Best ever homemade toy

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Buddy loves laundry baskets, just loves 'em. He gets in them, on them, he herds them into groups, he bites on them and simultaneously pushes his hip into it to push it at same time, he pushes them across the floor/yard with his nose, he throws 'em up in the air, he rolls the round ones on their sides, he shakes them left and right and up in the air, he gets a real workout with a basket!!!! WISH I HAD A VIDEO CAM!! You'd laff out loud watching him wrestle around with laundry baskets.

YOur dog MIGHT like laundry baskets, too, and you just don't know it...? :msniwonder:
So he eventually chews up the edges, they get too sharp and cut his lips up.:dogtongue:

so i got a new, unchewed, plastic laundry basket at the dollar general store, $1, and a "Noodle", $2, a long foam tube with a small hole down the center, a "noodle" is a floating toy, in swimming pool toy department.......total cost :msnparty: $3 = tough durable fun toy.:dogbiggrin:

I slit the Noodle lengthwise, only halfway down, and then slipped it over the laundry basket top edge. Tied it down with rope. WA-LAA! Buddy loves it. It even squeaks somehow when he bites that foam thing on the laundry basket edge. Sometimes, i tuck lil treats under the ropes, too.

I also took a rectangle shaped, sturdier laundry basket, and covered top edge with carpet scraps, tied the carpet down onto the top edges with rope, Buddy loves that one, too! He actually herds the baskets, back and forth, from one end of the yard to the other. He wants some sheep, i know i know, but, i point out to Buddy, hey, you were on death row, so don't complain!!! so you got a family with no sheep, but at least you get to live!!


Everyone we have over, looks out on our backyard and says, "What's with all the laundry baskets?":msngiggle:
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Ha, i just found this thread again, saw headline and wondered, what best homemade toy? wonder what Buddy was liking so much when i wrote that?

so i clicked on it, and laffed, oh yeah, he STILL loves, just LOVES his laundry baskets...still, is his all time favorite thing....that and squeak toys. Well, all toys.

But, when he reeeeeally has to explode off some energy, he goes for the laundry baskets. Chasing them, herding them, even barks at them, sometimes he prowls up to them sneaky-like and then attacks them, rolls around with them, throws them up into the air, gets in them, on them, even under them!!!

He drags them back and forth, piling them up together, then moves them across the yard with his nose pushing it, sometimes all three in a group, or sometimes one at a time and then goes back for the others...
....he just loves laundry baskets, :dogbiggrin:especially when he is reeeeally hyper and has to blow off some steam...
We got a really lightweight one for indoors play.
I found out they sell these at the dollar store--YAY!!:msnohyes: Craig wanted to throw out a basket that was getting raggedy, and i said, "Buddy doesn't know it's raggedy, he still thinks it is his fun laundry basket!"....we only replace them when they are reeeally in shreds...he will play with the last lil shreds even...

Everyone, get your dog a laundry basket:dogbiggrin: or two or three, that are just for him, and see if maybe your dog likes laundry baskets, too?
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Oh how cute!! Now if you don't correct that the way most people do, and just give him some baskets of his very own, he may well turn out to be a "BASKET CASE" like mine!! ha ha!!

Also, the sturdy kind of cardboard boxes, Buddy likes those, too!!:dogbiggrin:
Boxes have less danger of cutting his lips on sharply-chewed plastic laundry baskets.

amazing to watch,:msnhugegrin: how deftly he 'steers' that box or basket with his nose, zooming about at full speed, turning just before he hits a piece of furniture!!!!
Fun to watch Buddy pushing that basket with his nose all around the entire house, reeeallly fast---room to room, but never ever crashes into stuff!!! I don't know how he does that, sometimes he can't even reeeally see in front of himself!!:dogcool: still, he knows to turn right at that spot!
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
I will try, but, i don't have camera this week, DO feel free to heckle me to upload a photo next week. I will forget, i'm sure!

You CAN use a plain basket or box, TOO!! With no noodle on it at all!!!

But, since Buddy chews the top edges of the plastic laundry baskets til they are actually sharp, i did cover the top edges with a toy called a "Noodle"...

it is found in swimming toys for humans, in that section of the store..., even Walmart sells them. Humans use these Noodles to float in pools and stuff.

