. I know she will master it as she does sometimes, but it is more about them both playing that she loves the most.archibaldtheyounger

Bought this for my too poodle and he absolutely loves it. Hours of fun and exercise, just drop the ball in the top and it launches it and off he goes. Trying to train him to drop the ball in himself. Use on mains as the batteries don’t last long at all. Great buy, highly recommended. Not the cheapest toy for your dog but well worth it.Grant, Sydney

Machine is constantly noisy which my dog does not like. It does not launch the balls very far at all (not even half the length of my yard). The sound it makes before launching a ball which is supposed to be the warning is lower than the sound the machine constantly makes. No timer which would help (just a slow to fast turn dial that doesn't make a huge difference).

My dogs favorite game is fetch and with this he refuses to even get close to the machine and play.Cyber Privacy

Product was shipped and received quickly. Does NOT work well with rubber balls. There is a notice in the box it does not do well with slobbery or dirty balls either, so it only shoots a few feet no where near far enough for a chaser.Jessica

This Chuck It! toy makes playing catch easy with dogs that love to run for balls. I have both large and small dogs and they all really love this toy. Normally, I only use this when we go to the park since I don't want to break things in the house, but I think they have come up with a version with softer balls for indoor play. This toy makes it very easy to throw your ball super far. It doesn't take much energy, but it sure takes the energy out of the dogs! If your dog knows how to fetch, you really just have to sit there and launch the ball and wait for your dog to bring it back. My larger dogs seem to be able to grasp these balls better due to their larger jaws, but my small dog enjoys chasing her bigger brothers just as much. This is a great toy for dogs that need to burn off some energy. Just make sure you play somewhere where no people around. I accidentally whacked a bystander in the head when he stood too close to me!helleytelly

Great product but the picture doesn't match the actual product. The advertisement shows the long handled launcher but the actual product sold here is the short handled launcher. There's a big difference.Najo

This is one of the best toys ever!! My lab is obsessed with fetching and this awesome invention makes continuous throwing of a ball so easy! It launches the ball really far! She looks for this toy every morning before we go to our local beach or the park. Amazing price too for our favorite dog toy ever!!JMLabMom

With new balls, and a new machine, the product is exactly as advertised. After 10 minutes of fetch, the ball is too wet to throw as expected. The ball gets dirty, and the machine does too, creating a muddy internal process. The balls sent with the machine were subpar quality, and lasted about 25 throws a piece before they were starting to come apart. The machine doesn't adjust for ball sizes, so as a tennis ball wears down, the machine can't grab it, and forget about a tennis ball without it's hairy skin, they are too small by far. It's charging good, and working well if I keep putting new tennis balls in it, and run a towel through it, (although that's hard to do.) I suggest a manual adjustment be added to future products, to change the distance between the wheels that grab the ball. I think a tiny tweak on my machine would allow it to through hard rubber balls that wouldn't get nearly as dirty or wet, and keep the machine cleaner. Overall, I think the product is good, but is flawed in design. If there were just a few more capacities to make it work in the field and with different ball sizes, I think it's be a very strong product.Adam T.

Very great. Still working on getting the dogs to use it by themselves but its still fun to interact with them with this machine. We can play for hours on end because they just love to chase the ballsBronte

We love this. Our dog is having so much fun chasing the balls and is getting plenty of exercise. We are also teaching him to put the ball into the machine – a work in progress. We recommend this to all dog owners who want to play ball with their dogs. So happy to see our dog happy.Anonymous

2 nd one I bought in a week. First one was stuck in continuous mode. Second one I had to weld the pin in because it feel out every timeteddybrown71

Awesome – my border collies are so happy again. Love the battery…has a good life as I was able to take the thrower with me to the park. It works great!!!jtnew2012

The product is well made and works as described. The only problem is training your dog to use it by herself. Our dog has no intention of bring the ball back to this unit. In her mind it should always give her a fresh ball.gdre6898

This was a replacement purchase for same model (but worn out) ball launcher purchased almost 3 years ago. This new one broke by Christmas. Spent Christmas day disassembling to replace broken launcher arm in new one (with pieces from old one) so dog didn't have to wait for another replacement. Wish manufacturer had provided a contact information with order. Would like to get broken pieces replaced (launcher arm, pin, and arm ratchet piece) so I can have 2 ball launchers again.Kim2

Who in their right mind would waste their hard earned money on something like this??? Go out and throw a stinking ball for your dog to retrieve. Let your voice say "good boy/girl". Does this thingy do that? I don't think so. All I can say is "wow"! Just take more joy out of spending time with our pets.Geralyn

