PetSafe Automatic Ball Launcher Dog Toy, Interactive Tennis Ball Throwing Machine for Dogs, Water Resista
PetSafe Busy Buddy Automatic Ball Launcher
The Busy Buddy Automatic Ball Launcher has been designed so that you can take a break when they need to, but so that your four legged friend can carry on playing.
The Automatic Ball Launcher uses standard size tennis balls which can be launched at six different angles and at nine distances – from 2.4 M to 9 M.
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Benefits of the PetSafe Automatic Ball Launcher
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Dog WellnessPromotes an active lifestyle so your dog gets the daily exercise he needs | CompatibilityFits standard or small balls so your dog can play with his favourite. Two standard-size tennis balls included | Personalise SettingsCustomise the distance and angle settings so your dog can play fetch exactly how he likes | Two Battery OptionsUse the power cord while playing indoors or use 6 D-Cell batteries (not included) during outdoor play |
3 Easy Steps to Play
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DROPTrain your dog to drop the ball into the Automatic Ball Launcher so he can have playtime anytime | FETCHNo more tired arms. Once the ball is dropped, the Automatic Ball Launcher does all the work! | PAUSEWith the 15-minute play timer, the Automatic Ball Launcher incorporates a rest break so your dog doesn’t play past the point of exhaustion |
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| More PetSafe Solutions for You and Your Pet | The PetSafe Ricochet Electronic Dog Toy features 2 paired toys that will have your dog bouncing back and forth as he tries to catch a “moving” squeak sound | The PetSafe 3.7 litre water capacity is great for households with medium size dogs | PetSafe Smart Feed Automatic Dog and Cat Feeder, Smartphone, 24-Cups (5 678 ml) Wi-Fi Enabled App for iPhone and Android | Soft on teeth, preventing irritation of the mouth, the fleece and rope braided tug does not stick to dog’s teeth or gums | Using positive reinforcement training, the PetSafe Treat and Train, promotes good conduct in pets through dispensing tasty snacks |
| Weight: | 2.88 kg |
| Dimensions: | 30.48 x 34.29 x 34.29 cm; 2.88 Kilograms |
| Model: | PTY19-15850 |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | Yes |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Quantity: | 1 |
1. Works well and the dog loves to chase the ball.
2. Moves around a bit due to recoil, and can end up pointing in odd directions.
3. Sensor means nobody gets a tennis ball in the face, which is good.
4. It’s not really heavy enough; the dog gets frustrated and paws at it and can knock it over
5. The mandatory 15-minute break is infuriating. When I throw a ball manually, the dog can play for an hour at a time without any problem. A 50% duty cycle is ludicrous. Especially as it’s trivially defeated by power cycling.
Considering building a power-interruptor that will turn it off for a minute and back on again.
6. Works better with light rubber balls than with the supplied tennis balls – about 3 for a quid from B&M.
*Update* the pictured ball collection from B&M is perfect, if your dog is one of those that likes to chew up and destroy tennis balls.
Green spiky – lightest, so biggest range of throw.
Bi-colour calls x 2 – slightly shorter range, but rolls better on a level firm surface.
“Football” – heavier again, good for limited space.
Rope ball – don’t bother. Save for the beach.
Ich htte die Wurfmaschine sehr gerne behalten, denn sie ist nicht (wie oft beschrieben) laut und funktioniert wirklich toll! Aber leider bin ich diejenige, die den Ball hineinlegt, da mein Hund es einfach nicht kapiert. Schade, denn er hat total Spa. Aber so war es natrlich nicht gedacht.
Motion detection will not shoot ball out unless the dogs are away from the machine aprox 7 f
This is 100% worth every penny we have had for less than a week and our Max LOVES it. We are still working on him putting it in the launcher himself I think he totally knows HOW he just wants us to do it. He seems to be trying to teach US how to put it in lol I would definitely buy again and agai
My little dog adores this and will sit staring at it till it gets played with ! Massive success
My Aussie collie (australian shepherd/border collie) pup loves fetch decided to buy this and it’s a GAME CHANGER! He is obsessed with this already!
only downside is it takes 6 D batteries if you want it wireless otherwise you need to be close to an outlet! Light weight and easy to transport!
my dog is frightened of the sound before it throughs the ball , I am still trying to get her used to i
Little pricey but once the dogs were taught to place the ball back in the hole, it was so much fun!
