Don't Waste Your Money

I saw the Fetch N' Treat interactive dog toy at Petsmart and thought it looked interesting. I've been trying to teach Jedi how to play basketball (don't ask) and I thought this would help teach the "drop the ball here" concept. I forked over $30 and took it home.

I had seen something similar on the internet about a year ago. That one was much more expensive and used smaller balls that I thought Jedi might choke on. I like that the Fetch N' Treat is designed for larger dogs. I also like that there are no batteries required to operate it. Instead, the treat dispenser is activated when a regular sized tennis ball is dropped into the hole on top. (Jedi likes loves treats, so how's that for positive reinforcement?) Then the ball is returned and the process is repeated. Sounds great, but the Fetch N' Treat doesn't perform as advertised.

• First off, the ball doesn't shoot out, as the picture implies. In reality it kind of dribbles out, reminding me of my kids eating pudding before the Novocaine wears off. And sometimes the ball gets stuck and doesn't come out at all without wiggling the machine.
• The hole where the ball needs to be dropped isn't very big, and Jedi doesn't aim very well. The ball often just bounces of the top and lands on the floor. No treats for floor balls.
• Even when Jedi does get the ball in the hole, the treats don't come out consistently. Sometimes 3 or 4 treats come out, and sometimes no treats come out. Not fair! Jedi learned that it's easier to just knock the whole thing over and bat it around to make the treats come out.

So while I was licking my wounds over wasting $30, Hubby sent me a link on Facebook for this:

 

 

That's the GoDogGo Fetch Machine. No, I'm not going to get it. It's $144 and Jedi's not big on playing fetch past the first couple of throws. (Logan, on the other hand, would have loved this!) So for now we're just going to play fetch the old fashioned (and frugal) way. Meanwhile I need to figure out how to teach Jedi to drop a mini basketball into the net. (Any ideas?)

Before any of that, however, I'm going to do some blog surfing because it's Thoughtless Thursday! Wanna join me? Click below and enjoy the randomness you get when Ruckus the Eskie tells everybody "Don't think, just link." Seriously, this is my favorite hop of the week. -- K