As with anything new, you have to reward your dog and introduce the new toy with lots of praise and treats. It does make noise in order to launch the ball so any dog would be weary at first. You must do your part as their leader to show them it’s fun and nothing to fear.Banana Lana

This sucker can fling a tennis ball! It’s easy to use and you don’t have to use Hyper Pet tennis balls. It can be a bit hard to pull back the launcher, but you don’t have to pull it back the entire way to get some great distance. I know I sure as heck can’t throw a ball as far as this thing launches. The ball holder on it is useless as the ball falls out constantly, but that’s not a make or break for me. Great toy for playing with your pup!tabitha.p

I own a Pet Sitting business…One of my favorite Furbabies got raise for Christmas. Apollo is a Golden Doodle and LOVES for me to throw the ball for him! He would wear me out after an hour, but would still continue to bring the ball back to me. THIS K-9 KANNON is now MY favorite thing! It is so much easier and goes much further than I can throw it. The only problem is, I have to take it inside and hide it or he will never go to the bathroom! I'm pretty sure Apollo sleeps well after I leave. I need to get 1 or 2, to keep in my car.member-c62c46007

Our Mini Australian Shepherd is always ready for ball time. When I saw the Kannon advertised in a Bed Bath and Beyond catalog I had to check it out. Found a lot of positives online and decided to purchase one. Walmart was roughly $1.00 cheaper, but they also had ship to store for free. We have a Walmart store but not a BBB store locally. So the savings were greater going with Walmart. The K-9 Kannon does exactly what it says. Our dog loves the boom boom. Sure does save on the throwing arm. When this one wears out we will definitely purchase another.sarameloncholy

I purchased this ball launcher after struggling with tennis elbow. The launcher is well made but is heavy as its made of steel. I personally found it too heavy to carry on a walk to the park around it and back home again. I was also a little disappointed with the ball launch itself as the balls wouldn't go as far as my ball flinger unless i stretched the elastic along way, which was hard to do time and time again. My wife was unable to hold it and pull it back due to the weight and strength of the elastic.davebersted

Sends the ball a suitable distance; not so far the dog loses it, but far enough to make the dog work. Much easier than throwing. But very poor materials and design. Ours lasted maybe 50 shots before the rubber snapped. Certainly wouldn't buy again.ShaunC

Bought this to appease my dog (with her love of chasing tennis balls) and to save my shoulder. Rotator cuff problems. Getting the hang of it took me awhile but once I mastered it, it works pretty good. The distance one can achieve is pretty impressive. Good product, simple idea that works, unit is sturdy, but the balls have already split. They're not as heavy duty as regular tennis balls. Overall I would recommend this.rukinzilla

This was a fun way to play catch while it lasted, but after a year the rubberband that shot the ball broke. It does launch the ball pretty far and it's fun to use. I paid almost $20 when I bought it, and I just wish it would've lasted longer.brittney.b

I have listed this as a good value. However, there are numerous listings for this item ranging from $94-$10. My 100+ pound lab mix absolutely loves the mini Kannon- in fact I keep spare brand new ones- but I would not pay $94…davidh4221

This thing gets some good distance and it allows my young children to play fetch with our dog. Its easy to use and works as designed. You definitely can make your dog very tired with this thing. For the price you truly can not beat this product, this is the smaller version and the next go around I'm getting the bigger one.joseph.b

Was skeptical when I bought it thinking it would be garbage, but it was on sale so I thought how bad can it be. It is worse. Maybe throws the ball 20 feet. Would have returned had I kept the receipt.Ryan1234

I bought this for my mom for Christmas because she has a Lab that LOVES to play catch. I had a few things I was worried about that ended up not being an issue at all: 1. My mom is in her 70s so I worried she would have trouble pulling the handle back. Ended up being a non issue pulls back easily someone older or a young child could pull it back 2. How far would it shoot. She has an okay size back yard but its not overly large and I didn't want it to shoot to far or to short. You determine how much power you want it to have based on how far you pull it back. It ended up working perfect for her average size back yard. 3. Would it be easy to load. Just so long as your dog is good about dropping the ball you just push the kannon right over the ball on the ground and it loads which makes it extra easy for my mom. Of course you can load it with the ball in your hand but after a few throws that ball can get pretty disgusting. Added bonus it has a place in the handle to put an extra ball so if you shoot the ball to an area the dog can't get it or you have another dog around thats a ball thief (like my dog) you have a backup at the ready. I would definitely recommend this to anyone with a dog to likes to play catch and if I remember correctly they even have one for small sized balls if you have a smaller dog.Morgan