Great toy for outside .
Does exactly what it’s supposed to. Only issue is that it makes a somewhat loud popping noise when the ball comes out that scares my dog away. So it’s going to take a bit of time before my dog gets used to it. Otherwise I’m happy with it.
Great product, just wish the fog wasn’t scared of the noise it makes
L’appareil est vraiment bien conu.
Les balles sont dposer une une dans le rceptacle sur le dessus et descendent automatiquement dans le lanceur.
Le lanceur bipe puis envoi la balle. Des dtecteurs d’obstacles dans le lanceur et de prsence juste devant l’appareil empchent l’envoi de la balle par scurit.
La force ainsi que l’angle sont rglables. Prvoyez quand mme un jardin!
Maintenant il faut apprendre mes chiens dposer la balle directement dans l’appareil. Cela devrait tre assez facile.
This product is very loud and spooked our dog to start with. After a few months of training he now brings the ball to the machine. We still have to load it for him. The instructions on how to train your dog are a good guide but probably won’t work for every dog/ owner. Our dog loves to play with us so I doubt he’ll ever want to play fetch on his own as he likes the interaction he has with us. So I would consider if your dog likes playing with you or on their own before purchasing
Petsafe ball launcher, I had a problem after two weeks of use and the ball launcher stopped working ,much to the disappointment of my dog Buddy he was learning to use the ball L and it decided to breakdown. I called the company who were very polite and understanding after telling them what is not working. They replaced the ball launcher and it would take up to ten days to arrive. I now have my new ball launcher and my Buddy is over joyed as he’s a sprocker and needs to be occupied when I’m busy. Thank you Jane P
J’ai un labrador qui adore les balles donc franchement c’est l’idal. MAIS c’est fragile et sa se ressent tout est en plastique donc fragile, ce n’est pas waterproof donc attention la bave !!! Le bruit est correcte. Pour le rapport qualit prix heuuuu c’est vachement cher pour du plastique. Le systme de pause est pratique mme si il ne lance pas super fort non plus. Le dtecteur de mouvement fonctionne moiti.
I can’t get her trained to load the launcher herself but she has me well trained doing it for her! She loves it though
Would be good it if threw a bit farther. Not bothered with noise as some reviews have pointed out. Good for indoors, great for outdoors. Dog loves it!
Juste un petit dfaut c qu’il ce met en pause 15 min et on peut pas le dsactiver sinon c excelle
otre petit chien pintcher adore…..juste un petit ressort cass l’intrieur du mcanisme au bout de 1 an 1/2 en usage extrieur……qui reste changer mais pas facile trouver…!….
This is brilliant its so good and very ease of use dog loves it but not yet trained yo drop ball in yet but getting there
Schnelle Lieferung- Perfekt zum Zeitvertreib fr den Vierbeiner – bringt Spa – alles wie beschriebe
Das Preis-Leistungsverhltnis passt, nur muss sich der Hund das Einlegen der Blle noch angewhnen….
Mon chien est fan, il a eu lgrement peur au dbut, mais ador par la suite.
Dommage qu’on ne peu pas supprimer le temps de pause.
ASSEZ Bruyants pour le coup
The product was very sturdy and would probably be fine for a larger dog. It is loud and forceful. Our little Maltese loves playing ball… all day long, but he was frightened by the loud bang and too short to put it into the shoot. I have rated it high because it would be a good product for the right dog.
Expensive but worth it compared to other similar products. Solidly made. My spaniel loves i
My biggest bugbears about its design are:
1) the timeout mode – the machine works for 15 minutes, then enters rest mode for 15 minutes. This seems like a good idea, but it is regardless of how much it has actually been used and cannot be turned off. Whilst training our dog to use it, we frequently have to unplug it and plug it in again (e.g. on one occasion she finally managed to put the ball in just as it went into rest mode).
