Comments on: Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!

Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!

miss lynnster — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:55:47 -0800

Jerry the Dachshund + Ball Machine = Quality Entertainment SLYT. That is all.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:57:11 -0800

A charming video of a dog playing with himself.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:59:23 -0800

Excellent use of the totallykickass tag.

By: Brockles

Brockles — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:02:44 -0800

Well. It's no kitteh, but...

By: amyms

amyms — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:16:27 -0800

I've had this one saved in my favorites folder for awhile, so I'll favorite it here too. It never fails to entertain. I love the way the dog acts excited each time. It never gets old for him. So cute!

By: loiseau

loiseau — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:27:38 -0800

He's so happy!

By: Kronoss

Kronoss — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:35:43 -0800

My friend in high school had a dachsund. I don't see how one can't be cheered up at the sight of those little guys. Even if you're lousy with teenage angst, an energetic dachtsund can't not brighten your day. Better than Paxil.

By: netbros

netbros — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:39:34 -0800

Dogz rule. Totally.

By: nola

nola — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:40:38 -0800

I need one of those, it would save me so much time.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:41:28 -0800

It would be even more entertaining to occasionally replace the balls with other things, like doggy treats or small cats.

By: kickback

kickback — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:41:43 -0800

it's the triumphant story of one impossibly lazy man, as told through his robot, robot dog, and a worn-out Penn #5

By: blucevalo

blucevalo — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:41:47 -0800

Love this clip, love this dog. Thanks.

By: mewithoutyou

mewithoutyou — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:41:51 -0800

This completely made my night.

By: Dipsomaniac

Dipsomaniac — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:50:32 -0800

He's happy because he doesn't realize that what he's doing is just like real life, except that it doesn't make humans happy. Lucky dog.

By: shucksitsjeremy

shucksitsjeremy — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:58:28 -0800

That's pretty good, but how would Jerry do on Dog Swap?

By: freshwater_pr0n

freshwater_pr0n — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 22:14:16 -0800

That's quality engineering right there. I loved the part where Jerry was all "glarg, glarg, glarg, screw you, I'm having my own party right here with the tennis ball," but finally gave in and dropped the ball back into the chute.

By: maryh

maryh — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 22:15:41 -0800

Imagine the sadistic thrills a cat would have with a machine like that, hurling stunned mice and baby hummingbirds against a wall, over and over and over and over and over...

By: lore

lore — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:01:24 -0800

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a dachsund loading a tennis ball launcher -- forever.

By: paulsc

paulsc — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:29:09 -0800

In his notes, the guy said it took him 2 years, on and off, to build the machine, including adding safety features to protect the dog and his son, and that the dog actually played with it a total of about 3 times. Somehow, I don't think it was the dog's toy. If he'd have wanted to keep the dog happily engaged, he would have brought home a floppy cardboard box and some Liv-A-Snaps.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:33:17 -0800

So when the machines take over, our pets won't even care? God, what a depressing link.

By: dismas

dismas — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:15:11 -0800

paulsc: shih tzu! awwwwwww!

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 03:13:08 -0800

This, this I love. I love this.

By: rmd1023

rmd1023 — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 05:45:25 -0800

that's a happy dog. i love the way it's wagging its whole back end.

By: gauchodaspampas

gauchodaspampas — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 05:59:08 -0800

Awesome. But also, many moving parts+small children+small animals=X*risk? It makes me slightly nervous. I guess at least for the video there's obviously an adult around. But by the nature of the machine, I'm guessing that's not always the case.

By: Zinger

Zinger — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:26:54 -0800

Dog + kid + robot What's not to love? Awesome post, thank you!

By: Unicorn on the cob

Unicorn on the cob — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:42:57 -0800

OMG this makes me miss the three dachsunds I've had. Weenie dogs rule! Also that baby is the cutest EVAR with the cooing and giggling.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:15:24 -0800

That. Is. Awesome! I wish I had the smarts and know-how to pull off something like this. On the other hand I wouldn't have developed such amazing arm strength from throwing my dog her ball approximately fifteen BILLION times.