Noodles are long tubes, made of some kind of flexible foam...here is photos of the Noodles--->(that i slice open and slip over edges of laundry basket)


Comfort1st - Big Boss Pool Float Noodles 4" x 58" - Case of 9

I cut a slit down the length of the "Noodle" tube, to reach that lil open area you can see in the photo....
THEN
I chop tubes into appropriate length to slip over each of the 4 top edges of the rectangle shaped laundry basket. Or, a round one, these Noodles bend very easily to fit onto a round basket, too!
.
Then, after i slip the Noodle over the top edges of the laundry basket, i tie the tubes on with some rope.

WA-LA!! And for some reason, the tubes do indeed squeak a bit :dogwub:when he bites onto them. The squeak is the foam tube rubbing over the plastic edge of the laundry basket. I DO hafta get a photo of this.
If i had a video camera, everyone would laff at Buddy 'herding' these baskets!!!

SOMETIMES i do give him plain laundry baskets, :dogbiggrin:though, yes i do!!
He has a grand time with these,too!!!! really gets Buddy to run around!!!


Sooner or later, the edges get too too sharp.....and the basket is in tatters.... and we replace them.

But it is worth every penny, all the excercise Buddy gets from a basket!!


or even cardboard boxes, but, the boxes don't last very long..BUT, IF I HAVE A BOX, it keeps Buddy busy for an hour or so, tearing it up,:msngiggle: before we throw out any BIG cardboard box------ Buddy gets to have at it!!:dogbiggrin:



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tigerlily46514

Honored Member
HERE is another homemade dog toy, that i bet EVERY dog will love.:dogtongue2: When it is bad weather, or just boring day, or, if he has to be home alone--- i sometimes will give Buddy one of these:

I take a lil plastic tub, like butter comes in, or cheese spread, or cottage cheese, some plastic tub like that, THAT HAS A LID.


I smear something yummy in it, maybe peanut butter....:dogbiggrin:... or some yogurt.... or a dab of some leftover cheese spread.........not much, just enough to make it worth it.

I also put in one treat, too, for extra smell.


Put the lid back on.... and WA-LA!!-----> Homemade
dog puzzle !!!!!!!
THE BIGGER THE TUB, =THE HARDER IT IS AND LONGER IT TAKES.........

IF YOU HAVE A SMALL DOG--or an easily frustrated dog----
GET A LITTLE TUB, LIKE THIS--->

just throw it away when the dog finally gets the lid off and licks out the treats.

THIS CAN TAKE BUDDY HALF AN HOUR sometimes,:dogwacko: depending on the tub/lid. So cute to watch, he keeps biting it shut again by accident!!

If he gives up, and sometimes Buddy will give up, :dogunsure:cuz he is NOT a "destroyer".......then i take a knife and STAB LIL HOLES in the lid and in the tub, to keep that smell wafting out to him......... and to give him extra places to bite onto it.

If your dog IS a "destroyer" :dogtongue2:bet they will get that lid RIGHT OFF!!!

SO SAVE YOUR PLASTIC TUBS---------MAKE A HOMEMADE DOG 'PUZZLE' !!!!!!:dogbiggrin:
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Another great toy i found, is a orange rubbery ball, with a thick honey-comb 3-D surface, sorta like this tissuepaper decoration in the photo, only very thick rubbery walls instead of these thin ones shown in the photo.

Whenever Bud is home alone, he gets this:

I take some treats, and stuff them into all the various grooves and holes there, take Buddy quite a while to get them all out. Some i leave sticking half out.....some are jammed way down, to keep him busy longer.....not exactly a homemade toy, BUT, it is a homemade "treat dispenser" !!!!

I can't remember if i got this in a pet toy section, or a human toy dept....

but, IF YOU SPOT A RUBBER BALL THAT LOOKS ANYTHING LIKE THIS--->


GET ONE!! and stuff treats in the grooves there....
 

enigma_sx

New Member
Hi, I love the tub idea, I have a 7 month old beagle who loves his kong, one question though would it be safe for him. He's still teething so he perfers to tear things up to get treats out, taking the lid off would be too boring for my "Merlin". I'd be afraid if he chewed some plastic & swallowed it. What do you think?
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Hmm, my dog never tears up the plastic itself. I'd certainly observe your dog completely til he is done licking it out, then you throw it away.

I don't know if a puppy could have this UNsupervised. I think i'd sit beside any puppy with a tub. It'd have to be a small tub...i'd watch him closely, and remove it if he does manage to shred up the plastic. My dog never ever shreds it, but, yours might....

