Saturday, April 16, 2011

The easy peasy dog toy

I have a confession to make, sometimes I am cheap and sometimes I am lazy. This means I occasionally work to figure out a way to save myself money and time. This idea does both. Here is my secret to a super easy do-it-yourself dog toy. First nab a piece of cloth. I think the one shown was about 3 1/2 feet x 1 foot. It literally was a scrap in a bunch of fleece someone gave me. I didn't even need to pre-cut it. Next cut it into 3 strips, leaving one end piece connected.
Step on the connected end piece and start braiding.


Braid it all the way til the end.


Put a knot in it, pushing the knot towards the end of the braided portion. Add a knot in the other end as well.


Ta da! One braided tug toy. No sewing needed! (If you don't know how to braid, simply throw a knot in the cloth every so often for another version.)


You can make them as long or as short as you like. The one below is a longer version then the one shown above. You can also add more knots to the longer ones as well.


Tug is one of Jack very favorite games. I also keep one in my traveling training box. They are very useful for teaching fetch games, take it and give. The good news is that any kind of cloth works. Got an old pair of Jeans? The legs work great as a toy!! They are machine washable as well. I hope this sparks some fun for your own dogs. Enjoy!!

3 comments:

Katie said...

I have been building my tug-braiding skills as I get more involved in flyball. Steve is *hard* on tugs, and he prefers fleece, so I keep my eye out for sales at the fabric store.

I'm pretty happy with the last one I made- it even has a handle ;)

Marie said...

Handles are a great idea! I'll have to try that will my next long one. My daughter is participating in tennis this year. When I went to her last practice I was wondering what they did with the "old" tennis balls. I'm thinking you could cut holes in them and add them to a tug. That will be my next project.

Rajesh said...

There isn't anything wrong with trying to save money, and more importantly time, Marie.

This one would save me a dollar or two than buying a dog toy, so great job! I do hope I find a cloth as adorable as that one, your dogs seem to love it!

Now off to try that myself.