iFetch Automatic Ball Launcher

Product Description

Features

• TENNIS BALL DOG LAUNCHER: Our auto tennis ball thrower lets small to medium dogs play fetch to their hearts' content, and is excellent for your pet's physical and mental exercise! This compact and portable automatic dog ball launcher allows you to play ball-picking games with pets effortlessly, providing your pups hours of fun! Owner supervision is recommended
• ADJUSTABLE LAUNCH DISTANCE: Our dog fetch machine can launch a mini sized tennis ball 10, 20, or 30 feet in the air, and you can easily adjust the distance all with the touch of a button, making it easy to use indoors (under 10 feet) or outdoors (all distances). We recommend running a cloth through the machine periodically to maintain performance
• INDOOR AND OUTDOOR USE: Our ball shooter for dogs is perfect for providing entertainment both indoors and outdoors in the backyard, making our ball tosser a delightful companion for your pet
• WALL PLUG AND BATTERY POWERED: Our mini size tennis ball launcher includes a wall plug, and can also be used with 6 C-cell batteries (Not included) to supply power to the machine. When plugged in expect more power launching balls
• INCLUDES 3 MINI TENNIS BALLS: Our automatic dog ball launchers include 3 non-abrasive miniature sized tennis balls which measure about 1.5 inches in diameter (About the size of a golf ball), and are great for fetch. However, these balls are not meant for chewing and when too wet or dirty it may affect performance. Please periodically clean balls for best performance

Top Reviews

Ball Driven Dog Loves!!! (and so do we)
by Allen Hendren (5 out of 5 stars)
June 15, 2017

I usually do not take the time to write reviews but in this case wanted to clear some mis-information in other reviews.
1. The Launcher does not shut down after 60 seconds it just goes into sleep mode and the second you put a ball in it wakes up.
2. Distance might not be 40 feet but it is pretty darn good.

We have Three German Shepherds (two who are just turning 1 year old) and one is extremely fetch and throw obsessed to the point we were all being driven crazy. We set the unit up and in less than 10 minutes he was having the time of his life and we had peace. He and the other dogs had to learn the hard way that when the ball goes in and it makes its noise watch out or be beaned and we have found that tennis balls work the best.
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Complete Bust
by ambsmith (1 out of 5 stars)
April 17, 2017

I was so excited to try this, and so disappointed in the results. It might be fine for a small dog that doesn't require running far distances, but for larger dogs, it does not work. My largest complaint is that the balls do not release at a consistent distance. The first ball will launch, but as soon as the tennis ball gets slightly wet, which it after the first grab, it barely launches at all. The ball become stuck, the machine needs to be turned off to get it out, turned back on and then is shoots out maybe five feet. To keep it going I would need to have a fleet of tennis balls, and that defeats the purpose of having the dog drop them in the machine. For the expensive price tag, this item is a complete bust. I will be returning the iFetch Too.
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It seemed like it would hold up fine at first getting light ...
by Bree (4 out of 5 stars)
March 13, 2017

I purchased this on August 27, 2016 and have been using it to this day with my German Shepherd puppy. In terms of battery life and launching distance, it seems to perform just under the advertised 10, 15, 40 feet launch distance. I have had no problems with the battery when it is used, though more often than not since we use this indoors exclusively it is plugged in most of the time.

It seemed like it would hold up fine at first getting light use but as time has gone on and my dog has learned to use it himself, combined with his insatiable fetch lust the rubber gears that launch the ball just don't seem like they are going to hold up in the long run. The rubber has started to rub away and more and more often I hear the sounds of the ball being launched once or twice, then a hissy fit of a tantrum while my dog paws at the machine because the ball gets stuck. I can't let him use it unless I am personally around to unstick it as no one else will, and he takes out his frustration on the machine, chewing up the rubber feet and recently the blue ring in the front. I wish the rubber held up better and sadly I am experiencing these problems just after the 6 month warranty passed so I'm out of luck.

Overall I will say the machine works for the most part as advertised, and my dog loves it to bits, but it just doesn't seem it's going to last much longer with the gears wearing away. If you have a dog who adamantly plays fetch while this may keep him happy, if its used a lot don't expect it to last more than a year.

