What do people feel about the correct age to introduce these? Will and George had them quite early on as I remember, but that was years ago and I don't know what the current thinking is. Henry has just found half of an old tennis ball on the beach and was thrilled to bits with it, but I remain cautious about possible damage to his legs if I let him do too much, too soon. Having followed the rubbish advice from the breeder not to let him off the lead for what seemed an eternity (believing that to be current thinking) I would rather now check to see what forum members are doing and get sane and sensible advice. I remember it really helped Will to focus on me as a pup when we were on the beach and not join all and sundry. Grateful for all thoughts, Lynne
There are mixed feelings on ball chuckers. I don't use one (mainly because I tried once, couldn't do it and nearly broke someone's window! ) but I think they're fine in moderation, especially when used it as a reward, rather than as a means of exercising your dog. You see people who just use them to throw ball after ball after ball for their dog, which is bad for their joints, and is just so mindless. It's easy to end up with a ball-obsessed dog through using them too much, too. For a puppy, I'd only have them retrieve a ball (or anything) a maximum of a couple of times in any walk, because the stopping is really hard on their joints. To be honest, I only use balls as a reward for something else done well (be that a retrieve, walking nicely to heel, a stop whistle, recall etc); it keeps the ball as a high value reward, which is very useful. I found myself getting into the habit of throwing pine cones all the time a little while back, so I've stopped that, too, and similarly only play with these on rare occasions or as a reward. I'd also say, the world is so new to a puppy that it's all there to discover and it almost seems sad to concentrate his focus onto a single object at such a young age, rather than having him sniff all the smells, feel all the new textures under his paws etc. There's plenty of time for balls later, when you might need that extra help in getting his attention. I think it's very important, also, to train your pup that not every ball is his ball! My boy, Shadow, loves balls with a passion, and would chase after one thrown by someone else. It's not something we come across often, but I could see it would have been a problem. So, I do lots of trowing balls with him not being allowed to chase it.
I'm sure other people will be along with different opinions, though, so it's good to hear other sides. To be honest, I live in the mountains, so balls tend to disappear quite quickly, off into France or Spain... They're definitely not as common here as in the UK!
There are clearly thousands and thousands of dogs that repeatedly chase balls thrown from chuckers day in and day out and come to no harm whatsoever, doing hundreds of repeats every walk. But I think it's wise to think about how often a dog repeats a high impact action, and slamming on the brakes for a ball is definitely high impact exercise. I think moderation for puppies (and indeed all dogs) is always a good decision, myself. I personally also dislike ball chuckers because I think dogs can easily become obsessed and I dislike seeing manic, tongue on the floor, too excited to think dogs, and the ball chucker can become the only thing that can manage a dog like that - so the owner throws more balls, and the dog gets more obsessed. Not all dogs are like this though! I use a ball chucker as as steadiness exercise - I'm working on my dog being able to be perfectly calm while a tennis ball is thrown at high speed from a ball chucker and be able to follow a cue to turn and walk away from the thrown ball if I ask him to do so. Once he can do this, I intend to use a ball chucker - so I can throw tennis balls far into long grass for him to hunt out (in long grass he'll have to slow down to hunt, rather than slam on the brakes).
I have a ball chucker for Juno which we sometimes take out on walks so we can have a play in the field on the way home. I've always played with balls with Juno for her to run and fetch. Although she has ED we still have her run out to retrieve balls, we just have her wait until the ball has stopped rolling to reduce stress caused by turning/deceleration on joints. I've never had a problem with Juno chasing after any other balls, perhaps because I've never routinely used as rewards for training etc. Don't know, at the end of the day all dogs are different.
I think it's probably largely to do with the dog. I train my two with the same methods and Willow would never run after another person's ball. Shadow has a far stronger chase instinct in general. It's less about the object and more about the movement with him. If you chucked a bag of flower, he'd chase it. I like the idea of using a chucker to throw a ball into cover for hunting. Even if you did it blind, it would save so much walking! As long as there are no windows around for me to break...
I use ball chuckers. Great for steadiness training especially as so many people use them. Also great for getting 5 or 6 balls out for lining exercises, saves a huge amount of walking!!!
I use a short ball chucker, only occasionally and into long grass, or an overgrown area. I get Benson to wait by my side, then send him out to hunt for the ball. I use the rabbit skin ones and they work quite well in a short ball chucker.
Honestly, I'm having a physical reaction to it. I just shivered when I read it again! If I were a polar bear, I'd be pacing. I have issues.
I typed 'no' when I meant 'know', so very embarrassing as I do 'no' the correct spelling and placing of the word 'know'
Here's a tip when playing with a ball. Let go of the lead when your dog starts to run. I forgot Saba was on his lead (he was walking so beautifully), threw his ball, and ended up face-planted on the field! . 'Nuff said.
My girl isn't into chasing balls. Except for the beach, running in the shallows and into waves. If I relied on chucking myself she would be poorly entertained My SIL's dog is ball-obsessed and would jump up at the ball and chucker to get it from you I don't use it so much when she is around any more - so irritating.....
I first just used a ball without the chucker, then introduce the chucker when Dexter was about 4-5 months old. I now have two Chuckit ones, pocket size and a longer one. We have so much fun with a ball, with or without a chucker and really valuable for training too as Dexter works hard for a chance to zoomie with the ball or find it in long grass or amoungst the pebbles on the beach.
Thanks everyone for all thoughts, I will introduce H to one gradually and with caution and see what he makes of it. When Will was an old gentleman with a stiff shoulder I used a launcher to throw the ball into the sea for him to retrieve so that he took most of his exercise on the walk as a swim ( if that makes sense) so it was really useful. Also I am hopeless at throwing balls without one. At the moment I am not using one on George's walks as H is always with us. H did find a ball at our allotment but was causing havoc in the veg patch by digging around it - I have since fenced in these areas to protect the plants and my sanity ...........
Fred loves to play ball. I use a ball chucker, because I am rubbish at throwing balls. I use the short handle one. It is great for steadiness training and I put out more than one ball too, before sending Fred out to get them. It make a change from dummies.
