Not long ago I wrote about Teddy’s fondness for squeaky balls (see Training Teddy: Squeaky Balls). But have I told you about my dislike of mud-smeared, slobber-soaked hands? After an hour playing fetch on the muddy Heath, that’s what I inevitably come home with.
Fortunately I shared my aversion with my husband. Yesterday a package arrived at our door with a very neat (you could even call it handbag-sized) Chuckit! Pocket Ball Launcher, £7.99, along with two Ultra Balls, £6.74, to wedge into it.
Now that we have got Teddy to a stage where he will do almost anything for a squeaky ball I was a little wary – none of these new balls made a noise. But within seconds our fickle little Miniature Schnauzer had passed over his squeakers and fallen for the bright orange and blue, ‘stremely bouncy little balls.
Using the launcher, the ball goes a fair distance (although having been warned by a friend not to throw too hard – her sister dislocated her shoulder using a ball launcher – I wasn’t lobbing it) and, when it accidently pitches-up in nettle banks so thick that even Teddy refuses to explore them, I can easily scoop it up, sting-free. Love it. Having visited the Chuckit! website, I feel sure that we will be working our way through the variety of balls on offer –ones that whistle when they fly, ones that glow in the dark, ones that offer an ‘erratic’ bounce.
They also sell plush and fluffy, lightweight indoor balls. Double-whammy: I’ll protect my light fittings and invest in some for my sons, too.
