Handmade Dog Toys

I’ve been writing about behavior for awhile now and thought I should widen the scope of my blog. Dogs grow too, you know. So, for my first non-behavior post, I thought I would show you some great handmade dog toys that I found while cruising around Etsy (a girl’s gotta shop, no?)

First up is the Hoochy Poochy Humpty. I think I will just put the shop description here:

“hoochy poochy Humpty… dog toy…
its like an underground escort service
for your little bitch… I mean, DIVA…
it’s a boyfriend for your girlfriend..
or a girlfriend for your girlfriend..
who has the patience for the real thing!

Let her use her imagination of who it could be…
Her…Far Far away Tropical Island Lover Boy,
Super Dog the Super Hero,
Rock Star Bad Boy,
The EX-boyfriend…voodoo dog,
Or her Baby Girl..the girly girl kisser…”

Need I write more? You can go directly to the Etsy shop listing by clicking on the photo.

Next up is the Tumble, which looks like a blast.

The ball is made from 100% reclaimed fabrics and thread and stuffed tightly with reclaimed fabric strips. How cool is that?

Check out the ball and other fabric toys in eleanorandmilo’s shop by clicking the photo.



A dog toy with personality… here is Otto the Owl from Lyonesque. The Lyonesque shop at Etsy specializes in using reused and repurposed materials to create handmade gifts.

Otto is one of the Great Beagle Migration series dog toys. A portion of the proceeds from each GBM dog toy sale will go to benefit the Kentucky Humane Society.

This durable toy comes in different colors and has been Beagle-approved and tested. That’s good enough for me! You can go directly to the Etsy shop listing by clicking on the photo.



The Fleece Tugs from RescueMeTugz come in such pretty colors… (remember, I’m a girl.)

“If you haven’t had the pleasure of using a fleece tug, they are a softer more gentle version of the traditional rope tug toy you see in many pet stores.” Doesn’t that sound enticing? I am drooling just a litlle bit thinking about it.

Rescue Me Tugz are machine washable (A-Dog will love that!) and all proceeds go directly to Great Dane Rescue groups. Check out the many other offerings at their Etsy shop by clicking the photo of the tugz.



And last, what a great way to re-use a pair of jeans! The Squeaky Jean Pocket Toy is a durable, re-purposed solution for puppy play from Kim’s Critter Designs.

A Member of Etsy for Animals (EFA): Artists Helping Animals, there is a great selection of toys, beds and accessories at Kim’s shop. Ten percent of sales go to a selected monthly charity.

Click the photo to check out the Jean Pocket.


That’s my round-up of doggie toys for now. I hope you dug branching out with me and the dog blog. Any comments or Woofs are always appreciated!

Fatherhood

Dogs have relationships.

This is ours:
I look for you before anyone else.
I sit beside you when you work.
I listen when you speak.
A-Dog (aka The Mama) calls you my boyfriend.
You call me Scooter Pants.
You let me stretch out with my front paws on your chest.
You’re the only one who hugs me upright and kisses my face.
I sleep on your side of the bed.

Happy Father’s Day.

Flickr Photo Friday

Tongues Are Not For Wagging

Ahhhrghgg. BOY am I tired. I must rest just a little. Today, and today only I will shorten my nap to a mere 11 hours. I am busy and I have things to do. I am tired because I went swimming in the river with Shoes. It was good to see him out there for a change. Lately, he’s been cooking a lot. I think that’s what they call it. That is one process which baffles me. They take stuff which smells pretty good to start with, and then they add all this other stuff to it.. heat it and take it to a whole other room. So complicated, so complex.

That’s just one of the many things that A-Dog and Shoes make so much more involved than they need to be. Grooming is another. The shower, the bath, the soap the brushing. I pity them their teensy tongues that can barely reach beyond their lips. And the tongue is so useful: greeting, eating, licking, cleaning (self), cleaning (others), cleaning (floor). It keeps you cool, it helps you drool. I can drink with it or clean stink with it. The one thing I DON’T use it for seems to be the only thing they DO use it for: Talking. They use it to create all these different sounds… again too much, too complex. I read on the Internet that one of their languages, English, has passed a million words. I know words as you’ve read here, but I only need enough words to express three thoughts:

1. I’m hungry
2. Stay away from me
3. May I smell your behind?

After that, it’s all just commentary. Now, about that nap…

Flickr Friday Photo

Giving the Eye…

Oh She’s SO Smart…

That’s what they say, my humans, Shoes-on-the-floor and A-Dog. And that’s nice. Nothing better than appreciation. Of course, I always chuckle just a bit when I hear it (tough to notice since my chuckle looks and sounds a great deal like my snot-rocket, clear out my nostrils blow, but there ya go, I’m complex like that.) I chuckle because they think that my smarts begin and end with the mundane. I open the door with my nose, they are impressed. I come downstairs every night precisely at 9:00 pm and they marvel.

In truth, and we can’t say this too loud fellow woofers, I run the show here. A few examples: The bigger one, Shoes-on-the-Floor, balances the checkbook and pays the bills. I lay on the floor beside him as he grunts and moans, breathes hard and curses. Occasionally he looks over at me and says something like, “Oh.. if you only know how good you have it…lying there.. no cares at all…” No cares at all? Yah. My first care is checking his work. He gets up and goes upstairs and I check his math. Once he added the mortgage payment to the balance instead of subtracting it. Another time, he backed up his books to the ‘H’ drive.. we don’t even have and ‘H’ drive! And that isn’t even the half of it…

They never wonder how the piano stays in tune… or realize that they haven’t changed a light bulb since 2005. I must say it is tougher now to keep them buttoned up since A-Dog spends more time at home. Used to be I could do all my work between 9 and 5 when they were away, but now I have to check out her daybook and his schedule and plan accordingly. Hey it’s nothing I can’t handle. I just have to careful and not try to do too much.

One time, I was swapping out a spark plug on the lawnmower and dropped the wrench… made a big noise and they came out to the garage and I was almost busted. Had to knock over the garbage can to make it look good. Last week I was filling out camp forms for the little ones and I couldn’t remember a phone number so I had to open Shoes-on-the-Floor’s cellphone. I changed his ring while I was there and that raised some suspicions – couldn’t take ‘Call Me’ by Blondie another minute. He thinks he’s being clever, but as much as I love him, he sometimes gives himself just a little too much credit.

So, I play it cool… help when I can, but not so much that they won’t learn enough to one day do it for themselves. Next project – how to re-tile the kitchen without them noticing….