Hyper Pet Dog Ball Thrower Launcher for Dogs 25.5"- Includes 2.5" Tennis Ball for Fetch - for All Breeds

You would imagine that this being an elastic band launcher that the band or trigger mech would be wear items. Yes ? You would be wrong, the part that fails first is the housing, the trigger mech pivots on plastic pins that are part of the gun housing, and these break off making the unit unusable and unrepairable.If the complete trigger pivot mech was made of steel and would screw in as an assy, this launcher would have a much better ROI, PS This gets used everyday 30+ launches a day. Since I have 2 broken ones I will make a metal trigger pivot assy and see how it works.

The media could not be loaded. This is my dogs absolute favorite thing to play with. He will literally go for an hour at a time fetching one ball and bringing it back to drop it in the tray so it will launch again. He is a medium sized dog(around 60lbs) and he will get rather aggressive pawing at the machine because he’s to impatient to wait for the ball to roll to the bottom of the track. I’ve had a couple other launchers and would constantly have to stand them back upright, but the GoDogGo has a large enough base it isn’t an issue. One feature I would like to see on it would be a different launch pattern, or maybe random variable launch time. He knows when it’s going to go off and often walks in front of it too soon or just plain drops the ball and stands in the launch path. But if you have a high energy and impatient dog that’s more than 40 lbs then don’t waste your money on a cheaper machine and give this one a go. There might be more expensive options out there, but for the price this is a very sturdy and well built unit.

1st off, the machine is better built than another machine from petsafe. Ive been in both machines now and determined the plastic, the design on how the parts go together, and the wire, especially the wiring is far superior in this machine. There is still a bit of hot glue but in more appropriate places to ensure circuitboard components are a bit more secure. Feels like more thought went into this product or it's already had a countless number of revisions. GoDogGo does claim to have been the first dog ball launcher on the market. No wear to be found when I looked for it during covid but I do remember it from before.That being said, special instructions about needing to be ON to charge, not touching the sensor, etc... Dogs don't read and humans often don't either, so engineering these issues out, probably would have been a good idea. Still the labels and instructions are present and that says alot in itself. The instruction leaflet, the one that came in my second launcher, looks to be more flushed out than the last. So I once again followed said instructions only to find... DOA battery pack in a new machine, said it was charged but upon disconnecting from the wall, nothing, no power.Strike 1, first machine failed in 6 months, Strike 2, company and seller seemingly non existent when trying to address the problem and their website literally says to contact us here for further assistance smf troubleshooting. I rather have had a troubleshooting page with potential answers than to not hear from them at all while I throw another $130 at them for another launcher. Strike 3, the new machine arrives with a DOA battery pack.However, assuming I didn't have these failures and the issue with getting in contact with the company, the launcher itself is probably a 4 overall, when it was working it worked well. Engineering out a few of the issues like the charging, sensor switch, and potentially making it more incline to be out in the weather as it's an outdoor toy, probably increase it's cost, but I rather have a machine that is more durable for a bit more that I know will last than one that is cheaper and dies in 6 months. Especially on a machine that claims to have been first. If you order this product and end up with no issues and follow the instructions than you and your pet should very much enjoy the no slime covered joy of your dogs running around like idiots chasing balls around the yard.UPDATE: Tested new launcher, same issue, stuck in continuous fire. Opted to have, now my third one, sent out to me and send the other back via Kohls returns and see if third time really is the charm. If it doesn't work I'm going back to the Petsafe model, at least I got years out of it regardless of being a bit more fragile and a rat nest of small wires.

