I first saw this toy – actually, a set of two – at a trade show. I had no clue what they did, but they didn’t look that interesting, either.
But then a company representative approached and asked if I knew what the toys did. “Nope!” I replied. “Show me!” He depressed a hidden button on one, and it emitted some chiming notes. Then he pressed the button on the other egg and it, too, chimed – and then started making some electronic chirping sounds. “The toys are paired through a Bluetooth connection,” he explained. “One makes an intermittent noise until it is jostled; then it goes silent and the other egg starts making a noise. Once your dog figures out how they work, you can put the eggs up to 30 feet apart from each other and your dog can have fun running from one to the other!”
Okay, now I was intrigued. I know many dogs like to play with toys that make electronic sounds, such as the Wobble Wag Giggle Ball. The concept of a toy consisting of two pieces that take turns interacting with your dog – that’s more than twice the fun! I couldn’t wait for my dogs to try the Ricochet.
THE RICOCHET EXPERIENCE
The toys are meant to be enjoyed by one dog at a time, and in fact, don’t work well when more than one dog is in the game at the same time. The sounds they make “ricochet” from one egg to the other when the noisy one is moved; if more than one dog is playing, the bouncing of the sound from one egg to the other can’t be predicted or chased.
We gave the Ricochet to six different dogs to play with; each was intrigued by the noises the toys made and intuitively nudged the toys with their noses or paws. The bigger dogs all tried to pick up the toys in their mouths and crack them open; play with these toys has to be supervised and sometimes redirected. (My large dogs could definitely bite open the toys if permitted.) But even our six-pound test dog enjoyed pushing the toys around.
Another reason to join your dog in playing with the Ricochet toys: At some point, every dog would fixate on the toy closest to them, disregarding its silence and the increasingly frantic tones of the other toy. That’s when you have to step in, taking away the one they are fixating on and getting them to listen for the chirping of the other toy. “Oh, right!” the dog will seem to say, tearing out of the room to find the other one. Then you can quickly hide the one you took away, so your dog can have fun looking for it when it starts chirping again.
The length of time that our test dogs played with the toys varied by temperament. A 6-year-old female Golden Retriever would have played with the toys until they were dead. My 12-year-old mixed-breed male, Otto, grasped the game very quickly – but lost interest the moment I stopped actively encouraging him to leave the non-chirping toy and look for the one that was making noise. All the other dogs were in between.
PRODUCT DETAILS
The toys each are about four inches long and made with a hard plastic case; the ends are covered with a softer, rubbery substance that keeps the toys from making a horrendous clatter as a dog knocks them about.
The toys can be turned off by pressing a hidden button on each egg. If you don’t turn them off, they will occasionally chirp, finally turning themselves off after 60 minutes without motion.
Each egg requires three AAA batteries. PetSafe says the batteries will last for about a month of daily use. The Ricochet comes with a one-year warranty when purchased new from an authorized seller. PetSafe offers a satisfaction guarantee, returning your purchase price (less shipping cost) if you return the toy within 45 days.
Why is Whole Dog Journal touting a toy made by PetSafe? By supporting PetSafe you are supporting their shock collars, invisible fences, and ultrasonic bark collars. There is nothing safe about PetSafe. Shame on you WDJ.
Buy the toy and don’t buy the other things you don’t like. I also don’t agree with training by shock but I feel I can buy other items they manufacture. Many people use shock training whether you like it or not.
I agree with Bev! If you don’t like something, don’t buy it but don’t try to enforce your opinions onto everyone else. Just like freedom of speech, we have a right to choose what toys we buy for our dogs and cats.
PetSafe makes the KeepSafe Break-away Safety Collar which is the ONLY collar my dogs have worn for years. Would I boycott them and NOT buy break-away collars? Oh hell no. Break-away collars saved my Barkley’s life twice. Carry on with your crusade…I’m continuing to purchase their KeepSafe Break-away Safety Collars until I’m dead.
I’m a dog show vendor and purchased one to demo and see what type of interest there was. Price point is a bit high, but for some dogs, the price point is well worth it.
For dogs that enjoy toys with a sound chip like most herding breeds do, it’s a fun one on one toy. One of my BC’s was so busy barking his head off, that it took some effort to get him to appreciate the fact that the sounds were coming from the toy not being played with. My other BC took to the game in a pounce way and really enjoyed it.
I bet my blind guy would’ve loved these!
Maybe check with your area Commission for Vision Impaired. They used to have an item called ‘beep ball’ for people who wanted to play a softball type of game. Bet the fella would love it.
Definitely need to supervise with these toys. My dog was playing with the giggle ball and when I went into the other room briefly she cracked the ball open and ingested the batteries inside. She isn’t a dog that typically eats things either.
I’m assuming this would not work for a deaf dog? Do you think the movers alone would intrigue? We
well done Jeff Dentler – no-one could possibly guess you were promoting … what was it again PETSAFE?
There is much being reported in natural health circles about the health hazards of the electro-magnetic fields that are generated by wireless technology. These radio frequencies do damage to cellular biology. You’ve heard about cell phones and brain cancer? I would not subject my dog or myself to these frequencies.
Wow that’s very cool and i’m impressed with the fact that it uses bluetooth