Puppy toy ideas

[Obe-Willow]

Hi,
I usually hang around the goat forum but we are getting a Saint Bernard puppy
on Saturday(We are very excited ) and I thought that I would make some toys for are new member of the family and I am in need of some ideas.

Thanks for any ideas
Marisa

[Terry W]

Put an old tennis ball in the toe of a long tube sock, and tie a knot to hold it in-- instant tug toy.

[Willowynd]

Fleece material sewn into shapes and stuffed, plastic pop bottles with baby carrots in them- leave lid off (my adults love these too), polar fleece braided into ropes, walmart puppy toys in the check-out aisle- 88 cents....I skip the latex painted plastic ones and go for the tires, ropes and stuffed ones.

[MaryNY]

An old sock (or two!) tied with a knot in the middle, or a heavy piece of cotton rope of some sort -- several strands -- tied together in a knot. They love to chew on them. Also a "wooden bone" made out of hardwood - like maple -- not softwood like pine -- they can splinter off pieces of the softwood, but the hardwood holds up well.

Good luck with the pup!

MaryNY

[Missy M]

Whatever you decide to make, keep this in mind. A toy made with a household item will forever associate these items with toys and play. The puppy will not understand which sock you wear and which is his toy. They will all end up toys and chewed to bits. The store bough toys are better for teething and large dogs because they are made to hold up under all that chewing.

[Sonshine]

Since it's a new member of the family, the sock ideas are excellent. Make sure you use socks from the various family members. That way the puppet will get use to your scent. We have always done this for our new puppies. We even had one that would drag it to her bed and sleep with it like a teddy bear. I didn't have a problem with any of them tearing up other socks, but I might have just been lucky. I've raised dogs all my life, but usually smaller than St Bernards. We've always had shelties.

[Maura]

As a teenager I had too many of my socks torn to shreds because my younger siblings thought playing tug of war with my dog using socks was fun.

I take a cheap ball (squeakie inside is good) and make a little fleece pillowcase for it. Insert ball and sew closed. Then, take another little fleece pillowcase and insert ball into it. This gives you two layers before getting to the ball. Once he's torn apart the outer fleece, you put on a new case. Never let him get to the ball. I've made about three of these in the past six years. Now, I use one layer of denim over the ball.

For a tug of war toy, you want to use something that is only used for tug of war, and use no other toy for the game. This way, everytime you have a towel or sock in your hand, your dog won't grab it.

Get some raw meaty bones for your puppy to chew on. It should be large enough that he can't swallow it, but small enough that he can carry it. Bones become dry and brittle, so a raw bone has a three day lifespan before being trashed. If you aren't feeding raw, a nice chew bone once a week will help to satisfy your puppy's chewing needs, and the bone he scrapes off is only good for him. Also, your sofa legs are unlikely to smell like raw bones.

[Obe-Willow]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!!!
We live in a yurt and we have a trailer that has the bathroom and kitchen in it
and the dogs are not aloud in there so we will not have many problems with the socks

Thanks Marisa