Hello:  I am new to the forum and forums in general (first time!) so pls excuse me if I post in the wrong area or do something ridiculous.  I need help/suggestions from someone on how to make the mouth of this puppet: http://www.wimp.com/dogpuppeteer/  (I hope it's okay to post links).  I am a self-taught marionette artist in Upstate NY.  I would love to make a dog puppet who can fetch like this dog.  I'm wondering what mechanism is used to make the mouth close on it's own.  It appears to me that when the puppeteer pulls the string up, the mouth opens and when he lets the string go, the mouth closes on its own with enough force to hold the ball.  Thanks so much!  

Without looking at the link - yet- it sounds like you have it back to front. It's easier to let gravity do the work for you, so usually the default state of a puppet's mouth is open. So the string would be pulled to close, and when it's let go it is open. It's also easier to keep the ball in the mouth if the string is pulling up against gravity (ie giving a bit of friction to hold the ball with) instead of going with gravity and making the ball easier to fall out.

EDIT: ok, looking at the video, his thumb seems to let go of the string at the open of the mouth, not the other way around. It's hard to tell because the camera is shaky and his hands arent easily visible, but thats my guess.

contact Frankie Malachi (look it up at google). He can build this for you for a nice price.
I live in Belgium and I'm looking for a simular puppet. I really wanted Frankie Malachi to build my puppet, but I would pay to much duties and shipping costs.

I found a puppet builder in Netherland who will make my dog

Daan

I agree with Na. I can't really tell in the video but it would be better if the default would be for the mouth to be open. Can always add a bit of weight in the end of the mouth so it always falls open.  You could use something like a spring, elastic or rubber band to hold the mouth closed which might give you enough force to hold an item but the other approach is more fool proof in my opinion.

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