Edit: iFetch Customer support did reached out to me and let me know that it is in fact a 1 year warranty and not 6 months. I got in touch with them and they offered to not only send a brand new unit to replace the faulty one, but also paid for the return shipping on the old one. I was very impressed that they did that little extra and I am pleased to report no issues with the new unit so far, though time will tell. I will say the unit definitely did not work the second it was plugged in, but after a 14 hour charge time it worked perfectly so if your unit doesn't work right out of the box, give it time to charge and try again. Thanks iFetch!
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Awesome but not perfect
by charlie Hill (4 out of 5 stars)
January 7, 2015

Absolutely love this and so does my dog. The only thing keeping me from giving a five star rating is the balls. They are kind of cheap and don't last long. My dog is only 4 pounds and he kills the balls in less than a week. The replacement balls are very expensive 5 for $25. I did find that the Kong 1.5 inch squeaker balls work great and are WAY less expensive. All and all I highly recommend!!
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Pretty good concept
by Feitclub (3 out of 5 stars)
May 5, 2017

OK so first off, the item is exactly as pictured and described. That being said there are a few potential changes that would be ideal and allow me to give 5 stars instead of 3....

The drop shaft cone should be higher so when balls are dropped in, they don't bounce/fall out. It would also allow more balls to be placed in at once for prep in shooting.

The shooter needs to adjusted, or the mechanism reconfigured, so that only 1 ball is released at a time. Instead, at least on the small one, it shoots 2-3 at a time.

Lastly, it would be super great if this thing worked through an app to provide remote control of the ifetch - that'd be a complete game changer.

Bottom line, the dogs love it and hopefully they'll learn how to consistently drop the balls in on their own.
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Cannot be used as a doggie self-entertainment device - auto-off after 60 seconds kills puppy fun
by Malcolm (1 out of 5 stars)
March 11, 2017

This device is intended for people who want to teach their dogs to put a ball into the machine, have the machine throw the ball a controlled distance, and then when the dog has chased the ball, have the dog able to return and drop the ball again into the machine - it's intended to be a self-fetching machine.

This is not a self-fetching machine for dogs.

I ran the machine for a few trial runs in my family room. The engineering is poor for the following reasons:

Most significantly, this machine has been designed to work on battery, so when it is plugged in, it is really only in "charge" mode. That in itself is not a big deal - but the machine has been designed to aggressively protect battery life - so after about 60 seconds, if the machine has detected no ball, it turns itself completely off.

What this means in doggie life is that if your rover doesn't get that ball and drop it in the machine in 60 seconds, and you aren't there to push the small power button, the machine ceases to work, and doggie is just left facing a machine that isn't doing anything with a ball stuck inside.

The second major engineering flaw is that, while this machine uses tennis balls as its ammunition, it uses two spinning wheels as the throwing mechanism. If you, like me, have a dog who likes to chew a ball before getting to the next throw, the ball will eventually have some puncture holes. These holes change the resistance of the tennis ball to the throwing wheels so instead of creating pressure to throw the ball very far, the machine limply burps the ball out only a few feet.

Ultimately, using solid balls would potentially solve the wheel/deflated ball problem - but the "instant off, no recovery" power problem is a deal killer.

My intention was to set this thing up in the basement family room, and on a rainy day, give my puppy a treat by taking her down there, turning on the machine, pushing the button and letting her do her thing with the ball, return, chase loop (with training).