My dog loves this thing but after 3-4 hours of play the kicker failed. This is the second one. My neighbor bought one and it failed in the same manner. Not very durable!Kelly is broken hearted that I took it away from her.In the photo you can see how the green kicker is cocked off to one side and the silver axle is crooked.I'm sending it back tomorrow.UPDATEWe have purchased 6 and returned 4 between myself and my neighbor.I recommend setting the spring on the low position the kicker seems to last longer that way.The kicker is held in place by a small pin that might have fallen out on the ones we returned.The micro switch is not sealed and if it gets water in it the machine stops working blow it out with air.A 5+ inch #2 Phillips screw driver is required to open it up.After several attempts the manufacturer has not responded to any of my messages and they don't list a phone number.UPDATE 2It seems the seller no longer responds to requests for parts and warranty but Amazon is still selling them and as of today 12-8-2022 says they have quite a few still in stock. They offered to accept a return after 5 months because of the seller’s lack of responding.After looking at the others hard I still like this model best BUT it has lots of little issues you need to know how to fix them. As noted above when the kicker gets stuck in a cocked position a long screw driver can finish rotating it back to the starting position. The micro switch isn't sealed so it becomes fouled with slobber and needs to be blown out with air. I replaced the micro-switch with a sealed one. The switch operator gets frozen in the winter and has to be thawed out and then blown dry. The battery quits and the unit has to run from the 12 volt power supply.The motor came loose from the gearbox and had to be repaired which required opening up the gear box. The mechanism is a rotating bat and can accept smaller balls. My dog likes the handballs Amazon sells better than tennis balls as they bounce better.The Pet Safe model also uses a bat type mechanism but it has too many safeties that would confuse my dog she has no patience for waiting and standing back 7 feet. Plus the Pet Safe model has a 2 year warranty and this one only has 6 months.Even with the lack of support I’m probably going to buy another one.Update 3It is finally dependable I added 1 more star.I have several godoggo automatic ball launchers purchased here on Amazon.https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0162O3MYS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsThey come with a micro switch to detect a rubber ball is in position for launch. It is a poor choice for the job. Dog Slobber rain can get to the switch which isn't sealed and cause the launcher to stop working. Also it can get snow and ice on it and the switch can't move. I tried sealed micro switches and that helped the water problem but not the snow and ice. This was one reason I purchased several of these so i could always have a working one out for my dog while repairing the failed ones.So now for this sensor. I mounted it right above where the rubber ball sits to be launched. I adjusted the trim pot on the back so it would detect the ball when in position and then turn off after the ball had been launched. Easy to adjust using the LED on the butt end next to the trim pot. The sensor drives a small relay https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0BCGD7QVH?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details that replaces the OEM micro switch. My dog gave it a good test today the first day i had it set up and it never missed. She has a burnt orange ball and a blue ball both are hand balls sold here on Amazon. It detected both colors no problem.https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0108OI27A/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_5?smid=A2CVB1QINU068&psc=1The launcher was made for tennis balls but these hand balls bounce much better and now she doesn't like tennis balls much at all.This sensor isn't much more than one of the sealed micro switches i was using.In the photos you can see where the ball sits to be launched with the new sensor directly above it. In the second picture you can see the snow and ice buildup that is where the micro switch lever is located. The yellow circle was the first sensor I tried and it didn't work out. The range on it was only 1-10mm where as this one is now 10-30cm. Third picture shows the mounting bracket I had to make as the new sensor didn't come with one. The scrap of wood will be cleaned up eventually. The rubber boot covering the tail end of the sensor is something I just had in my junk drawer.When the ball rolls down the ramp into the launch position the sensor sees it and starts the motor. The ball gets kicked out and the motor stops in the starting position waiting for the next ball. The test yesterday was about 0-5 F outside and the sensor never drifted or required adjustment. I'm going to upgrade at least one of the other 2 machines when the new sensors arrived.You have to have some shop and electrical skills to make these changes but as you can see from the rest of my review and the reviews others have made there are some issues. Right now my biggest complaint it no spare parts. I've broken one spring so far and had already requested some spares a couple of months ago so I had one when I needed it. The motor and gearbox are not available from the manufacturer or anywhere else I can find so if that fails you are SOL.

There are allot of these to choose from and we couldn’t have done better picking this one. Andy LOVE’S playing fetch and now love’s this new toy. It seems very durable and makes a cool noise that gets his attention every time. Very good find!