2) the round base – Our dog gets frustrated that she struggles to drop the ball in, then nudges or paws it. As the base tapers in and is round it tends to move very easily and we have to keep realigning it, so the ball goes in the direction we want it to. If the base were square we would be able to put it against a wall or something.
3) the launch hole – The hole the ball launches from is off-centre and it isn’t clear exactly which angle you are shooting at. Not a problem in a garden, but when using it indoors you need to aim it better. Also, because of the machine’s round base you have very little visual cue of where it’s aimed (especially as it can move slightly after firing from the recoil, as well as the dog moving it).
Our preferred launcher to buy was the GoDogGo G4, but it wasn’t shipping outside of the USA at the moment so we bought this one instead. The main thing is that the dog’s happy and wants to play with it every day.
I’m hoping I can get over some of the issues above, by building a clamp/stand for it, which will hold it steady and show which way it is pointing (though for such an expensive item I shouldn’t really have to).
Je recommande pour un chien qui adore jouer la balle.
Your dog needs to be smart enough to play by them selves with this ball launcher. If they are not afraid of it and can get used to how it works, then it’s the best toy ever. If they cant figure it out or if they are afraid of it, then its the biggest waste of money ever. The safety features are awesome but our dog get so excited she still gets bashed in the head sometimes. Hopefully she will learn. It does an excellent job of throwing the ball inside the house as it has multiple power and height settings. We are on the lowest settings while we wait for summer and can set it up outside.
Loved this toy for my daughter’s Labrador. She soon picked up what she needed to do, however the hopper could be a big bigger or the sides a bit steeper as the ball bounced out on several occasions, which left the dog a little confused. Maybe in time she will perfect it. But all in all, she was so excited by it. A great toy.
J’ai un jack russell, il adore ce jeu on est oblig de l’arrter sinon il irait l’puisement si on ne l’arrtait pas, il entend lorsque la balle est mise correctement dans l’appareil et il sait quel moment la balle va parti
Works well, shoots the ball quite far. I noticed the sensor does make it stop when standing in front of it. However, I don’t trust it as sometimes it will “launch” when there is no ball in the unit. Best to monitor well when using. Makes a very loud noise, which my dog is afraid of, but will chase the ball after it launches.
Franchement Bof…
tant donn le prix je ne m’attendais aucun soucis..
1: Trs bruyant, mais bon c’est normal vu la puissance (Je n’en tiens pas rigueur)
2: Il s’active en continu tout seul alors qu’il n’y a pas de balle (capteur face au soleil seulement, peut-tre un rapport )
3: Capteur pour dtecter le chien pour pas qu’il ne le prenne en pleine face un peu mal conu, ma chienne la prit direct sur le museau. Elle tait a 1M face au lance balle (lgrement sur le ct, peut-tre pour sa que a ne l’a pas dtecter)
En bref il fonctionne sans raison, pour faire un bruit de clac fort, et lancer les balles sur la chienne
Wow this is amazing. My dog just loves it. Top marks.
My dog will play for a very long time using this ball launcher he prefers this over me playing with him. He loves this machine.
But-The first one I bought lasted 2 years, no complaints,
The replacement I bought lasted just under 4 months before it developed a fault, it was replaced with a new launcher, this only lasted 2 months, before it then developed a fault, this has also been replaced and I received the new one today.
This makes the third launcher that I have had since January 2020,
Its a great plaything for my dog and keeps him occupied for hours, the manufacturers just need to iron out the fault issue.
My lab/golden cross goes completely nuts for this. I use Costco purchased tennis balls because my Yellow Menace crushes the ball’s occasionally then they do not fly as far. Honestly cannot say a bad thing about this toy. Just remember to take batteries out (if this is the option you are using) when the outdoor temperature falls below freezing.
my tennis ball mad spaniel was frightened by the ball releasing from the unit so now back in the box which is a shame as it could be fine for dogs who are ok with noises
Sinon l’appareil est lger transporter, on peut rgler facilement la trajectoire de la balle, seul bmol effectivement c’est la mise en veille au bout de 15 min et le bruit ne me drange pas plus que a.