By: danb

danb — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:21:16 -0800

When I was little my dad and I would theorize about how long our dog would play fetch, if we were to continue throwing his ball until he stopped chasing it. Results were inconclusive, because we always got bored before he did. This machine was the missing part of our experiment!

By: CKmtl

CKmtl — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:26:36 -0800

Minor adjustment to fully simulate the playing-ball-with-the-dog experience: programming it so that it will randomly raise the launcher, pull back the firing mechanism, but not launch the ball. Optimally, it would have a secondary firing mechanism that will just shoot blanks so the full sound of a ball launch is made. Psyching out the dog every now and then with a fake throw and doing the whole "What? What? Where's-the-ball?!" is half the fun.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:48:56 -0800

Awesome -- jerry rox!

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:52:00 -0800

Who cares about the dog? That is one awesome ball-throwing robot!

By: joeclark

joeclark — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:00:47 -0800

Not a double post, but it was linked in comments in previous post(s). Cute nonetheless.

By: davelog

davelog — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:17:08 -0800

SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH.

By: lilac girl

lilac girl — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:49:12 -0800

I've seen a lot of dachshunds in my time, and none of them enjoy playing fetch as much as this one does. I love my dachshunds, but I wish they'd play fetch every now and then.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:11:27 -0800

See lilac girl, you and I are in the exact opposite boat. I've happily left my weiner dog totally unenlightened to the joy of ball-chasing on purpose. I figure she finds so many other things joyful that it's okay if I bypass becoming her ball-throwing slave. Also, I feel better knowing if someone else throws a ball to their dog that I don't have to worry about her suddenly disappearing to get it. That said, she sure loves chasing dogs that are chasing balls. :)

By: dr_dank

dr_dank — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:35:36 -0800

lilac girl:I've seen a lot of dachshunds in my time, and none of them enjoy playing fetch as much as this one does. I love my dachshunds, but I wish they'd play fetch every now and then. My brother's daschund looks at me cockeyed and wonders why I'd throw a perfectly good ball.

By: paddysat

paddysat — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:18:48 -0800

Well, this isn't a wiener dog but it is a dog entertaining himself.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:20:59 -0800

If that dog is anything like mine, they'll need to turn the robot off in order to prevent him from running his little legs completely off. No sense of moderation. Like a goldfish with unlimited food. Aside: is it just me, or have dax-mixes suddenly hit the market? They're everywhere, and some of them look damn strange.

By: the littlest brussels sprout

the littlest brussels sprout — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:47:46 -0800

I love you, Jerry.

By: palmcorder_yajna

palmcorder_yajna — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:55:46 -0800

The dachshund-corgi-lab mix I had as a kid used to take his tennis ball to the top of the basement stairs, drop it, and chase it down. The memory of the jingly plunking sound he made as he hurled himself after his toy still makes me smile.

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:57:46 -0800

My god, what happened to the cynical Slack? I've watched this twice already. That dog looks so damn happy!

By: bitter-girl.com

bitter-girl.com — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:52:35 -0800

Our dachshund is utter crap at ball-throwing games, as she can never seem to find the ball once it's thrown (and this was even before her eyesight started going downhill). Our cats, on the other hand...wow, I can only imagine. I'm picturing balls of yarn pulled out of my bookcase and fired all over the house.

By: notashroom

notashroom — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:28:32 -0800

Huh. And my dog had to satisfy his my-humans-are-worn-out-but-I'm-not ball fetching by dropping the ball at the top of the driveway and running to the bottom to fetch it. If only we'd thought to learn robotics instead!

By: Arturus

Arturus — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:00:19 -0800

My dog needs no robot; she'll happily toss her toys up in the air herself and then go running after them.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:16:09 -0800

A Cat Playing The Theremin

By: palmcorder_yajna

palmcorder_yajna — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:43:03 -0800

Homunculus, I dare say I've been waiting my whole life to see that. Thank you.