iFetch Too

I have had the iFetch for a week, and my Toy Rat Terrier loves it. It seems well-made and sturdy to me. My dog learned to feed the ball in himself in just a short time, though he does likes it better if I play, of course. The chute does get slobbery, but I have wiped it out after each play session and all is well. I have always had to put those little Kong balls away after play or they, too, get shredded, so that is not an issue I blame on the iFetch. Once a cover has lifted even a little, though, the ball will no longer work in the iFetch.I like the 3 distance settings. The wind-up does give my dog time to get in front of the machine, and he occasionally catches it right out of the shoot, but this doesn't have enough force to hurt him and he likes that, too.I have another toy dog who is a lot softer than my terrier, and no way she would play with this machine, even though she likes fetch. Some dogs would be intimidated, I am sure, so know your dog before you buy.UPDATE:Still going strong after 3 months of almost daily play. My dog gets so excited when I bring the IFetch out! Some pieces of advice, though. After a bit, even with daily cleaning out with spray cleaner and a paper towel, the slobbery fuzz will build up in the tube and around the launcher wheels. You need a long-handled tool to get this cleaned up. I recommend a bottle brush. Another thing that has happened -- my dog has learned that if he pokes the ball in hard, it will sometimes do a premature launch ... he loves this, but the IFetch does not, and it often jams. As a result, I have to baby-sit every throw.. I am going to experiment with a funnel device to make the intake tube longer, so he can't do this, and I can enjoy more remote play. Still love it!

Worst idea ever for a company to try and create a product that is exclusive and not able to offer a solution, better balls, or the ability to buy balls outside of their brand.I opened the box and was excited as my dog loves to play fetch for a ridiculous amount of time. But he also likes to chew on balls. Machine worked great, stable when winding up and throws well.BUT!!5 ball launches later (back to back in quick succession) i realized he went back to drop the ball in the hopper, and i didn't hear it wind up. So i walked over and saw the ball was already split into 2, and flattened out and obviously couldn't fit through the hole. I originally thought, "no big deal, he's rough with the balls, I'll just buy some harder chew proof balls."WELL, nobody offers a chew proof ball of this size (1.5")(small launcher option). Not even THE COMPANY THAT SOLD THIS EXCLUSIVE MACHINE!!!!! They just thought: "buy cheapest balls that exist in China, and make people keep buying them." Well, idk about everyone else. But if i calculated a day if using the machine and the time he went through ball. I'm estimating about 3-5 balls to be needed to purchase DAILY. Just for him to enjoy the machine. Which at 3 balls per day is about 1,000 balls per year. And even if the balls were like $0.50 (which they are not) that's a $500 expense per year to play fetch.........What a joke. Worst company with worst business model with worst quality supplimental products with the worst concept for a dog toy i have ever seen in my entire life.The machine is great and highly recommended if your dog has no teeth or missing his/her bottom jaw which would make it impossible for them to chew agressively...... But i would imagine that kind of dog doesn't play fetch.........If your dog has teeth and why strength in his jaw. This toy is not for your dog.

I gave the iFetch five stars because it is exactly what I expected. I bought it for my 10 year old toy poodle, Archie, and he learned how it works in about three minutes, and loves playing with it. There are two minor issues I have with it that aren’t big enough to take any stars away and overall it’s a lot of fun and we LOVE it. Sometimes I have to put it up at bedtime so that we know it's time to be done playing, and the next evening when I get home from work we immediately ask for it to be gotten out again. :)Shipping was fast and it comes nicely packed. I ordered batteries that arrived with it. I already had a few packages of the Kong extra-small squeak balls that also work in the machine, also available on Amazon Prime for $2.99 a pack.The iFetch runs on either 6 C batteries, or it comes with an adapter that can be plugged into the wall. The batteries lasted a couple weeks that included a solid 1-2 hours of play each day. The electric cord works great and fits the plug well. This is where one of my two complaints come in, and that is the cord is four or five feet long which would seem generous, but I have found it difficult to find a place to plug it in and have it sit in the middle of the floor as is necessary in both my house and two friends homes. We had to use an extension cord, but it’s not a major issue.Since we have only played with this in a small apartment we only use the lowest setting which shoots it about ten feet. The machine is a little more powerful when running on electricity, so keep that in mind when choosing a setting. Sometimes Archie likes to stand in front of it and try and catch it (bless his heart, he never does) and it has hit him in the chest, nose, head, and has never caused more than a shake of the head and a sneeze when it hit him directly on the nose. Each next higher setting shoots it about another ten feet, which increases the force the ball comes out with.My only other issue, which really isn't a product problem, is Archie usually drops the ball into the toy from a few inches above it. Because of the bowl design, the ball will frequently swirl around the edge and pop out. A deeper design wouldn't allow that to happen.I highly recommend this toy for those little dawgies that love to fetch. It’s easy to train, but you have to know your dog and what it will like as well as how it needs to be trained to use it. To see video of Archie learning how to play with the iFetchhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFAc4vuseRgTo answer some of the critics whose poor ratings made me hesitate to purchase the product.:Too noisy: My dog wasn’t in the least bit phased by the noise, and now the increasing pitch and click of the ball release indicates to him that the ball is about to be launched. I don’t think it’s noisy at all. I’ve posted a video, so you can check it out yourself.Ball shoots out too hard: I’d say it depends on the setting. I would recommend that you make sure your dog isn’t struck by the ball until he/she has been fully trained and understands getting hit with the ball isn’t part of the game. Then, if she does happen to be struck by a ball and it hurts, she will quickly learn to stay out of the way.Balls get stuck in the machine: The tennis ball type covering can get a bit frayed after a lot of play. I just grab a scissors and trim off around the balls and we’re good to go for a few more hours of play. Archie doesn’t drool a lot so the balls don’t get that wet.Balls are too small: This product was designed for small dogs and even so, a large dog is not going to choke on the balls. Dogs are not like toddlers and although they might eat a ball, they won’t choke on it. My toy poodle likes to play with marbles and grapes…..has never choked. However, it looks like there is now a toy for large dogs called the iFetch Too.