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Me Myself & Riggins

Tag Archives: puppy

Crinkle, Crackle, Crunch

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by wendynewell in Uncategorized

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Tags

chew toy, craft, Dog, dog toy, puppy, sew, Shadow

1483311_10201392039777845_1076653169_nBefore we all headed up to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving we were warned that the new puppy, Captain Shadow, was a chewer.  There are a ton of chew toys out there and many that are specifically for teething puppies.  Most of them look a lot like the products you would purchase for teething human babies.  I swear if you can make a product that can be marketed to both new baby parents and new dog parents you have made it.  Those are the two best consumer groups ready and willing to drop cash on anything.  When Riggins was little the best “chew” toy he had was a Hartz ball chew thing that I got at the supermarket.  Not at all fancy.  It was made of some sort of hard plastic was white and bumpy with super bumpy purple areas poking out of it.  I don’t think they make them anymore, but it was the best.  He would chew on that thing for hours.  The key was to find what Shadow liked.

I had purchased a little toy on clearance at Petco for Shadow but when I heard how much he was chewing I tossed that one to Riggins and decided to make him some toys.  Dogs like to chew and be destructive so my goal was to make him something that would be fun and easy to chew but at the same time gave him the feeling that he was really doing something.  If you google how to make dog toys a number of folks suggest using socks or towels.  Personally I think this sends a mixed message to the dog.  How is a puppy supposed to know the difference between his chew sock and the sock you plan to wear that day?

I designed the Captain Shadow Chew Toy.  To make this you will need an empty water bottle and an old baby blanket.  Any plastic bottle will do but the sturdier the better.  I made three of these and Shadow made quick work of the flimsy water bottle while the thicker sparkling water bottles had some staying power.  I cut out a piece of the baby blanket so that it would easily fit around the water bottle.  Next I sewed it into a pocket and stuck the water bottle inside.  Finally I sewed it closed.  To add some extra fun I sewed a tie strap to the top, wrapped it around and knotted it.  Two of the toys were as simple as that.  The third had extra “arms” hanging off of it and each was stuffed with something fun at the end.  Extra material, freezer paper, etc.  Anything that would make a crinkle, crackle, crunch sound or just be fun to chew.  The extra arms also allowed for tug of war games which are always a puppy favorite!

The water bottle inside each chew toy allows Shadow to make crinkle, crackle, crunching sounds which makes him very happy.  Personally I find them far less distracting than the constant “squeak” that most favorited toys have.

Shadow’s toys were pretty basic.  I didn’t do anything to decorate them or make them pretty although you certainly could.  Add some eyes and that “armed” bottle becomes an octopus.  Even without extra decorations Shadow loved his toys and was happy to munch on them.  That is when he wasn’t munching on a human!

You are going to be spending a lot of cash on your new four-legged family member.  If you can save some dough by making your own toys I say go for it!

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Stuff I Made

07 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by wendynewell in Uncategorized

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Tags

animals, Buddy, Captain Phillips, Captain Shadow, cats, craft, dogs, glasses, how-to, kira, Missy, pirates, puppy, t-shirt, w, weimaraner

I can’t really consider this post a “how-to” since I’m not telling you how to make these crafts.  It’s more of an announcement:

LOOK AT THE COOL THINGS I MADE FRIDAY.

photo 1 (4)More Animal Wine Glasses – First of all we have to have a moment of silence for my Asscher wine glass (honoring my golden retriever daycare baby) that I made for myself.  I used that one the most so, of course, it was the first to be broken.  Boo!  Now that we have taken the appropriate amount of time to mourn that loss to my wine cabinet … One of my good friends, Michelle, had her birthday celebration this weekend.  Luckily for me it was at a winery so I could easily them my gift around that.  Recently Missy had to say goodbye to her photo 2 (5)adorable pug mix, Buddy.  He had a wonderful long and loving life with her.  It didn’t take long for Missy to realize that her cat, Romeo, needed another dog playmate (as did she).  She adopted a long-haired dachshund mix from the newly opened NKLA (No Kill LA).  I decided to decorate her glasses in honor of her current and former pets who have given (and give) her so much joy.  I have written a “how-to” on this already so check it out – here.

photo 3 (3)Doggie T-Shirts – In other dog news my sister and her family got a new puppy!  There were down this weekend to pick him up.  He is an 8 week old weimaraner named Captain Shadow.  My young nephew loves pirates with all his heart (I suggested to get him over that phase we take him to see Captain Phillips but no one else seems on board with that idea) that’s where the “Captain” comes from.  I’m not sure were “Shadow” comes from.  Maybe because he is silver … you will have to ask my sister.  I decided my niece and nephew needed a t-shirt that featured their new puppy!  I hadphoto 4 (3) some left over printable t-shirt transfer paper from a project I did 10 years ago.  I’m sure the age may make the t-shirt design less durable but I had it in my drawer so I used it!  Between clearance and the new Cartwheel app I was able to get grey t-shirts for $3 each at Target.  Woo hoo!  I figured it wouldn’t take me long to whip up a design.  I was wrong.  I decided the dog needed a pirate hat on him I don’t really have great picture manipulating software so it took me a bit to figure out how to do that on paint.  Longer than I care to admit.  Then I had to remember how to flip all the images (you have to do that when you transfer onto light colors).  The entire process took longer than I expected but I finally finished!  I’d explain how exactly I did it but, to be honest, I forgot.  Sorry!

Happy crafting!

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