Ball flinger things

[apricot72]

What is the general consensus on those long spoon type ball flingers?

I have 2 collies who like balls. (Understatement.) I also have a 2 small boys (2 years and 6 months) and am currently on mat leave. We live at the end of a track and are surrounded by fells and fields and we all spend a lot of time outside.

2 year olds being what they are though, a lot of our walks consist of random amblings / decapitating flowers / jumping in puddles etc and we don't cover much ground. To give the dogs something to do I tend to take the ball flinger and hurl the ball round whilst DS1 does his thing (and DS2 moans quietly in the sling). But are there any downsides to the flingers, I'm thinking too much high impact running etc or am I just worrying about my precious dogs too much? Do other people find them a godsend as well? I should add that the dogs do get other exercise and stimulation as well as we both run on the fells and when my husband isn't at work we go on proper walks with children in backpacks.

Obviously I'm training DS1 to be able to master the flinging action thus occupying him and the dogs while I put my feet up....

I have 2 collie crosses and the pup loves the ball flinger. I think as long as you are on sympathetic terrain then it is great fun for them.

A word of warning though. I gave myself tennis elbow flinging the ball for the dog with one of these. Approach with caution.

I have tennis elbow as well - I lie in bed at night stretching my arm and feeling generally sorry for myself.

I wouldn't be without my ball flinger though. We have some walks where he demands the ball, and others where he prefers to bog snorkle, swim or generally rampage through the woods.

Cannot see why you would worry about it?

I have a ball flinger - dont use it all the time when out walking but it is a good distraction when required and great for flinging it in water so lab can swim out to it .

I wouldn't necessary use it constantly with a pup because the sudden turning and pounding could cause some joint problems.

I found the flinger a godsend when I had knee op and wasn't as mobile as I usually am .

When I say "Pup" he is 3 as opposed to 15 (who doesn't chase things anymore and is currently asleep on my feet so that she will know when I move).

I would be wary of toenails on hard surfaces. We usually use ours in fields or the large green beside the children's playpark (there is a fence round the playpark so the dcs play and I stand the other side of the fence with the dogs and fling the ball for Pup.

I got one for mine, he ate it.

I did like it though for the first three times I got to use it.

My vet asked if we played ball lots with our dog, when I said yes she pointed out it was wearing his canines down!

Glad everyone else seems to use them as much as I do then. Perhaps I should stop fretting over trivial issues concerning my dogs and remember that I have 2 children needing attention too!

My collies would leave home if I got rid of their ball flinger. Working collies can (and do) run 60 miles per day, so I really don't think you need to worry about a bit of ball chasing.

Make it more fun by making them think. Throw it over a hedge or back wards, or anything different really so it is more of a challenge.

singnet do you have a labrador by any chance?

My lab ate the first one too !

I think they're great when you've got to exercise the dogs and keep an eye on children simultaneously. The little people can putter about while you throw the ball for the dogs. I'd bring a few extra balls for the children to throw free-hand as my kids have not been able to master the flinging action of the chuck-it yet. They do make a shorter length one; I'm not sure if that would work better for kids?

My dog doesn't really understand the concept of bringing the ball back but she likes chasing it .

noinspiration - my collies are not overendowed with brains, thinking is not one of their strong points...! I throw the ball somewhere exciting and a bit tricky and they stand and stare at me blankly. Cue me frantically running off into ditch / stream / over walls while 2 dogs and 2 children stand and look bemused. But I keep trying.

Collie Springer cross (see profile) but I think he actually is Lab in there somewhere his shape is very lab like.

I have a Duck Toller who loves the "spoon" as my minded children call it. We go to a small enclosed park where the children can run round safely. I take the ball flinger so that the dogs get some exercise.

When I'm not minding, we go to the big park where we don't take the flinger as he doesn't need it.

The dog always brings the ball back to be thrown again in the flinger, but also brings it back to the children to thrown the ball for him too.

If I didn't have the flinger, he wouldn't get much exercise at all during the week.

Apricot72

I loved mine.

My spaniel couldn't work out why I kept chucking the ball away again after he dutifully brought it back for me twice, and after that refused to participate

I find them a boon, especially if, like me, you throw like a girl, and/or have awful aim and lose toys/balls in rivers and trees.

signet your dog is sooooo like my Pup it is startling. We don't know what he is crossed with. He is very, very clever though and can run a marathon with dh and then goes out in the back garden to find a ball!

I think they look like spaghetti spoons.

I don't have one, I have a greyhound who doesn't have a clue what to do with balls or toys or anything. He's far too lazy to try and figure it all out :o

Apricot You say you throw the ball somewhere "tricky" and you are the one who fetches it whilst your collies look on. It seems to me that your collies are brighter than you think!!

Ha ha I was just about to say what wood rose did, those collies have got it sussed!!

carrot Mine did when he was younger, he is 8 now and unfortunately it would appear being the runt of the little has caught up with him as he has various health complaints. He lives a happy little life though and is spoilt rotten most of the time. He does like a good chase of a ball though or stone, unfortunately he has chipped two teeth by biting stones in half!

He does not learn through pain it would seem as he still tried to eat every stone he sees!

signet ours is a rescue so we don't know if he was the runt. He is quite small though compared with our other dog who is a collie springer cross but all fluffly and hairy and with barely any white on her. She is huge!

Pup hasn't tackled a stone yet. We had to teach him to play as he had clearly not been played with before we got him. He has got the hang of it though and is making up for his lost puppyhood

Aww! Mine is happiest at the beach, chasing stones/balls/crisp packets. He tends to run the other way in a big loop to catch things though which means he normally misses where it went as he was running the wrong way! apparently this is collie behaviour!?!

Ours is definitely the runt and although it didn't seem a issue as he gets older he seems to be not a healthy dog really and he is not really that old.

He is very lazy too! But lovely :)

Ours does the circle thing too, particularly when he is coming back to us.

I hope yours stays healthy signet

Sorry for the hijack op. I haven't "met" anyone with a dog so similar to Pup before.