DIY Dog toys

gavmcg92

Hi there.
Have a Boxer Lab who just can't keep a toy for more than 2 days without fraying the rope/ ripping the fabric/ punching a hole in it etc.
Does anyone here make their own cheap toys and if so what do you use?

Going to head down to B&Q to buy a couple of meters of rope and a length of garden hose and see what I come up with. I think some old kitchen towels might come in handy too

DamagedTrax

not home made but have you considered a boomer ball? they're indestructible! they give them to the hippos in the zoo to play with.

RubyGirl

When in the forest I always collect pine cones, they spend ages chewing them.

gavmcg92

Well she loves her tennis balls. So I'm more interested in making her a tug toy.

RubyGirl wrote: »

When in the forest I always collect pine cones, they spend ages chewing them.

Ohh believe me I've learned that. :P
Our spare room has them in the fire place and she loves to go in and take them out one at a time.

Dirk Gently

get yourself some kong toys.
There's a bone shaped kong toy which my 2 use for tug of war. The standard kong and the kong balls are great for chewing on.They're the only toys that last with my two.

gavmcg92

Dirk Gently wrote: »

get yourself some kong toys.

http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/rubber-toys/interactive-rubber-toys/tails/

Bought this for her and it lasted about 3 hours max :P

Millem

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Dirk Gently wrote: »

get yourself some kong toys.

http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/rubber-toys/interactive-rubber-toys/tails/

Bought this for her and it lasted about 3 hours max :P

Did she chew rubber part? If so she is needs the black extreme kongs
http://www.zooplus.ie/feedback/shop/dogs/dog_toys_dog_training/kongs/kong/139217
Have you tried nylabones?
http://www.nutrecare.co.uk/Product-2533/Nylabone-dog-toys/Nylabone-Dog-Toy

gavmcg92

Millem wrote: »

Did she chew rubber part? If so she is needs the black extreme kongs

No. She ripped the blue tug rope to shreds. The rubber bit is the only bit that's left.

Like I said she loves her tennis balls and so that is what we have as a fetch toy but I'm looking for a very strong tug toy.

Bubblefett

My sister's dog is really bad for tearing through toys to the point where my sisters given up buying them. A few weeks back I saw Petstop in Carrigmines selling deer antlers like this https://www.antlerdogchews.co.uk/index.php. Picked up a large one for her and she went mad for it.
About 2-3 weeks later it's still going strong, she's worn down the end slightly but I'd say it'll last another good while.

tk123

gavmcg92 wrote: »

but I'm looking for a very strong tug toy.

Do you want to leave her with the toy or just take it out to play tug? If it's just for playing and then putting away fleece tugs are much stronger than you might think. You just get a cheap fleece blanket, cut it into strips and make a plait out of the strips with a knot on each end. You can be more creative and thread balls thru etc. The fleece is also easier on their teeth. Be careful if you're going with GIANT rope toys - if she's trashing them around and you get a whack of it it'll hurt! :pac:

Whispered

I know you're looking for a tug toy, but wanted to suggest that in a pinch a coconut is great for dogs to play with. They are very hard, and last a week or so here which is a miracle really considering even kong toys have been known to be destroyed within hours. When they do eventually crack them, they're easily digested as they are rich in fibre. I wouldn't be giving one every day as they can cause runny, oily poo if they eat too much.

Definitely going to try tk123's suggestion of fleece.

gavmcg92

tk123 wrote: »

Do you want to leave her with the toy or just take it out to play tug? If it's just for playing and then putting away fleece tugs are much stronger than you might think. You just get a cheap fleece blanket, cut it into strips and make a plait out of the strips with a knot on each end. You can be more creative and thread balls thru etc. The fleece is also easier on their teeth. Be careful if you're going with GIANT rope toys - if she's trashing them around and you get a whack of it it'll hurt! :pac:

Sounds like a great idea. The tug toy mainly just for iteration but sometimes we forget to take it up. I was also told that old tea cloths are good for those type of toys. Take the cloth, cut two strips down the middle leaving an inch/ inch and a half, plait those together and knot the ends.

Yeah we got a toy from the shelter we adopted her from which was a rope with a ball at the end of it. She used to grab it at the end of the rope and swing the heavy ball around her face. Got it a few times to the back of the calf :P

Just picked up a bag of tennis balls and one of those leg-length flingers. She adores it, catches the ball, brings it back and drops it by my feet waiting for me to throw it again.

Graces7

Tried giving collie big soft toy once.

She bit off the ear, and swallowed it whole. No more soft toys.

