Homemade toys... Share your creations!

[Crested]

I thought that when everybody (well atleast me) wants to spoil their furry/hairless friends with new toys, but don't have the $$$ to buy new ones all the time, home made toys might be a great idea.
Tell everybody how you have made a toy (successfull entertainment for your dogs or not) and how much your dog liked or disliked the toy. :)

Here's a couple of my "creations".

Ben loves socks and he loves squeeky toys. First I was too stupid not to add them together, so the first creation was this:

[b]Sock toy 1:[/b]

Take a thick, old woollen sock (thick, if you want it to last longer in your tail-wagging-friend's mouth) and start rolling the sock from the toe part to the ankle part. When you've reached the end open it (the end of the sock I mean) and pull it over the roll. Ben loved this, because he wanted to throw it around and get the sock straight! One Christmas we wonderd why he was looking at the Christmas tree (wich was waving from one side to the other by the way) and we started wondering where the sock was. We took a closer eye on the tree and there, on the top branches of the tree was the sock! :D

Then came another version:

[b]Sock toy 2:[/b]
Take a thick, old wollen sock and tie a knot in the middle of it. This was great fun for Ben (and makes a grait pulling and tugging toy)!

Then I came up with another version. (well mom did)

Squeeky sock 1:

Take a thick, woolen sock. Put a squeeky toy in the sock and a knot in the middle. This entertained Ben for ages when he tried to figure out how to get the toy out of the sock. Now he's understood that it's no point in trying and loves to throw the sock around just for fun. (litterally! He often throws it around so hard it hits the ceeling 2 meters up in the air!!!)

[b]Squeeky sock 2:[/b]

This is Ben's favourite of all sock toys!
Take TWO thick, woolen socks and put a squeeky toy in the end of one of them (you can allso put it in the end of both of them or put two toys in both by sowing the ancle ends shut). Then put the socks over eachother so they form a cross, sow a few stiches in the middle to keep them in their places and put a dubble knot in the middle. After this you can give it to your pal! Guess how much fun it will be when your pal starts thinking of a way to get the toy(s) out of there!!

Here's another toy I made to replace any tree branch or anything like that outside (and why not inside too) because as many of you know throwing a branch can sometimes hurt your dog's mouth. This is totally harmless!

[b]Jeans toy[/b]

Take a little peace of cloth that can stand MUCH punishment (like jeans) and cut out a rectangle peace (I used a 20cm x 15cm for Ben and the result became a 20cm x 5cm toy). Put the cloth in front of you wrong side up. Take the long ends and fold them in, then sow them. Then do it again and this time fold them to the middle of the peace and sow them. Then sick-sack the short ends. Toy is ready to be played with!!
This isn't Ben's favourite toy, but I'm sure it will be fun for dogs that love retrieveing! :)

[b]Just for small dogs[/b]

I found that a cup (cork) of a baby's bottle is a GREAT toy for small dogs like Ben. Ben puts the cup in his mouth bites it and the cup shoots from the corner of his lips and he runs after it.
[size=6][b]But you have to keep a close eye on this toy! If it starts to look like it could brake any minute take it away, because if your dog bites it and it brakes, it could seriously hurt your dogs gums and mouth!![/b][/size]

So... What do you think? I'll try and get photos of the toys here if you want? But here's a little showing how Ben loves the "squeeky sock 2"! :D

[img]http://personal.inet.fi/koti/crested/sukka.JPG[/img]

[img]http://personal.inet.fi/koti/crested/playingwithasock.jpg[/img]

[img]http://personal.inet.fi/koti/crested/playingwithasock2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://personal.inet.fi/koti/crested/playingwithasock3.jpg[/img]

[img]http://personal.inet.fi/koti/crested/playingwithasock4.jpg[/img]

[img]http://personal.inet.fi/koti/crested/playingwithasock5.jpg[/img]

[img]http://personal.inet.fi/koti/crested/playingwithasock6.jpg[/img]

Now tell me your stories!!

/Crest

[ellieangel]

Great ideas Crested !
Rio was a destructive pup so to keep him occupied-and to try to save wear and tear on the soft furnishings-I make him boxes to tear up while i am out!
I save all my boxes e.g.ready meals,cereal boxes etc and put a few treats in each one and then tape them up with sellotape if you have a few boxes of different sizes you can put one inside the other with treats in each layer !!
You can also wrap them up a pass the parcel type thing with newspaper !
Rio loves it and when i get home there are tiny pieces of card everywhere but my sofa is saved !!! :lol:

[mouseatthebusstop]

I HAVE TIED ABOUT SIX OLD SOCKS TOGETHER --I HAVE PUT A TENNIS BALL INSIDE A SOCK. THEY ENJOYED THEM :)

[Rosebud]

:D

I'm going to have to try some of those sock toys.

