Chuck-It!

For those of you who are unfamiliar, a "Chuck-It" is a tool that allows you to pick up a slobbery, muddy, disgusting tennis ball and wing it across a field without ever having to get your hands dirty.  Basically, think about a 20 inch long flexible stick with a claw on the end that a tennis ball fits into, but which releases it when you make a throwing motion.  In addition to the advantage of  not having to touch the ball...it saves your back from having to bend all of the way over to pick it up in the first place.  Seriously, if you have any dog who likes to retrieve, a Chuck-It is your best friend.

Like a pair of good sunglasses,  a Chuck-It will tend to find it's way into the same black hole that eats one sock.  Especially if you are a dog walker, and are at the park all of the time with several dogs.  You forget it by the field, leave it in the paddock while leashing the dogs, or my favorite, drive off with it on the bumper of your truck.  I am not by nature a forgetful person, but I do occasionally get distracted.  I cannot tell you how many gloves I have lost this way, but I will say, I am the only dog walker I know who has managed to hang onto one Chuck-It for more than seven years.  I have had to go back and get it on several occasions, but have always been fortunate enough to find it. 

Recently I had to start breaking in a new one however.  And yesterday I finally had to have a funeral for my original.  The claw, after that many years of use, has finally been chewed to the point where it won't pick up a ball anymore.  And if I do manage to get the ball to "stick"...i cannot throw with accuracy with it...which is dangerous for man and dog alike if they are out on the field.  So goodbye bright green Chuck-It...you served me well.  Hello deluxe "Eddie Bauer" edition.

And no, I did not splurge, it was a gift from a client, and I LOVE the padded handle.  In the interest of full disclosure, two of my clients work for the company that invented the "Chuck-It"...this entry has not been a paid advertisement, they don't even know I've written it.  I used their product before I ever became their dogs' best friend.  I love my Chuck-It.  I take pride in my ability to launch a ball farther than most, and with great accuracy.  I've even got a few fancy moves for throwing grounders.  New dark green Chuck-It, I hope you hang around for a long while.