Hi, just wondering if anyone else makes their own prey toys?? i have made a couple of different, temporary things for when i dont have the money to buy new ones. these have lasted ages with him, but i have quite a soft dog though.

what i have made is a drive building sort of toy/fishing rod and a few different types of bite tugs.

for the prey building toy, i got an old golf club without the club part on it got some knitting wool sort of stuff, and folded it over itself, to about one to two meters in length then tied it to the end of the club, with some tape to hold it in place. i then got a piece of fake fur, an old hand towel or a teddy, anything my dog wants at the time. and tied the other end of the string to that. and there you have it a fishing rod for dogs.
the dog can quite easily break it if he catchs it, but the point is for them to not really catch it most of the time. when kaiser does catch it, i bring him into my arms, calm him down, then present a tug to him.

for a cheap temperary bite tug i cut the two legs off an old pair of jeans lightly taped them together at both ends (for handles) then got an old Karate belt and tightly wound it around the jeans, but you can quite as easily use jute, or heshon ect. i then secure the belt down at both ends. the karate belts are vertually indestructable, unless you leave the dog to chew it oh course.
but instead of jeans you can also use an old towel or a full heshon bag, i pretty much use whatever i have lying around, as long as it is clean.

if anyone else has any home made anything, please post it up.

Thanks.

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Cheers, Jess

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion" - Unknown

i have used roll up towls
and i make my own firehose tugs

I use the good old hessian bag lol, and sometimes a flirt pole.

My flirt poles are just $2 fishing rods from cash convertors.

Then I use Mr Orange Giraffe and balls and tugs. Mostly Mr Orange Giraffe as it's super soft and he is teething. I've been meaning to order some new tugs from dogquip but I keep waking up too late.

I've made a bite wedge from hessian and foam with pieces of old outdoor chair pads in the middle,worked really well till it took the third bite! Mainly I use ball rubber,tugs toys old toys from the kids or the op shop are GREAT. Piece of hose. rolled up towels etc

Actually old outdoor chair pads are perfect for making tugs out of,unfortunately my dogs knew this when I still thought the furniture was for sitting on!!

I find now if I just rip up grass or a stick the switch is instantly on, which is perfect for me if I want really good focus.

Amy

Not sure if any members use a tennis ball for their dog's toy, but the glue that forms the seams on tennis balls is made from a substance that when mixed with a dog’s saliva eats the enamel on a dog’s teeth. Never let your dog chew on a tennis ball, some people use tennis balls to do retrieve training in water, this is deemed safe providing the dog isn't allowed to chew the ball or play with the ball afterwards and the tennis ball is used purely to retrieve from water.

Personally I use an orbee ball which floats.

Cheers
Peter

I made a puppy sleeve by cutting the sleeve of an old army issue jacket and putting foam between the 2 layers and sewing it shut. I then got some wedge shaped foam which i found at Clark Rubber and sewed it to the front. Finally I made a sleeve cover out of an old berlap sack.

I have found that the pup can grip the burlap easy and sink his teeth into the foam wedge yet the decoy come out without scratches.

Not as good as the real thing but good for all the tight a*#*s like me.

ps: It has lasted me 3 months so far and shows no signs of giving in yet.