Don't waste too much money on puppy toys.

[Julie B.]

I have a new pup and I wanted to restock my toy supply so I have been browsing the pet aisles. Anyway there are a lot of fleece toys costing upwards of $8 each so I have begun making puppy toys. Obviously they won't last with the big dogs but this is what I have been doing and Sydney loves it. Buy fleece remnants and cut them into 2' strips. Braid the strips together into a ring leaving some of the loose fleece strips hanging. Then I attached some old house keys to the straps and also added a shoe lace to the ring today. She carries it all over and loves to chew on the metal keys. I think the weight of the keys adds to its appeal. I also cut up an old pair of my jeans into strips and braided them into a rope toy. Works well too. Gotta find new ways to keep her busy! Anyone else have some good ideas for interesting puppy toys? I have also used the water bottle with pennies in it but she wasn't as interested and I decided I didn't want to encourage her to chew on plastic bottles since I have one out on an end table all day for me!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

What a great idea! I'm going to give it a try.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

This is a great idea. I am so sick of spending money on "indestructible" toys that Peri rips to shreds in 5 minutes.

Zogoflex is a heavy rubber toy brand that Peri has yet to destroy. Great balls and frisbies. But they are pricier. Worth it.

[Julie B.]

Here's a picture of Sydney with her fleece toy...she is pooped and just about to go in her crate for a nap!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Oh good...visual helps. I will definitely try this. Sydney is soooo cute.

[Diane]

Thanks Julie for sharing this idea, and the picture! Sydney is adorable!!
I'm headed to the store for fleece now....

[F, Calla & Luca]

Much better than most of the things out there. Thanks.

[Penny, Comiskey & Beemer]

I have been making stuffed bones for quite a while....I make them out of upholstery remnants and sherpa...I purchase the squeekers or use flattened water bottles (from the cheap water...the bottles are thinner than like Dasanti) to put on the inside to make noise....the best part is that when the stuffing is removed they still play with them and I keep the stuffing to reuse....

[Brewster's Mom]

Great ideas! I'd be too worried about putting keys on it, though. My luck Brewster would chew through the fleece and swallow the keys! Hello huge vet bill!! LOL

Fleece is great, and I bought a fleece toy for him at our farmers market this summer. It's strips tied into a ball shape, kinda like the Koosh balls. Solid center, fringe-y outside. He loves it! Makes for great jump and catch! He's almost ready for a new one. It lasted quite a while. I may try to make one myself this time.

[Debbie and Thomas]

If I can add another inexpensive puppy toy to this discussion-it is a paint roller-just the fuzzy roller thing. We brought home our puppy last year before we had thought we would so we did not have any puppy toys for him yet. My husband went into our laundry room and gave him a paint roller the day we picked him up. He batted that thing around and watched it roll (with his head cocked to one side) and then would chase it around and it was funny watching him trying to pick it up in his mouth. He is now 14 mths old. and I was painting the other day and he took off with a clean roller and pretty much destroyed it in a few minutes. So, I repeat, this is a good puppy toy but maybe not so good to give a still puppylike 1 yr old.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Thomas the painter.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Empty milk cartons worked great when Spud was a puppy. We would place a few treats into the plastic clear carton ( lid off ) Add treats as needed. Similar to the Kong idea but the carton makes lots of noise and they love that. Usually is good until you drink another gallon of milk. Be careful. Spud did not chew the plastic, he only banged it around. Just supervise play and this one was lots of fun.

Our neighbors made a comment that we were creative with our garbage.

We also used empty cardboard boxes. They jump in and out and shred the boxes. It makes a mess but easy to clean up.