Ball throwers are probably in the top 10 maligned gadgets on dog social media and/or by dog trainers. I know why – they’re often used by people unaware of the potential damage from repetitive throwing.
I know, because I was once that person – Nell had an elbow sprain around 4 years old, and it was never quite the same, and I have no doubt the gravity-defying twists and turns she subjected her body to when fetching balls had something to do with the aches and pains in her later years. Been there, have a big bag of regrets.
So why do I still have one? Well, they can also be incredibly useful and not harmful for dogs.
I do a range of activities on walks, one of which is searching for a ball in the forest/field/bushes. Sometimes my back/shoulders are stiff, so I can’t throw it very far, which means Grace can easily mark the spot and only uses her eyes & memory to find it. This is way too easy for her, so often I distract her while I throw, so she has to use her nose instead. Unfortunately, she is far too clued up, and it’s hard to distract her enough.
With the stick, I can easily fling it further than her eyes see clearly, and when it lands in grass, she has to use her nose to find it. The trajectory of the ball is also less easily predictable, and the search area is bigger. I try to only use it only in long grass, forest or water so that there’s little risk of dangerous turns, but sometimes my aim is faulty – in those cases, the ball tends to land far enough that it stops moving long before she reaches it and has time to decelerate in a safer, more controlled way.
It’s easy to condemn things outright, but when we do that… we might overlook more constructive uses.
BusyDoggie 