How this Franklin Ready Set Fetch review was made: I haven’t used this product, and I don’t have a dog. I read about forty of the written customer reviews Amazon surfaces on this listing, from across the rating range, and summarised the patterns in my own words. That’s a sample rather than a full reading, and most ratings carry no written review at all. Star percentages are Amazon’s published figures. Nothing here is sponsored. The Amazon links on this page are affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
This is the lowest-rated product I’ve written about so far: 3.6 stars across 3,442 ratings, with 24% at one or two stars. On those numbers alone you’d skip it.
But the reviews do not read like a bad product. They read like two products. One owner reports it still going after three years. The most-agreed-with review I read is a five-star from a Rottweiler household. And then a long run of one-star reviews saying it throws a ball fifteen feet, sounds like a kitchen appliance, and died in a week.
Most of that gap comes down to one number — how far it throws — and this Franklin Ready Set Fetch review is mostly about why that number varies so much.
What you’re buying
A launcher with a wide tray on top. The dog drops a ball in, the machine fires it out of the front. There’s a dial for distance, a switch for a warning beep before each launch, and three angle positions via the rear foot. It runs off the included mains adapter, or off eight D-cell batteries if you’d rather use it away from a socket.
The box has one standard tennis ball and one orange rubber ball with spikes, which the listing calls an all-weather launcher ball and says is designed to fire properly even when wet or slobbery. The listing also says it works with any brand of tennis ball, which owners partly dispute below.
Here’s an owner’s clip of it in use — a short one from a channel that isn’t in the product-review business, with no affiliate link in the description. I can’t vouch for anything beyond that:
The distance question
Seven of the low-star reviews I read are about the same thing: the ball doesn’t go far. Fifteen feet at best, according to two of them. Ten to fifteen. Five to ten. One owner says a brand-new ball went under fifteen feet and about five once the dog had had it in its mouth. The most-voted complaint I read calls the 40-foot claim a lie outright.
Now read the other side. The most-voted review I read — nineteen helpful votes, five stars, two Rottweilers — says the household only uses the orange spiked balls, because tennis balls get wet and heavy and stop launching well. A three-star owner, whose unit lasted five months, says the same thing and adds that a slobbery tennis ball puts more strain on the motor. A third owner, five stars, says a heavier ball goes faster on their unit.
Those three do not fully agree on the physics. They do agree on the practice: the orange ball and a dry tennis ball are two different experiences, and a wet tennis ball is a third.
What I cannot tell you is which ball the disappointed owners were using, because none of them say. It is possible some of them had a genuinely weak unit. It is also possible some were feeding it a tennis ball their dog had already soaked, and got exactly the five-foot result the Rottweiler owner describes. The listing itself half-admits this — the 50-foot figure is specifically for the launcher ball.
The practical test: on day one, fire the orange ball on the highest setting, dry, on flat ground. If that goes fifteen feet, you have a weak unit and a return window. If it goes forty and a soggy tennis ball goes ten, you have the product as designed, and the fix is more orange balls.
Noise
This splits owners more sharply than distance does. One compares it to a garbage disposal. One says it’s not loud at all. In between: annoyingly loud, a bit loud, loud enough to scare the dog, and not loud enough to bother the dog.
Two things worth separating. There’s the motor, which runs to spin the launch wheels, and there’s the optional warning beep before each throw, which you can switch off. Nobody in the reviews I read complains specifically about the beep; the complaints are about the motor.
The useful case is a five-star owner who returned it anyway. Their dog is reactive to certain noises, and the motor was one of them, even though the owner describes it as not loud. If your dog is noise-sensitive, the volume isn’t the point; the pitch might be. Keep the receipt and try it once.
Your dog has to learn it
This is a fetch machine, not a fetch dog. The launcher fires when a ball lands in the tray; it does nothing about getting the ball back there. That is how the category works — the machine throws, the dog returns — and it is the thing the listing’s “hands-free” headline glosses over.
How long it takes is the interesting part. One owner reports their dog loading it himself after about a week, using treats every time the ball went into the tray rather than being dropped at the owner’s feet. Several others describe still working on it. A Rottweiler owner notes, fairly, that a human still has to go and collect the balls eventually. And one one-star owner’s complaint is exactly this — they’d hoped it would simply work, and instead they sat there putting balls in.
Two safety notes from owners. A dog that stands right at the muzzle can catch the ball before it launches, which defeats the machine. And a four-star owner reports their dog taking a tennis ball to the face through sheer eagerness — no harm done, but they’d have liked a sensor that holds the launch until the area is clear. This machine does not have one. A three-star owner sees that as a feature: simpler than the sensor-equipped machines they’d used before.
Durability, and what’s in the box
The one-star rate is 16%, and a good part of it is early failure. Dead on arrival. Lasted a week. Worked for an hour, then stopped pushing the ball through automatically. The power port fell inward. Stopped launching after a few uses. One owner’s lasted five months.
Against that: one owner reports three years and counting, and another had their week-old failure replaced by Franklin after sending it back. That is one data point on the warranty side, but it is a real one.