Buddy bends it/smashes it/bites it, but, the plastic itself is intact when he is done, not like, in a million pieces or anything--nope-- It just looks like a "chewed on" tub! He reallly doesn't even rip it at all, nope.

because i know my dog is not interested in eating nor shredding up the plastic, i can leave him with one. But, in your case, you'd have to watch the dogs to see how they do. Also, esp with a puppy, you have to be sure his lil head couldn't get stuck in it. but i think your instincts are right, a puppy probably should NOT be left alone with a tub, i'd sit right beside him.

IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK for some of these tubs to get opened by a dog!!



ha, i left out a part, i dont' know if this matters or not, but i always show Buddy what is inside before i put the lid on. Might not make a speck of difference, but i do.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
MORE HOMEMADE DOG PUZZLES:
NOw, all plastic bottles, whether small or large, like empty 8-oz water bottles, even liter bottles of coke, or milk bottles, get turned into dog puzzles for my "bored" collie. These are one-time-use only puzzles, but, so far, Buddy has always been happy with each and every one of these. The sound of me cutting holes in the plastic bottles brings him running.
My dog does not eat plastic, so, for him, is okay. Skip this if your dog would eat the plastic. Buddy chews it up, bites it off, but, spits plastic back out.

I save all plastic bottles and containers now,:msnwink: and all get rinsed out, and stored for boring day.............. and i cut a few holes in them.

It's important to cut holes, random holes cut at both ends of bottles, maybe one in the middle, too.....first off, lil crumbs come out to keep dog interested. Also helps make it easier for dog to keep smelling the treats inside. I sometimes replace cap, other times, no.

Obviously, the more holes= the easier for dog to get treats out as he rips up bottle. STart out easy for dog's first time, and make less holes over time, so he has to work harder....

I toss in a few treats, the more aromatic= the better. I make some treats too big to fall out of the holes, some torn up into tiny crumbs, to fall out as it rolls around.................... and this keeps Buddy busy:dogbiggrin: for up to half an hour ripping it up to get the treats.
 

JoAnne

Well-Known Member

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
yeah, like i said, dogs who DO eat plastic--------- can not be left alone with either tubs or water bottles. WELL DARN IT....we'll have to keep thinking. That thread does have some other ideas, too.
ooh, i just thought of another idea, too, i will add it to that thread....

i wonder if this oughta be in it's OWN thread, like, a NEW thread, with it's very own new title about this specific problem??? of ideas to help entertain bored dogs in shelters...

to help others who may be able to help you on this very worthy cause, spot your request???
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
ha, my post above,
i *THOUGHT* i was posting on the "My pup Asher" thread, duh!

HERE is one other thing we do sometimes when we leave Buddy home alone....

we get CLOTH fabric books,

intended for infants,

and i measure out one spoonful of peanut butter (so i can keep track how MUCH peanut butter i am giving my dog) and then, add dabs of peanut butter between each page, and press pages closed.
it takes him a lil while to get that book spotlessly clean again for next time.
 

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Jukes

Well-Known Member
For a cooling summer dog toy - I use plastic milk/water bottles. I clean them out then fill them 3/4 with water and about another 1/8 with ice cubes - leave a 1/8 empty so the dog can hear it sloshing around, then put the lid back on. I then just chuck this outside and Jukes goes mad for it - he chews and bites and shakes it and then eventually he breaks it and gets splashed by all the water which he loves - he then shakes it some more getting himself soaked - he even drinks some of it:D

Don't know if other dogs would be intrested in this but Jukes just loves it and it cools him down.
I love the fabric book suggestion - I might try that with some cottage cheese:)
 

JoAnne

Well-Known Member
For a cooling summer dog toy - I use plastic milk/water bottles. I clean them out then fill them 3/4 with water and about another 1/8 with ice cubes - leave a 1/8 empty so the dog can hear it sloshing around, then put the lid back on. I then just chuck this outside and Jukes goes mad for it - he chews and bites and shakes it and then eventually he breaks it and gets splashed by all the water which he loves - he then shakes it some more getting himself soaked - he even drinks some of it:D

Don't know if other dogs would be intrested in this but Jukes just loves it and it cools him down.
I love the fabric book suggestion - I might try that with some cottage cheese:)
 

JoAnne

Well-Known Member
Can I use turkey necks if I can find chicken ones? Chicago is currently the capitol of Hell's kitchen and I hate to turn the oven on to roast a chicken just to see if Asher likes the neck...but of course I would!
 
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