The only home-made toy that I have is for my house lions.

You take a green bamboo cane about 2-3 feet long and about a dime in diameter at the base and let it dry in the sun. Once it's good and dry you just drag it around the room and watch the kitties chase it. the bamboo creates a noise and the cats love chasing it.

You can also tie some feathers to a string and tie the string to the stick and go kitty cat fishing.

:angel:

[jen]

[color=orange]crested[/color] what a wonderful post....i love it.
i am definatley going to try out the various sock toys you`ve made.
i think Laylah will love them the most as she is a SOCK THIEF!! :lol: I`m not joking everytime someone takes their socks off she STEALS them!! :lol: :lol:
So i will see if giving her her own "sock toy" will stop her stealing ours!! :lol:

i love eveyone else`s ideas too, i will give them all a try and let you know the results.

also will try and invent one myself to post to you :D

[slim86]

My dog will go for hours with a plain garden hose. He loves to grab an end and run around the yard and gather stuff in the hose. Once he has some lawn chairs sticks rocks and the rest of his toys in there he'll drag them all around with one end of the hose and grawl. It's really entertaining to watch a dog play with odd stuff and to see how much fun they can have when they're alone.

Slim

[Crested]

[quote name='jen'][color=orange]crested[/color] what a wonderful post....i love it.
i am definatley going to try out the various sock toys you`ve made.
i think Laylah will love them the most as she is a SOCK THIEF!! :lol: I`m not joking everytime someone takes their socks off she STEALS them!! :lol: :lol:
So i will see if giving her her own "sock toy" will stop her stealing ours!! :lol:

i love eveyone else`s ideas too, i will give them all a try and let you know the results.

also will try and invent one myself to post to you :D[/quote]

Thanks, Jen! :)

Oh, geesh! Sock thief? That's NOTHING compared to Ben! :roll: Here's some stealing tricks of his:

[i]1. When someone is takeing their socks off, pull them quick from his/her hand and go running around the house with it.

2. When somebody opens the closet, run there and pull a sock out! Then run around the house and don't let ANYBODY get the sock from you! It's YOURS all YOURS!!

3. If somebody's sock isn't properly in their feet, walk slowly and quietly to them when they're not watching and carefully bite in the sock (NOT THE FOOT!!) and pull the sock from the humans foot! Now remember that now the sock is yours and the humans have no buissness running after you! [/i]

I hope your dogs won't read this.... :lol:

And Ben has 3... no wait... 4 socks of his own so the stealing hasn't stopped! :roll:

[quote name='mouseatthebusstop']I HAVE TIED ABOUT SIX OLD SOCKS TOGETHER --I HAVE PUT A TENNIS BALL INSIDE A SOCK. THEY ENJOYED THEM :)[/quote]

Oh! I have to try that! Ben loves tennis balls too, so it would be fun to try that too... Oh, wait... I won't... think of what the damage the ball will do to the walls, cealing, porslin, etc we have in the house... :o He'll use it as a slingshot!!! Remember where the sock landed his FIRST Christmas here?? :o

[quote name='ellieangel']Great ideas Crested !
Rio was a destructive pup so to keep him occupied-and to try to save wear and tear on the soft furnishings-I make him boxes to tear up while i am out!
I save all my boxes e.g.ready meals,cereal boxes etc and put a few treats in each one and then tape them up with sellotape if you have a few boxes of different sizes you can put one inside the other with treats in each layer !!
You can also wrap them up a pass the parcel type thing with newspaper !
Rio loves it and when i get home there are tiny pieces of card everywhere but my sofa is saved !!! :lol:[/quote]

Thanks Ellie! :)

What if the dog swallows a piece of a box and it gets stuck in his throat or something?

[quote name='slim86']My dog will go for hours with a plain garden hose.[/quote]

Ben couldn't care less of a garden hose! :roll: Your dog is just weird! :lol: :D

/Crest

[mydogroxy]

roxy loves to play with brooms, shovels, rakes, ect. anything with a long pole attatched basically. i've had to hide the rakes and shovels so she doesn't hurt herself. she'll carry the pole around for hours and fights me when i try to take it away!