Je le recommande
I have trailed a couple of these machines and this one is the best by far, it throws and long distance and the adjustable hight helps to throw it over my dogs head to stop him Cathing it straight out of the machine. My dogs have had hours of fun with this !
This product is great. The dog loves it. One thing is when the ball is wet (covered in slobber) it doesn’t launch more than a foot.
Bought to teach my French Bulldog to play and fetch the ball, not quite got there she very stubborn, excellent product good value when bought on black Friday deal
Oscar my dog loves it to bits but the neighbors raise an eyebrow (noisy when launching ball’s)
Would be nice if could throw the balls further and don’t like the 15 minute timer. Was delivered in original box and not even taped down. As this was a birthday present for my daughter to give to give to her dog, the surprise was ruined as she had to sign for it when delivered. I was so upset:(
Update: our dog is so upset as tbe launcher stopped working after 5 months of light use. He loved his toy and really misses it. But reluctant about getting another one in case the same thing happens. It is not a cheap toy.
Ozzie learn’t very quickly how to put the balls in but got impatient when it did not fire the balls quick enough so he would paw it and then knock it over as it is very lightweight. Therefore we had to sit beside it to hold it so he could not knock it over:(
As soon as we would bring it out to play our other dog would run away and hide in his bed. It is quite noisy but at least you know when NOT to walk in front of it.
Really disappointed:(
This is a great fun item. My poodle won’t put the ball in himself though – he knows how but just won’t do it! It’s a great way to play though, particularly for anyone who has difficulty throwing. He sits quite close, I think he likes the challenge of catching it as quinoas he can.
I’ve only used in the house so far so have not tested battery power.
The adjustable angle and distance works well.
Great product generally but unfortunately my dog did not like it because of the pop it made when releasing the ball.
She loves it. Just need to train her to put the balls in herself.
Excellent. As described. Very well made excellent quality. Great fun ! I bought 20 extra used tennis balls from eBay at the same time,
Good move ! Lovely useful toy for everyone.
This is fabulous our labradors love it. We have to switch it off otherwise they would keep going all day.
Unfortunately my mum’s dog is frightened of it as it makes a fair bit of noise and it also plays a little tune before it fires which he is frightened of. Being able to switch this tune of would help so the noises are the only reason for 4 stars and I known that is being picky.
However if your dog is not easily frightened then I don’t think this would be an issue.
We are going to work on getting him use to the noises and hopefully he will start to play with it.
This item was bought for a present and the person it was bought for was over the moon with it, no negative comments about it, just positive comments, I nearly never bought it due to the negative reviews about it, but I’m glad I did buy it.
Bought this as a Christmas present for my little pooch that loves chasing balls and it’s amazing he absolutely loves it keeps him well exercised and allows him to play games he loves
My mother’s Dachshund absolutely loves this thing. Unfortunately he’s too short to load it himself, and he occasionally gets impatient and tries to steal the ball from the launch opening, but all of the safety precautions work well (most of the time; he is a bit below the recommended height, but still had never taken a ball to the face).
The tennis balls were chewed and destroyed in short order, but a set of hard wiffle balls of similar diameter are brilliant in this thing, despite not being recommended by the manufacturer. Ping-pong balls are fantastic indoors as well, if you can keep your dog from destroying them in one bite (provided they aren’t a choking hazard to begin with).
My border collie is scared of it at the moment, but I love it. I’m hoping to train her when we have good weather. I have used it inside but the noise does frighten her.
Good product for dogs.
PetSafe Automatic Ball Launcher I bought it as a gift for a friend. Her dog absolutely loved it! It was fun watching her playing it.
