While my dog struggles with the concept of returning the ball to me, she absolutely loves this! We visit a huge dog park frequently, and this lets me throw a ball far enough that she really gets to run full throttle! Running is her favorite. Then, she gets to play her second favorite game of "keep away" with the ball. But she will actually let me have the ball back so I can sling it across the park again because she loves running so much. We now spend more time playing fetch than keep away. I could never throw it far enough on my own to keep her interested more than one or two times before getting the launcher. Now, we can spend an hour at the park playing with it. I have one super tired dog when we go home. Tired dog = happy dog = happy dog mom. I also love that I don't have to pick up the slimy ball with my hands anymore, especially after she drops it in a puddle, because the launcher picks it right up. My dog gets so excited when she sees the launcher that she will bounce back and forth in front of me until I throw the ball. I only regret not buying one of these earlier!