She has no sense of humour and no sense of play. She will not chase a ball, but will chase wee dog chasing a ball. And when wee dog allows it will wrestle with her.

Her chosen fun is making confetti of anything she can easily get at. A gardening catalogue is perfect.

Wee dog is better. She used to grab a large plantpot over her head and race around in it. Huge fun. She will play tug too; oh and she adores brushes, I have to put her outside if I want to sweep the floor. Else she hangs on to the brush like grim death.

gavmcg92

Graces7 wrote: »

Wee dog is better. She used to grab a large plantpot over her head and race around in it. Huge fun. She will play tug too; oh and she adores brushes, I have to put her outside if I want to sweep the floor. Else she hangs on to the brush like grim death.

Sounds familiar. Our dog loves hoovers, brushes and pretty much anything that she knows will get a chase from us if she grabs it. All a big game to her :P

Graces7

gavmcg92 wrote: »

Sounds familiar. Our dog loves hoovers, brushes and pretty much anything that she knows will get a chase from us if she grabs it. All a big game to her :P

She does the same with sticks; if I am breaking kindling ready for the fire, she leaps on it and kills it. Never bothered with a toy...And a ball! oh WOW

Whispered

Graces7 wrote: »

Her chosen fun is making confetti of anything she can easily get at. A gardening catalogue is perfect.

One of mine is the same! We get the really hard packing boxes and let him play with them. It takes ages for him to shred. You can get them from shops that sell loose fruit and veg, Aldi and Lidl usually have them too. Great fun and last longer than most lighter boxes or paper.

Mayo Miss

My dog's favorite toys are plastic bottles, eg 2 ltr milk cartons/ 7up bottles. He loves the noise they make when he sends them flying around on the concrete, then he takes them into the field to sit and chew on them for a while.

He's not interested in playing fetch. It works once but the second time I throw the ball he won't come back, he comes nearby but as soon as I move towards him he takes off into the field. I think in his mind he wonders why would he give me the ball cause I'll only throw it away again, doh!

gavmcg92

beautiful dog

Yeah, one of my friends told me that they use their old milk bottles as toys. They open up the cap on the top, put in a couple of treats, close the lid and then give it to the dog. Good way of keeping them entertained.

My last dog was the same. Never got the idea of fetch. Used to love when we chased him to get the ball back. Was a game in itself. Used to go under the small coffee table.

New dog loves to fetch. You have to have two balls though. One to throw and the other to distract.



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scarlet_mandy

I second the plastic bottle idea, works a treat! Our lab can get through any toy in seconds, her record is a frisbee, shredded in 10 secs!

What I sometimes do is get a plastic coke/7up bottle (the 380ml, or close enough) and fill about a quarter of it with treats/kibble. Then if you have spare or old socks, esp knee high ones, you can put the bottle into the sock and tie a knot in the top. We tie that usually onto the branch of a tree out our back and she can spend ages getting it down, then milling into it!

Whispered

scarlet_mandy wrote: »

, her record is a frisbee, shredded in 10 secs!

I bought a soft toy, it was in the shape of a flea "double stitched" especially for destructive dogs. Cost me 28 euro.

I gave Harley the toy and walked back into the hall to pick up 2 shopping bags. I was gone seconds, I went back into the kitchen and was presented with a headless flea. :mad:

tk123

Well OP?? Where are the pics of the prototypes for your new range of toys?

gavmcg92

tk123 wrote: »

Well OP?? Where are the pics of the prototypes for your new range of toys?

Went to B&Q but all they had was plastic rope. Didn't think it would be great for her teeth. And besides... the hose seems to be a new favourite... only when it is on that is! (Ohh and she isn't impressed when I point it at her)

EDIT : OK I've set myself a challenge. Going to try and do this one. Will have to go looking for nylon rope now.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Dog-Toys-for-Heavy-Chewers/

nala2012

Black kongs and traffic cones are the only toys that last for our mastiff he can break a golf ball in 2 seconds!

Graces7

nala2012 wrote: »

Black kongs and traffic cones are the only toys that last for our mastiff he can break a golf ball in 2 seconds!

Traffic cones? lol... dare i ask .....

JustAThought

Whispered wrote: »

I know you're looking for a tug toy, but wanted to suggest that in a pinch a coconut is great for dogs to play with. They are very hard, and last a week or so here which is a miracle really considering even kong toys have been known to be destroyed within hours. When they do eventually crack them, they're easily digested as they are rich in fibre. I wouldn't be giving one every day as they can cause runny, oily poo if they eat too much.