Our border collie Lila loves this unit
Even today over a year late she still enjoys i
En meme temps mon chien ag de 11 ans toujours eu l’habitude de nous remettre la balle la main du coup difficile de lui faire comprendre le principe.
Par contre je pense que cela doit tre trs efficace si le chien l’utilise.
Les temps de lancement de la balle est alatoire pour ne pas que se soit toujours rgulier pour le chien.
Les balles sont galement lances la distance souhait (plus ou moins loin).
Si mon commentaire vous a aid merci de le prciser en cliquant sur “utile”
My dog totally destroys tennis balls in seconds, can I use any type of balls such as indestructible ones the same size as tennis balls?
Les balles ne sont donc pas assez rsistantes, je vous conseille d’en acheter spciales chien ou + dures.
La machine change de directions aux lancs ce qui permet au chien de ne pas rester sur un axe fixe et de courir beaucoup +. En ce qui concerne la longueur du lanc, c’est parfait pour un grand chien qui a besoin de courir (je dirais 7-9 mtres voir un peu plus).
Prix lev certes mais je pense que a en vaut la peine pour les chiens qui ont besoin de courir, se divertir lorsqu’ils sont seuls ou lorsqu’ils ne savent pas mettre la balle dedans…
We are in the throws of winter and have it on a low setting for the house. – going over very well with the dog.
We have an 8 month old Border Collie and she is a busy girl. Need the “skid Boot” trainer.
Great and would recommend it as a tool for play.
If this review is helpful, please click on comment section below.
***update*** Ended up giving it away. The dogs just didn’t seem to get the hang of it. I tried every angle and setting. I’m sure if you take the time to get the hang of it, it would be a great toy for a retriever type dog, my dogs not having any inclination to fetch (getting too old) just ignored it
Not tried yet but looks sturdy
Great item and pup loves it but can’t get the hang of putting the ball in so you have to do it for her which isn’t ideal. The only reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is not that my pup isn’t quick on the uptake but the price – soooo expensive but it works really well and plenty of adjustment for height and distance so indoor use is no problem as long as peopl stay out of the range!
My dogs haven’t figured out yet that standing a few feet n front of it when bleeping means it wants to launch a ball – despite barking a lot at it…
Pros: We have used it both indoors and out due to the use of power plug or battery-powered options. adjustable force/distance and throwing angle. The big open basket allows easy use for both our german shepherd and our toy poodle (although she has to go up on her hind legs to place the ball in the basket.)
Cons: The well-intentioned safety features – the motion detector and auto-rest.
1. The motion detector is intended to keep the dogs from getting hit in the head by a ball however it has a 7-foot distance and I could not get my dogs to stay that far back – they get too excited and want to stand right in front of it to catch it mid-air. So we eventually just placed masking tape over the sensor allowing the dogs to play at will. The balls are not thrown hard enough to seriously injure the dogs.
2. Auto-rest feature. This feature causes the launcher to go into a standby mode 15 minutes after a ball is thrown. The intention is that the dogs would play with it continually for 15 minutes, then take a 15-minute break before they resume. However, my dogs don’t typically play with it continusouly. They will play with it once or twice then either chase each other or lay down to chew on the balls and by the time they are ready to use it again the 15 minutes are up and they cannot figure out why it won’t throw the ball. I get the intent, especially if the dog is outside on a hot day and not being monitored, but there needs to be an option to disable this feature.
Great product, only problem is that it makes quite a big noise before releasing the ball and if your dog is a big scaredy cat like mine it’ll take a bit of training for them to get used to it.
Although the Busy Buddy comes with two tennis balls it does not work exclusively with tennis balls – and for indoor use I really wouldn’t put such a hard ball in it – we have been using it with soft latex squeaky tennis-ball-sized balls (they’re readily available with faces on, we’ve got Good Boy ones but there are others), and also with soft fabric balls, so long as they’re close to the size of a tennis ball then it launches them fine, if slightly more unpredictably than with perfectly spherical balls! My dog is too small to be able to put the balls on the top of the machine to launch them herself but, as the box says, it is best for dogs over 10lbs and she is only 6lbs. She still enjoys it though. There are controls to adjust how hard and how high the ball is launched, as you can see in the video we are using ours indoors in a limited space so have set it to the minimum distance.