A second pattern is smaller but worth knowing: check the box on arrival. Two owners report missing balls, one reports a missing plug, and two describe the unit arriving looking used or previously returned. If yours arrives short or scuffed, that is a return before it is a review.
Power and placement
The adapter cord is the default. One owner wanted to use it in the garden and needed an extension. The battery option is eight D cells, and the owner who mentions it recommends rechargeables if you’ll use it often, which is sensible advice for eight of anything.
Indoors, one household with two doodles runs it on the longest setting in an open-plan room and calls it the answer to a rainy winter. That only works if you have the room; on the shortest setting the listing’s own figure is ten feet.
Franklin Ready Set Fetch review: who it suits
3.6 stars, 46% five-star, 24% at one or two. Lower than the motorised balls I’ve looked at, and a different kind of purchase: this is a machine with a motor and moving parts, at a higher price.
Get it if your dog already fetches and brings the ball back, you’re willing to spend a week teaching the drop, you’ll use the orange ball rather than a wet tennis ball, and you want the cheaper end of this category. One owner chose it over pricier machines specifically because it seemed simpler for a beginner dog, and was glad.
Skip it if you’re expecting forty feet from a tennis ball, your dog is noise-reactive, or you want the machine to handle the whole loop. It doesn’t.
Check on day one that everything is in the box, that it powers on, and how far the orange ball goes dry. Those three things cover most of the one-star reviews I read.
Current listing and price. If your dog is a chaser but a full launcher is more than you want, the rope-through rolling ball is the smaller version of the same idea.
The reviews behind this
Rating, month and helpful-vote count, so you can find them on the listing yourself. No names and no quoted text — these are summaries in my own words.
| Rating | Posted | Votes | What it reports |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Oct 2025 | 19 | Two Rottweilers; only uses the orange spiked balls because wet tennis balls will not launch well |
| 1 star | Apr 2026 | 7 | Calls the 40-foot claim a lie; lobs 10–15 feet; loud |
| 5 star | Aug 2025 | 7 | Still teaching the drop; dog was afraid at first; simpler than pricier machines |
| 5 star | May 2026 | 2 | Dog loading it himself after a week, trained with treats |
| 4 star | Mar 2026 | 2 | Regular tennis balls slightly too big; had to use the ones supplied |
| 5 star | Nov 2025 | 2 | Rottweiler; a human still has to collect the balls |
| 1 star | Jun 2026 | 2 | Loud fan; throws no further than a hand; have to sit and load it |
| 4 star | Jul 2026 | 1 | Dogs love it; dog took a ball to the face; wants a safety sensor; eight D batteries |
| 5 star | Jun 2026 | 1 | Cheaper than other brands; light; came with balls |
| 5 star | Jun 2026 | 1 | Only one ball in the box; heavier ball goes faster; German Shepherd |
| 5 star | Feb 2026 | 1 | Returned it: noise-reactive dog, though the owner says it is not loud |
| 3 star | Feb 2026 | 1 | Not high quality for the price; border collie loves it |
| 5 star | Jul 2026 | 0 | Three years and still going |
| 3 star | Jun 2026 | 0 | Simpler than sensor machines; lasted five months; recommends orange balls, tennis balls strain it |
| 5 star | Dec 2025 | 0 | Two doodles, indoors on longest setting; motor a bit loud |
| 4 star | Jan 2026 | 0 | Very noisy; scares the dog |
| 1 star | Jun 2026 | 0 | New ball under 15 feet; about 5 once the dog had it in its mouth |
| 1 star | Apr 2026 | 0 | Weak throw; dog catches the ball before it launches |
| 3 star | May 2026 | 0 | Power port fell inward; no longer works |
| 1 star | Jan 2026 | 0 | Worked an hour, then stopped feeding the ball through automatically |
| 1 star | May 2026 | 0 | Sounds like a garbage disposal; missing balls and plug |
| 2 star | Dec 2025 | 0 | Broke within a week; Franklin sent a replacement |
| 1 star | May 2026 | 0 | Dead on arrival; packaging looked previously returned |
Common questions
How far does it really throw?
Owners report anything from five feet to the full listed range, and the ball seems to matter as much as the setting. The consistent advice from long-term owners is to use the orange all-weather ball and keep tennis balls dry. Test it on day one.
Will it work with my own tennis balls?
The listing says any brand. One four-star owner found standard tennis balls a fraction too big and had to use the supplied ones; another says standard balls are fine and easy to replace. If you’re buying a bag of balls to go with it, buy them after it arrives.
Does the dog have to load it?
Yes. It fires when a ball drops into the tray. Owners report a week or so of treat-based training to get the dog doing that itself, and some are still working on it.
Is it loud?
Owners disagree more on this than on anything else. The warning beep can be switched off; the motor can’t. If your dog is sensitive to mechanical noise, be ready to return it.
Star percentages are Amazon’s published figures at the time of writing and will drift as new ratings arrive. Patterns above are summarised in my own words from a sample of the written reviews Amazon surfaces on this listing, which is smaller than the listing’s full review count and much smaller than its total ratings. Product images are from the manufacturer’s listing. Specifications, pricing and availability change; check the listing for current details.