You CANNOT use this device for dog "self-entertainment" -- the power will go off and the dog's game is over. The auto-off timer is a GRAVE flaw and made this a return item for me.
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My family of 6 COTON DE TULEAR dogs love the I fetch
by Sandy Schweighardt (3 out of 5 stars)
October 28, 2014

My family of 6 COTON DE TULEAR dogs love the I fetch! One of my males ripped the blue rings off when he gets hyped up waiting for the ball to fly so I spayed them with bitter apple. Hes inpatient at times. I wish it could fit bigger balls like the XSMALL rubber CHUCKIT ULTRA BOUNCE BALLS!! Not tennis ball type. Unfortunately the chuckit won't fit. The balls are JUNK and i threw all of them away. I replaced them with KONG XSMALL Sqeeky balls that come 3 in a pack. Their 10 times durable then the Ifetch ball. cheaper! fly better! bounce better and last longer.
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Doesnt launch as far, doesnt hold charge
by Shamit M. (3 out of 5 stars)
October 22, 2017

My husband bought this for our 1.5yr old border collie to use when we're gone. It took a couple of minutes to teacher her to self use it.

Pros: she gets tired from it and is actually able to self use it. Not sure about other breeds, but a border collie is easy to train with it.

Cons:
*After fully charging it, the Low Battery indicator pops up after about 10 launches. So it has stayed plugged in. So battery is an issue....
*If most definitely does not launch 40ft, maybe 15-20. It is on the correct setting, all the blue lights are on.
*It gets super slobbery and then it doesn't seem to launch as far. I dry it out, but it just keeps happening.
*There's some weird build up inside from all the slobber and hairs from the ball so I'm worried that the spinners that launch the ball might get super nasty and not work.
*A few times the ball has dropped down and didn't launch and I had to put a second ball in to get the first to shoot out. My poor dog gets frustrated and hasn't learned (yet) to get another ball and try it.
*It doesn't come with a sensor for pet safety. I have stuck my hand out in front to see if it would hurt, and it definitely would if it hit the right spot. With a sensor, it might give her a little more time to run after she puts the ball in.

Overall it does make her tired, but I don't think it's going to last.
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Let's play Fetch!
by Tamera (5 out of 5 stars)
July 14, 2017

Bought this for my 12 pound toy fox terrier. He LOVES it! We can play for hours. I was hesitant at first because of the size of the balls, but now that I've seen him with them I'm not worried. It is sooooo much fun! *CAUTION- don't play for long periods of time on carpet. The pads of his feet became bloody and red from running and sliding across the floor to wall carpeting in my house. We now play outside in the grass and have had no issues.* Easy to travel with. I would buy this item again and recommend it to others.
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A perfect companion for a dog
by The Reviewer (5 out of 5 stars)
April 20, 2017

Just to start with, I hate the customer service because of the first version of iFetch. They are not friendly and not interested in helping.

Even though the first one was a huge failure for my dog (everything was a limitation) and their customer service was horrible, I had to try out the "iFetch too" version with fear but backed up by amazon excellent service, I could take that chance.

My dog is a boston terrier 2 yr old and is very active. His play time involves ball for more than 5 hrs a day. So we wanted something like this and since he was already trained on the first generation of the ifetch, he immediately realized that it is a bigger version and started playing on it from day 1 of the machines arrival. He has been playing with it indoors and outdoors for almost every day 2 hrs total for the past 5 months. I repeat: every day 2 hrs for the past 5 months and the machine has not shown any symptoms of breaking down like the one before. So there is no need to contact customer service as of now. I do charge it every day, clean it once every 2 weeks, especially when he plays outside with it. When playing outside, we tend to monitor him and change tennis balls frequently to avoid the slobber problem, since it slows down the tennis ball. Also, when the tennis ball is more wet, he tends to catch at the opening it self rather than chasing it. We use Penn tennis balls for this and they seem to work well.

He can be considered as a beta tester for this model and he is pushing limits of the machine even when I am writing this review. He does play by himself now and takes rest in between and plays again and goes on doing that. Will definitely be interested to buy more of their products in future and definitely will recommend this version.
******Update*****

Still going strong after having it for 9 months now. Just continuing to clean and change tennis balls when they get too wet. Still recommend and 5 stars
******Update*******

More than a year now and still going super strong. I just opened up the back of the iFetch to clean and found a lot of grass (my dog plays outdoor) and ball fur stuck in there (see pic). Cleaning was easy and it is good to go again.
******Update*******

Finally after 1.8 years of service the iFetch crashed on us. The rubber rolls inside eroded and item is broke now. Ordering one more now.

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