There are a couple of good safety features, the machine rests after fifteen minutes of play so that the more obsessive dog doesn’t exhaust itself, and there is also a sensor which beeps and delays launch if the dog/anyone else stands too close in front of the place the ball launches from. Do be aware that it does launch shortly after that though, so make sure you train your dog/children/cat to get out of the way!
We are looking forward to the British monsoon season ending so that we can take it out for a play in the field, unfortunately it is not suitable for use in rain so we haven’t been able to test it outdoors.
Great toy for keeping your dog busy.
It is made of sturdy enough materials, but feels a little bit plasticy. Power is supplied either with an included adapter, which has a good length of cable, or D Cell batteries if you want to use it outside. It fires any standard tennis ball up to 9 metres, with adjustment for distance and angle selectable by the user. There is a sensor on the front to detect movement so that it does not fire if the dog runs in front. The instructions recommend that up to two tennis balls at a time can be dropped in to the feeder.
In use it is very simple. You (or the dog) drop the ball into the top of the unit. After a pause there is a series of beeps to indicate that the ball is about to be fired, then a few seconds later the ball is shot. The ball is recovered and the procedure repeats. After 15 minutes the unit shuts down for a period to prevent the dog from exhausting itself.
Our dog, a collie, very soon got used to the noise and was not scared. He learnt that the beeps meant that a ball was about to be fired and readied himself. Trying to get him to drop the ball at all is a challenge, and dropping it into the hopper is going to take a lot longer. My friend’s dog took a lot longer to get used to the noise. He would also try to get the ball from the front of the device, but with a bit of training he too got used to the procedure. The power and trajectory are reasonablly consistent so the dog enjoyed positioning himself ready for a catch.
Good quality tennis balls give a lot better results than cheaper models!
Overall then, this is an expensive but effective device. If you can train your dog to drop the balls into the hopper then they can amuse themselves. If not, then for those who are unable to throw then this also makes for a useful addition to the pet owner’s arsenal.
The idea of the ball being loaded by a dog is expecting a bit much from my dog. So long story short, more fun, less hassle, less time etc. If I just stick to my ball chucker. Maybe if I was getting on a it and didn’t have the mobility then this thing comes into it’s own. Nice idea but needs more power.
Once the ball is dropped into the unit, it makes a wee noise to indicate it’s about to launch, then the ball shoots out, and the happy dogs shoots after it! The top of the unit is nicely bevelled so that a smart dog can soon learn to operate the launcher by itself – the ball doesn’t have to be dropped precisely into the hole, just dropping it anywhere on the top will roll it into the hole, and off it goes again. It has a motion sensor, so it won’t end up pelting unwary humans walking by, but once it senses someone in front of it, the sensor will only pause for 5 seconds before launching, so if you move in its way then stand still, you will get hit if you don’t hear the sound which tells you it’s about to launch! This also meant that our daft Boxer dog, who was fascinated by the whole thing and kept standing stock still in front of the unit waiting for the ball to launch, got hit by the ball several times, but he seemed to think that all added to the fun!
This would be a very useful purchase for anyone who lacks the physical ability to spend ages chucking balls for their dog, especially since it can be taken outside to use with your dog. It would also be very useful for dogs who are left at home for a few hours at a time on their own – this will keep them amused for ages placed at the end of a hall. When it’s used, it operates for 15 minutes, then it automatically stops for 15 minutes so that the dog has to have a rest and can’t over-exert itself. If the dog has dropped the ball back into the unit, it will simply start launching again after the 15 minute rest. This might not be much use for anyone who has lots of time and energy for their dog’s play, but anyone with mobility issues or who has to leave their dog alone at times (or even anyone who gets fed up throwing a ball constantly!) would find it soon paid for itself in terms of fun and exercise for their dog. Very simple but impressive pet gadget.