Playing fetch with my corgi proved to be anything but joyful after a few throws. After developing "tennis elbow" on both right and left elbows, I had given up until I discovered the Hyper K9 Kannon™. Within hours after purchasing the first one, I knew I had to get a backup ASAP. My corgi has never been happier playing fetch! The Kannon™ shoots the ball farther than I've ever been able to throw one by hand. It's great to be able to aim the Kannon™ where I want the ball to go, making it easy to make sure my corgi doesn't get in harms way en route to pick up the ball. My only concern is that the heavy duty rubber band might break at an inopportune time. I bought the backup just in case that would happen. I didn't see any option to order replacement rubber bands so I'm not expecting the Kannon to last more than a year. But, it is a small price to pay to save my elbows while adding a "ton" of joy to my corgi's playtime. Replacement balls are available. My corgi likes to chew balls so after I quickly went through four balls with her, I had to find an alternative ball her teeth couldn't penetrate.BarbTUSA

Excellent!! It throws way better than the Chuck'it thrower. Chewy was out of this item and I didn't even know Sportsmans Warehouse even carried it!!! Happy Camper!!! Thanks!!JENNIFER

Works perfectly! Grabs onto most standard sized balls. I like that it is shorter than the Chuck it because I'm short and don't want to bug around a huge stick great productlax447474

I have had my launcher for about 3 weeks. I have a two year old, very active, German Shepherd mix who loves to play fetch. I have a large back yard. I am 75 years old and "chucking" the ball to the back fence was very difficult for me. Now, clear to the back fence it goes….and my arm doesn't get tired. What a happy dog I have!Grandma Jean

We have a Chuckit Sport Launcher and this one; you'd be surprised what a difference that extra grip makes. Would highly recommend purchasing a longer handle as you don't need to be bend over or crouch as much to pick up the ball and these also fit medium Chuckit Fetch balls.Anna

These work great for throwing the chuck it Ultra balls when playing fetch with your dog! Don't buy the generic ones they break very easily and don't last. The ones made for the chuck it balls haven't broken in about 6 months of use, The generic ones didn't last a month before the ends broke off of them and they aren't that much cheaper either! So spend the extra couple of buck snf get the real thing not the generic ones!pirates_chest

These are pretty neat. I originally purchased it because I have a high energy German Shepherd who adores playing fetch and I just couldn’t stomach having to pick up slobber and whatever else covered balls and frisbees anymore with my bare hands when he insists on one more throw. It definitely allows me to toss a ball a lot faster and further than I am able to otherwise so it’s a win win. I would suggest getting the rubber balls for the launcher because they typically come with 1-2 chuck it tennis balls and those are terrible quality and tear apart immediately. It took less than 3 minutes of our mini alligator dog to tear it up. I began using my regular Wilson tennis balls with the launcher and whilst the tennis balls are just a smidge too small, they seem to fit in the launcher well snd it does the job. Basically, if you have a fetch loving dog, buy this! Amazon sells them for fairly cheap!kristina.n

Luna the Weimaraner approved! Chuckit is Luna’s favourite toy brand and she loves getting a new ball. She carrys the thrower to me to tell me she wants to go to the park 😅greyson.b

I'll admit it, I throw like a girl. My dane/mastiff runs like Usain Bolt. So this chuck it is a life saver. Plus my boy slobbers like no other. So being able to pick up the ball without touching it is a HUGE plus. Everyone should have a chuck it. (Seems like most people do) they have so many types of balls too. You can use regular tennis balls too. It is low profile so i just keep it in my trunk. Thanks chuck it for making me not a terrible dog mom who can't throw a ball.alexa.r

