Chuckit products are awesome for our two dogs. One pup is a high energy Aussie Cattle/McNab mix, he runs on Energizers. The other pup is a playful Shepherd/Lab mix with jaws of determination... a destroyer of all. While not every Chuckit product has survived our pups enthusiasm (the large soccer style ball was cool for a month, but a solid tug of war shredded it in a blink). Most of the Whistle balls and solid rubber based balls have held up completely. I have probably lost more than they have successfully thrashed. So our Energizer will run and fetch for as long as I can keep going. He barely stops for water when he is fetch focused. I purchased this Large Ball (we already have the 2.5" version) full size Chuckit hoping the bigger ball and longer swingarm would serve two goals: 1) Bigger ball=larger for our dog to fit in his mouth, challenge him on mid-air catches and fetching. 2) Longer swingarm chucker gives me better distance=pup runs farther on each toss so I spend less time throwing, more time resting. We still love the Chuckit and the pups do too... but this was mostly a fail for me. The bigger ball is quite a bit heavier and more awkward to throw. It does not go further with the longer swingarm because it is a heavier ball. The pups mouth is clearly bigger than I thought, because his catching and grab are not delayed by the balls size. I simply get tired more quickly now that I have a bigger, heavier ball to throw the same distance as the smaller ball. On a good note, the bigger balls are just as tough as the smaller, and it is entertaining to watch both pups vigorously exercising their jaws trying to crush the big balls in their play. *Note, I don't use the tennis ball the Chuckit thrower comes with, our dogs simply peel the fuzz and eventually tear apart those balls.