Definitely going to try tk123's suggestion of fleece.

Just a warning to others about this ; my vets has a warning sign up in it a few months back about some coconut based products made from the outside of the coconut. Apparently it is very toxic to dogs & there have been deaths as a consequence.
Sorry for scaring you but it sounds like a cool idea; if I hadn't read this about coconuts being potentially toxic to dogs I'd be trying it myself.

JustAThought

If you dont mind a shredded mess on your floor & have some time on your side my dog LOVES when I make her one if these.

( Blue Peter moment!!)

You will need;one cup of coffee; a few insides of toilet rolls; tiny ( cut up) treats the size of half a halfpenny ; optional extra of newspaper ;& a sweeping brush for after!

Get about 4 or 5 insides of toilet rolls a break up some treats into very small bits. If you are particularly bored use two or three different ( stilltiny size ) treats for added deliciousness!! Flatten the toilet rolls and put a few treats along the length ; then fold it up really tight lengthwise. So you habe a tight torpedo shape with treats the length of it. Repeat for the rest of the toilet roll cardboard yokes. Put them inside one of the unfolded rolls and make sure they are in really tightly packed. You can drive your dog wild with happy by throwing in a few easy ones on top/bottom! It should look like a tightly stuffed bit lumpy toilet roll holder when you have finished! If you fancy, for added excitement you can Roll it up in a bit of newspaper ; & if you're really bored & the junk drawer is handy & you have a bit of masking tape , tie the newspaper on loosely around it for added madness.
Make a cup of coffee & hand the roll to fido. Shredding Heaven .. And they'll get to chase the escaped bits all over the floor and sniff the tiny bits from amongst the debry!!!
Fun fun fun

mickmcl09

Spent a fortune on dog toys as well and they only last minutes.
By chance they got a hold of the kids fisherprice dog, lasted for months so I got them more. I couldn't find a link but if you google fisher price dog and click on images, they are on the 2nd column, 2nd and 3rd row down. A couple of euro. They pull it around the place and the toy barks, great craic.
Granted the string goes fairly quickly, the toy will still bark for a good couple of months (when the dog pushes it or makes the legs move).

Very robust toy, legs last for months and they've never manages to get the head off or demolish the body of it. It's made from a very heavy plastic material.

seefin

Recently discovered that throwing an old blanket over one of my dogs, covering head and all, is a real challenge. She loveI it,spends a good few minutes trying to escape and often ends up totally entangled in it. The excitement when she finally frees herself- she acts proud as punch and runs up for me to throw it over her again! Hilarious to watch,I still get total kick out of watching it-often do it during ads when want to kill a few minutes!

Whispered

JustAThought wrote: »

Just a warning to others about this ; my vets has a warning sign up in it a few months back about some coconut based products made from the outside of the coconut. Apparently it is very toxic to dogs & there have been deaths as a consequence.
Sorry for scaring you but it sounds like a cool idea; if I hadn't read this about coconuts being potentially toxic to dogs I'd be trying it myself.

That's mad, just today I was speaking with a canine nutritionist who said that in small doses coconut is fine. Of course you should trust your vet but I'm happy to allow mine have them. All research I've done, and then speaking to the lady today indicates that it can cause a digestive disturbance (as I mentioned in my post), but is not toxic.

The shell can cause perforations but so can raw bone.

gavmcg92

made some tug toys from some old plastic rope that I had in the garage just as a tester. Millie seems to really like them (just as much as the €10 toy I got her a week ago)
Just waiting on some natural jute rope that I've ordered.

The little tester I made was simply a length of rope folded in half and knotted 2 inches from the bottom up to about a hands distance from the loop. Makes a great tug toy and works out at less than €2.

We were at the vet on Friday and she did manage to get me to buy her three squeaky tennis balls for her but hey she was good for the vet. Let's not hope this is a regular occurrence :P

I could swear they put the toys on the bottom shelf for a reason. Right within snouts reach

Cedrus

My beasts will eviscerate any toy in double time but one of them has a 5 1/2 year old stuffed dog which came with him from his breeder (and mammy and sisters) and this one is kept pristine (well one ear and most of its tail are gone but its got all it's stuffing) and it NEVER gets the death shake.

I get cheap rope in a local army surplus place and tie Monkeys Paw knots in it for tug or chew ropes.

I like the milk bottle full of treats idea, definitely one to try although they're not keen on the noise of coke bottles being squashed.

I regularly set up hunts in the garden for them, hiding treats around while they are coralled out of view in the hall then letting them loose to storm the back garden.