A Gaggle of Ideas for Making Your Own PON Toys

 

Tati, Topper and Moose

Tati - Owned by Robin & Linda Gardner, NH Moose- Owned by Anne & Harvey Shreve, Naples, FL Topper - Owned by Bill & Linder Gilchrist.

 

 

 

Big boxes make great tunnels and lots of PONS will fit through those play tunnels which are available at children's toy stores.

Work gloves make awesome toys ! Use the heavy duty ones which are pretty tough and will last a while. Take two of them, stuff them and sew them together. You can pick them up at Home Depot, Home Hardware, etc.

Get a box, hide treats in it and drag it through the yard on a rope and watch your guy or gal tackle it for hours on end !

For my puppies, I use plastic bowling pins and my puppies spend hours just spinning them around because they can't get a grip on them.  - PON Mom

For PON puppies, you will like this one !Get an empty 3 liter soda bottle.  Take off the label and wash it thoroughly.  Make sure the bottle is in excellent condition with no dents.  PONS love to find a crease on their toy and use it to destroy the thing.  Get a little toy that he loves.  Put a raw bone that he has been chewing for hours.  Put it inside the bottle and put the cap on tightly (wash the cap too).  Make sure you don't put any pressure on the bottle as you tighten the cap.  You want the bottle to hold in as much air as possible to retain its shape and prevent the dog to find any crease when he press on it.  The weak part of this toy is the cap, he'll chew on that darn thing.  So get one of your rubber Kong toy and squeeze it to cover the cap covering it entirely.  Then throw it to your PON and watch him try to get that bone inside that bottle. PONS love things that makes noise.  This bottle makes rattling noise from the toy you put inside it.  The plastic bottle also makes a lot of noise when being manipulated.  The reason I recommend a 3 liter bottle, is because it's too big for him to put his teeth around it.  - A PON breeder

Put a tennis ball inside one of your old socks (he'll probably prefer one that hasn't been washed!). Knot the end of the sock. The weight of the ball makes this toy a good object to use in fetch games and the sock provides the opportunity for tug-of-war games (which should only be played with adults -- not children). When you're away from home, your dog will find your scent on the sock comforting.

Tie three or four knots in a length of thick cotton fiber or nylon rope. The size of the rope and the number of knots should be in proportion to the size of your dog.

 

Make your own tug and toss ball toy ! 

If your PON loves to play with walls, you're probably well aware of how much the various bowl pet toys costs. The tennis balls with rope attached to make it easy to throw or play tug-of-war can easily run $10 or more. However, fortunately is quite easy to make your own tag and toss ball for your PON.

You will need a tennis ball, as well as a length of rope between eight and 10 feet in length. Using a drill with a larger size drill bits you will want to drill a hole in the ball and then drill the second hole on the opposite side from the first. Then carefully feed the rope through the two holes and tie a secure knot as close to the ball as possible. Then, tie a knot near the ends of the two pieces of rope, to create a loop at the end of the rope you will hold onto.

You are done! If your PON plays particularly rough, the tennis ball might wear out. Simply untie the knots, drill new holes into a tennis ball and retie the rope

I had some leftover denim from shortening a pair of jeans, so I stitched up two pieces which made a tube about 3-inches by 6-inches. I stuffed this tube with some craft stuffing I already had and stitched the last side closed. My PON had a good time chewing on this and shaking it around in her teeth. Plus, the denim was so durable, it took a while before she was able to puncture the denim

Do you also have great ideas for making homemade toys ? Send them along to us and we will post them .

 Just arrived !

 

                Don't throw away all of those (formerly) sqeakly toys that your PONs have dismembered!  Replacement squeakers can be bought from on-line dog stores and large pet supply stores.  You can restuff the toys with old rags, cut up towels, whatever your imagination comes up with that's safe, and insert a new squeaker or two.  Then, hand sew them back together using dental floss. It's so much stronger than the original thread.  AND, you don't have to be an expert sewer to do this.  I took a poll of my PONs and they didn't have any preference as to what shape the "new" toy came out.