How you can use everyday items to make dog toys to save money
I don’t know about you, but I have a box in the corner of my living room that holds all the dog bones and toys for my dogs to play with. Normally, its a place to throw them when I’m trying to vacuum or pickup the floor. Of course, they pull them right back out as soon as I do this and I feel like I am cleaning up after toddlers.
The other day I took a good look at many of the items in there. What I found were ripped and torn cloth toys and half chewed bones. I finally decided it was time to replace these old toys with new ones. So I made my way to the local pet store to see what they had. I picked out a bag of beef bones, a bag of treats, and a couple cloth toys they could play with and chew on. But when the total came up on the display, I definitely balked and $60 later I was walking out of the door slightly annoyed.
Although I don’t spend this money that often on these items, it definitely adds up, especially for someone on a budget. So I decided to look at some other options. I realized that I could find several items around my home and repurpose them to save money. As many of you probably go through the same thing, I thought I would share my favorite homemade dog toy tutorials.
1) For the noise loving dog
For those of you with pets that like toys that make noises, this super easy tutorial is for you.
The only things you need are an old unpaired or slightly damaged sock and a plastic water bottle. Simply place the bottle in the sock and tie a knot about the bottle top. The only problem with these for me is having to take them away because of the noise.
2) T-shirt rope
We all have old t-shirts lying around that could definitely use a repurposing. This simple braiding trick can reduce clutter for you and create a fun new toy for them. These are also great for more destructive dogs since they are harder to tear up.
Simply take the 1-2 old shirts and lay them out flat. From the bottom cut sections 2.5”-3” wide and as long as you would like to rope to be. Lay the strips together and knot the top together. Create three sections from the strips and braid to the end and knot.
3) DIY food-stuffed tennis ball
My toy box usually have a few tennis balls that have traveled there to die. With these old broken balls come the easiest toys to make. If the hole isn’t quite big enough or the tennis ball doesn’t have any, cut a 1-1.5” hole and fill with small treats, peanut butter, or whatever your pup likes best.
