Make Your Own Dog Toys: Braided T-Shirt Tug Of War Toy

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BestPawForward #CollectiveBias

Why spend money buying toys, when you can easily Make Your Own Dogs Toys like this Braided T-Shirt Tug Of War toy. It’s a great way to repurpose old T-Shirts and dogs love having a special toy that smells just like one of their favorite humans.

Where we live, the weather is glorious this time of year. Now that the summer humidity is gone, the cooler temperatures are a breath of fresh air. No more sticky tee-shirts. No more sweaty hairlines. Just pure, simple cool breezes.

As much as I’m enjoying the fall weather, my pets are too. This summer was rough on them and they are all too happy to see the scorching temps disappear. The chickens are strutting their stuff around the yard and love marching around in the crunchy, fallen leaves. The dogs are pretty excited about it too. As I stepped into the yard the other morning, I found my two English Setters happily sunning themselves out on the deck while a cool breeze ruffling their long coats.

Our pets are very important to us and we take their health and wellness maintenance pretty seriously. They are an important part of our family dynamic and we do our best to keep them healthy, safe and entertained. If you’ve ever had a sick pet in your home, you know how much it hurts your heart to see them in pain. That’s why we make sure that we keep them healthy from the inside out and treat them with love and respect.

In our opinion, what you feed your pet plays a pretty important role in their health and wellness maintenance, which is why we think that Purina products are a great option for any pet owner. We love that we can shop for Purina products at the very same place that we shop for our families food: Stop & Shop. It’s our regular go-to grocery store because they carry so many of our family’s favorite products, including a very large Natural Food section. They also have very fair pricing, which is very important to our family. It makes life so much easier when we can tackle our pets needs and our family’s needs in one shopping trip!

The pups know when I’ve gone to Stop & Shop because they can smell their favorite Purina DentaLife oral hygiene treats a mile away. Seriously, they start sniffing all of the grocery bags until they find the one with their treats inside and then they start barking at the bag. This silly game of ours never gets old and cracks me up every time.

The Purina line of cat and dog products is pretty substantial and they offer a great variety of items to choose from like Beyond Natural Dry Dog Food, Beyond Natural Purees, Beyond Natural Dog Snacks, and more! Plus, they’re conveniently available at Stop & Shop (and Giant Food), where the aisles are full of natural and healthy solutions for your pets.

But having a healthy pet goes way beyond what you feed them. You also need to provide your dog or cat (or chickens!) with plenty of mental stimulation and exercise. That sounds a bit scary, especially if you’re not a fitness buff, but we find that when we do physical activities with our pets, we’re so much happier – and they are too.

So when it comes to our dogs, we like to make our own. Many of them are so simple to make that you don’t really have to spend a lot of money on them. You, too, can make your own dog toys like this Simple DIY T-Shirt Dog Toy. It’s a great way to repurpose my son’s beat up undershirts and the dogs loving having a special toy that smells like one of their favorite humans. Plus, once they’ve shredded it to bits, I don’t have to get upset because I didn’t spend any money on it. The T-shirts were going in the garbage anyways.

This toy is also a great way to get your children involved in taking care of their pets. It’s an easy enough project for older children to do on their own, or for younger ones to assist with.

MAKE YOUR OWN DOG TOYS WITH OLD T-SHIRTS

Materials:

2 T-Shirts that smell like a family member
Sharpie
Scissors

Directions:

Step 1: Lay your T-Shirts flat on a table. Carefully, cut the sleeves off.

Step 2: Starting at the bottom, carefully cut 2 inch strips all the way up to the top. You should have 12 strips. Set aside six strips from the sleeves.

Step 3: Place something heavy (like a child or pile of books) on the shirt end of the strips. Tightly braid the strips into 4 braids. Tie the ends in a knot by knotting two end strips of the braid.

Step 4: Now braid the four braids together into one large braid. Tie four of the sleeve strips to the opposite end of your braids (the ones still connected to the shirt). Once they are all tied up, cut them free from the shirt end.

Step 5: Using the two remaining sleeve strips, tie the ends of the braids tightly together.

Have fun,

Denine

And just so you know, on October 16 the local Sunday newspaper will have an insert highlighting money-saving coupons on Purina Beyond products. Make sure you keep an eye out for these coupons:

Dry Dog Food: $2 off any Beyond 3lb bag Dry Dog food, $3 off any Beyond 13# or larger bag Dry Dog food
Wet Dog Food: Buy 5, Get 1 on any Beyond Ground or In Gravy Canned Products, Buy 1, Get 1 on any Beyond Purees, $1 off Beyond Ground Entrees Variety Pack
Dry Cat Food: $2 off Any Size Beyond Dry cat food
Wet Cat Food: $1 off the Variety Pack, Buy 3, Get 1 Free

Disclaimer: “Not to be taken as professional veterinary advice. Please consult your veterinarian for recommendations and practices appropriate for your pet.”