[StarFox]

Oh Crested some of thoes sock toys sound great! I must try some! The only real toys that i make is to tie 2 knee socks together at the middle so it makes a cross. Zebra likes to play tug-o-war with that. The other "toy" that I make Zebra is when the roll of paper towels is done i take the cardboard tube and close one end off by folding it and throw a few treats inside then close the other end of the tube. It makes a great noise that Zebra loves..and he gets to rip the cardboard to peices to get the treats. He LOVES it.

Crested-I loves thoes pics of Ben..he looks like he has a mohawk! he is just adorable. And I love your new Avitar!


Oh and Zebra is a sock theif too! Pulls them right off our feet!

[Malamum]

I haven't actually made any home-made toys because I'm not very handy when it comes to things like that.

Indy is also a notorious sock thief. The other day I had a sock that missed going in the wash so I put it in the laundry sink till I needed to do another load. I also had the sink full of towels so I stuffed the sock right down under the towels and made sure everything was below the sink line so Indy couldn't see anything unless he jumped up. Well what to you know I came home from work and he had the sock and the towels were hardly disturbed :-?

[imported_nea]

Bir seems to adopt the toys he likes. So far hes taken a little teddy bear, and a toilet paper roll. The toilet paper roll isn't where he can get to it when someone isn't supervised, but he loves it when I put a treat in it and fold in the edges. I throw it, and he races off to get the treat out.

[Bronxie]

I buy Elle toys but maybe I should start making them. Good idea :ylsuper: and I do love your dog's hairstyle. :bday:

[Guest Anonymous]

Dreydins #1 alltime favorite toy is a homemade toy, i spent tons on store bought toys. I can scarecly remeber a time i went to the petstore and get out for undr 50 bucks.
[b]SOCK SPRINGPOLE[/b]

Take four old knee socks(you know those really high up ones) and double them up. Put one inside the other then tie them toether at the toes to make one really long sock rope. then one one end take all the old socks in your drawr and tie them on, no particular method you just want one big sock mass on the end. then tie the other end to a clothes line or a spring, it has to give some because tugging is the whole point and your dog will lose interest if there isnt a pulling sensatoin on the other end. Hang it up and get out of the way!! Drey loves it and i had to make a sturdier one for Daz as he loves to play too.
:black:

[Guest Anonymous]

Hazel use to theft socks ALL the time! Right off our feet too :roll: I'm trying to teach Coal to stay AWAY from the socks thank you very much :wink: :lol: Kat (sister) tried to get him to play with him when we first got him, and I was like "nooooo" LOL cuz she did the same thing with Hazel when we first got her! :lol: :roll:
Coal has tones of toys we bought him when we picked him up, but he's also got a soup bone (cooked, Hazel always ate them raw though, but we weren't sure if it'd hurt his little tummy if it was raw), and he's got tupperware! LOL We dont' use them anymore, so if you put a tupperware container or bowl on the floor, he'll put his feet in it (we have lynolium and hardwood floors) and push it around! :lol: He also loves to play with the container lids, cuz their so old their warped and are all bent, so it's easy to pick up, and push around and plus their light so he can pack them around.
Then there's always sticks, but I only give my dogs the willow branches, if their newer (which I don't like doing, cuz it's hurting a tree :cry: ) but if they get broken some how, you just twist them off. Make sure you supervise the dog though, and throw away the stick once it starts to get splintered.
Coal also loves towels!! My boyfriend got him into that! :roll: We have to keep all the towels up now!!! :evil:
Oh! With Hazel I'd always use Ice Cream bucket lids! Those big jug sorta deals you could get of Ice Cream? Well the lids make GREAT frisbees! And their cheap concidering you've already eaten the icecream and woulda just thrown it out :wink: They don't last that long though, cuz they get a lot of puncture holes, and get chewed up fast and if not taken away soon enough, can cause the dog's gums to bleed, and aren't fun to hold either :-? So I use to save them up 'till I got maybe ten, then they'd last a while... maybe a month :-? But it is cheaper then those other frisbees, which get in about the same state anyway. I even bought frisbees MADE FOR DOGS, and they all got chewed within five minutes :o
Yup, that's about it for home made toys! LOL
I probably have tones more I could think of... We dont' have any good pet stores around here, so we've always had to make toys ourselves :wink:

[jen]

[color=red][size=6]crested[/size][/color] i made my dogs your squeaky sock 2 toy yesterday and my dogs absolutley [color=red]love[/color] it!! :D

i`m planning on making the treats inside a kitchenroll tube, i`m just waiting until i`ve got 4 as i`ve got 4 dogs, then they can have 1 each :D

thanks for all your ideas everyone, my dogs are loving it!!! :wink: