DIY Dog Toys

DIY Dog Toys

Christmas is right around the corner.  If your pup is anything like mine, especially Simba, they love to open presents on Christmas along with the rest of the family. Toys don’t seem to last very long with these two.  Buying toys can get expensive so I want to share with you a couple of DIY dog toys you can make by recycling some items that you have at home.  They’re all very easy to make. First of all, go through your sock drawer.  This is a great way to put those old socks to good use.  SOCK BALL:  If I have a bunch of ankle socks, I stuff a bunch into one sock leaving 3 or 4 for the end.  After you’ve stuffed them and created a tight oblong ball, put the ball into one of the ankle socks you saved for the end. Insert it with the open side first, then insert it into the next sock again with open side going in first and continue until out of socks.  You can insert one of those squeakers into the first stage of the sock stuffing.  The squeakers are the first thing they seem to pull out of new toys so I keep them for times like these.

SOCK BRAID:  If you have 6 old knee highs, tie each pair at one end with a tight knot.  Now you can braid the three pairs together and secure with a knot at both ends.  If you have a tennis ball or two, you can drill a hole on both sides of the ball and pull through a sock before you braid it.

SOCK PULL TOY:  I had two knee high socks.  I shoved 3-4 shorter socks into another shorter sock and then shoved each one of these into the knee high.  I tied the knee high and you have a great pull toy.

NOISY SOCK:  Simba loves those toys that have an empty plastic bottle in them and make noise when she chomps on it.  Knee highs are great for this too.  I usually double or triple the knee highs (one over the other) to make it harder for her to tear through it.  Insert an empty 16 or 24 oz water bottle into the sock and knot the end.  Make sure to remove the cap and paper off the bottle in case they do get it out.  For some reason, the cotton socks seem to last much longer than any toy they’ve had.

SHEET BRAID: Old jersey or microfleece bed sheets also make good braids.  Cut them into strips of about a foot in width and braid them together.  I make long braids and then knot them at intervals along the length.  This gives them something to chew on.

One more idea I would like to share.  As you may have read Gypsy’s blog, she loves destroying dog beds.  I found that old large sweatshirts make pretty good dog beds.  I cut off the arms and hand sew the neck, arm, and bottom opening after stuffing them with something soft.  You could use the fluff stuffing you get at craft stores or just use old t-shirts, sweatshirts, and sheets to stuff them with.

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