Dog Trick Academy Library

If you are like me, every time you go pick up some dog food at the local pet store, you can’t resist the temptation of walking in the toys aisle. And you can’t help but notice how cute some of the toys are, and how much your dog would love one.

But then, you start to remember how your dog chewed up to pieces his last toy you bought him. The last tug toy I bought for my dog lasted less than a week before it started falling apart and ripping while tugging. So for the last year I have been making my own tug toys, ones that costs a fraction of the store bought and that lasts much longer.

In this article, I will show you how to build your own, from materials that can be purchased very cheaply at your local fabric store. There are many different fabrics to choose from, they all have their advantages and disadvantages.

When choosing a material, make sure that you test it’s strength by pulling on each sides and look for rips. Some material will leave fuzz balls or fur all over the house. My personal favorite is pool table felt. Usually people will sell their used pool table felt because it is a little bit dirty, so you can purchase those for very cheap. I believe I purchased myself an entire pool table felt for less than $15 at my local fabrics store - giving me the opportunity to make multiple tug toys - while I would only be able to purchase one at the pet store.

Start by cutting three strips the length of the fabric; make them as long as possible. Once the tug toy is finished it will only be about a quarter of the length of your strips.

Tie a normal knot at the top of the strips; make sure that it is very tight so that it doesn’t come apart when you start tugging with it.

Take the knot in your hands while the strips are hanging off your hand.

Take the strip that is the farthest away (yellow arrows) from you and bring it over towards you. Then take the left strip (blue arrows) and bring it over the middle strip. Then take the right strip (green arrows) and bring it over and under the two strips.

Tighten each strip equally and you will have your first knot. The tighter you make your knots the harder the toy will be, but if you tighten it lightly, the toy will stretch while you tug.

Repeat the same thing over and over until you have the desired length. Here is a picture of a few knots done in a row.

When you are finished, complete the tug toy by doing a final and normal knot at the end, like you did in the beginning.

Here is the final tug toy, doesn’t it look fancy? There are alternative ways to knot it so that it goes in a spiral, you simply have to start each knot with a different strip instead of the one at the back.

Here are a few pictures of Chase tugging with the toy I just made. She really loves it!

Have fun with this! And experience with all sorts of different materials and lengths!