Combined with the Max Glow ball, this is the best dog toy available on modern planet Earth. I have a burly 92lb. pit bull mix with highly developed prey drive, and she will chase the glow ball for hours if I let her. The tiny sport launcher (Sport 12M) is the best, because you can still throw the ball really far, but you can also slam the ball down a few feet away from yourself so it bounces up in the air and your dog has to jump to catch it, or you can throw it up really high so it bounces 15' away or so and your dog can jump to catch it. We sometimes have to play fetch in a pretty small area, so it's nice to have the small launcher for these games. The larger launchers aren't as fun in small areas. You can play the same games but it's trickier to throw the ball correctly. Also, the small launcher is a lot easier to carry. The small launcher fits in my dog-walk-stuff backpack (with the ball in the launcher so I don't have to dig for it later), but the big ones don't easily. The launcher also has a hole in the end so you can hang it from your bag or whatever with a carabiner. The big ones are too long for that in most cases, and swing back and forth. Also-also my dog loves to ask for the launcher, then when I give it to her she plays keep-away and it's adorable. The big launcher I have is harder for her to balance in her mouth, so she just lays down and chews on it until it gets taken away. She's chewed on all of the four Chuck Its we've owned, but she's only broken one (a big one), but that's because she got ahold of it when no one was home. The little one in my bag is totally chewed up but still works great. I think they're sturdier than the big ones. Except for the launcher she chewed into pieces, which was our fault, the only reason we've had to replace anything was because we lost it. Usually we keep the launcher and ball in the backpack so she can't get to them and so they don't get lost, so we rarely have to replace them. There is just not a better value in toys, and the startup price is really low. Once again I really recommend the glow ball! It doesn't get soggy no matter how wet the grass or the dog mouth is. It is fun to chase because it is slippery and it collapses when it's squeezed, so it pops out of the dog's mouth and flies away if they bite it at the wrong angle; it's really bouncy, and stays bouncy because it can't be popped; it whistles so you can usually hear it even if you can't see it; and it really glows enough for nighttime catch, even if you only have your cellphone flashlight to charge it up! UPDATE: I should have said, we have the 12M launcher, which means the handle is 12 inches long and it uses a medium-sized ball. The medium ball is 2.5 inches in diameter, so the launcher will fit regular tennis balls, too! But my dog won't play with regular tennis balls anymore because they aren't anywhere near as fun as the glow balls, and I think she doesn't like having gross sloshy muddy tennis balls in her mouth. I lost my short launcher awhile back and could only get a long one locally to replace it, which reminded me that you have to lean over a lot further to use the short launcher. So if you have trouble leaning over to the point that your hand is a foot above the ground, this may be hard for you to use. I wish Home Essentials Direct would let us choose colors, because my old one was green, and the big one is orange, both of which are bright enough to see in the grass from far away, even at night. Still, best toy!w.a.

I ordered 3 of these because we've had them before but wore them out after years of play. I opened one up and used it for approx 4 days and the ball is already toast. I could tell when we opened it that the ball was different than ones we've had in the past. This was the tennis ball as opposed to the ultra ball that it used to come with. You could see the seam, which I could tell was cheaply made and would not last. Pretty disappointing that half the product is a waste of money!Louupnorth

Exactly what I wanted! It fits our other Chuckit balls and just takes the strain off my cricket damaged shoulder/forearm. You still need to be able to throw and it doesn't send it miles (nowhere near as far as the full length version) BUT it fits in my coat pocket pretty much which has the advantage of hiding the ball from our doodle dog. Good for when we are in an inappropriate area and/or we want to lead walk him. It is quite expensive (relatively) and took 2 weeks to arrive but it is great!wajir2

Good gun, but mini tennis balls. I wish i would have known they are mini twnnins balls since i have a larger dog and these are too small. Plus, i cant use the normal tennis balls i have everywhere around here. Dissappointedfedorov5549

This is an awesome little gun. I purchased the mini because I liked that it was a smaller gun, but didn't realize that the balls would be smaller as well. That is my fault. We have a black lab and although she is on the smaller side, the balls are a little too small for her. They would be better suited to smaller breeds.kelskari

We're on our 5th one. The rubber bands wear out but we have so much fun that we can't stop buying them. It's much more fun than walking the kids for exercise since I have 4. My throwing is pretty pitiful so we're just fine now.Sharon

These are the ONLY balls tat my dog does not destroy! They have a great bounce and are very easy to throw with the Launcher and go at a great distance for my Lab/Boxer to chase down and even catch in the air. I like the fact that there is a hole for a hollow ball making it lightweight and collapses when chewed on for no damage to the ball or my dog! $200 please, could really use it about now to get food/treats/toys/harness etc!!! Petco is my only go-to for my pet stuff. Good selection, above board staff and prices are reasonable. Thanks!!Dbtthumper

I love that the ball goes way farther than I throw it. I am elderly women and have shoulder problems and it doesn't now hurt my shoulder at all to throw it with the Franklin. My Lab is THRILLED that he can now run to catch it, where before he would look at me as though he was saying, "Is that it? I can walk that far! It's not worth it." Now she's getting exercise!Yellenhelen

Muuten hyvä mutta en ymmärrä miksi siitä on muuntaja otettu pois,?Kuitenkin se alkuperäisessä sisällössä on.Mihin se on hävinnyt vai onko otettu sinä pois että voihan erikseen myydä?Muuta syytä en näe.Antakaa mulle vastaus,please????Niva