I love the concept of this. My dog learned to use it easily and loved it. I received the 1st one of these and in just a day, my dog was using it. On the 3 rd day it broke- the manufacturer responded quickly, I sent it back and a new one was shipped to me. Again, my dog loved it- sadly in the 1st week the 2nd idogmate stopped working.
It is difficult to clean, and there is no way to take it apart to clean the gears etc. If you want to use this item in the house, so it doesn't get dirt or mud- I think it would be great. For a hard playing, ball fanatic- I don't think this lasts long enough for the cost.

I bought this for my very active chocolate lab hoping that it would perform as advertised. I purchased it expecting that its claim of launching a tennis ball 50 ft was accurate. Unfortunately it doesn't perform as advertised. When set to the furthest distance the ball would travel thru the air 15-20 ft max. I think that the 50ft distance includes rolling.

If you're looking for an automatic ball thrower for a small dog I can see this working, but I'd recommend getting a chuck-it and saving your money for something else. Cool Idea tho

Great in theory. I taught my dogs to use it by themselves. One problem started about a month after the product arrived. At any setting higher than 2, the machine believes there are two balls prepped for launch. As a result, after launching the ball, it goes through the motion of launching another, which throws off the dogs and they end up stopping the routine.

So far, so good. Our last one was a little cheaper and broke instantly so we were happy to see this one work right away. The dog figured it out instantly and seems to love it!

This is amazing. My dog LOVES this launcher. She figured it out in one day. She is obsessed with tennis balls so this is perfect ! We play fetch at the dog park all the time but sometimes these Minnesota winters are simply TOO cold to be outside for any length of time. I didn't open the package of balls that came with the machine in case I didn't want to keep it. We have tennis balls all over the house that she uses. Any standard tennis ball is perfect. I use it only for indoor use as I want to keep it clean and nice. Outdoors I prefer to personally play with my dog and throw the ball myself with a ball tossing stick.

This was the second machine I ordered. The first one was a little bit less expensive but it had way too many "safety" features that frustrated my dog and me both. Sent it back. This one, is perfect. I can't think of anything negative thing to say about it. It's super easy for the dog to load herself, it's not loud, it's stable in that it really can't be knocked over, easy to carry around when necessary, and uses any standard tennis ball that you can buy anywhere. I highly recommend this unit. One funny thing however is the owners manual. Whoever wrote that book has an almost comical grasp of the English language.