The (Cheap, Easy, Quiet) DIY Dog Toy My Foster Dog is Obsessed With

I already mentioned my foster dog, Kevin, and the importance of decompression. Another useful tip for foster/rescue/rehomed dogs is the 3-3-3 rule.

Every dog and every situation is different, but at three weeks exactly it was like Kevin transformed. He suddenly remembered he’s a puppy, and he started running around the house (and running into walls), burrowing under blankets, and ripping up toys.

Kevin didn’t really play much with toys at first, but once he got comfortable he was a mouthy puppy just like any other. At first I thought he wanted to chew, so I got him a nice Nylabone, but no, he wants to RIP. Just tear the life out of a stuffed toy, and I needed to figure out how to make that happen.

I gave him stuffed toys he was allowed to tear apart, and I gave him stuffingless toys that are indestructible, but his favorite is one duck toy with tiny feathers that he is slowly plucking out, and a rubber ball I filled with a cut up towel.

I didn’t come up with this idea, I saw it on Pinterest many years ago, saved the pin, and always kind of kept it in the back of my mind. Then when Kevin revealed himself as a rip enthusiast, I knew it was time for that DIY tip to shine. I used to have two of the balls in the pin, but I have no idea where they ended up, so I ordered a new one. All dog toys I’ve gotten from JW have been HUGE hits with my dog (I used to get three of these balls at a time), but the great thing about the HOL-ee Roller is that it’s easy for small dogs to hold in their mouths. The holes and the flexibility of the ball mean even the smallest pup can get a good grip. Plus, it comes in different sizes. I wanted to be able to stuff it full of fabric strips, but still be small and light enough for Kevin to carry around if he wanted to; I went with a size small.

You don’t choose a color when you order a JW toy from Amazon, you get what you get, and I ended up with a purple ball… which coordinated perfectly with the towel I was cutting up to put inside it. Remember this little workout towel hack? It didn’t even take one whole smaller-from-larger towel to fill the small Hol-ee roller ball. The Lululemon towel is perfect for this craft because it won’t fray, so you can cut it up all you like and not have to worry about loose threads or disintegrating fabric. That being said, I would NOT recommend buying a Lululemon towel to create a dog toy. BUT, if you have one that you got on sale and cut up into smaller towels, and it’s not your favorite, and you were wondering if you would use it more if you put it on a Swiffer… then yeah, cut it up and make it a dog toy. If that specific scenario doesn’t apply to you, any spare fabric will do.

When I first cut up the Lululemon Towel, I used my rotary cutter, ruler, and mat. To cut one of the smaller towels into a dog toy, I used some old kitchen shears I was about to replace and just cut willy nilly. The cuts are like a windy mountain road. Not a straight line in sight. Dog’s don’t care!

I stuffed all the fabric in the toy, leaving a few little pieces out so Kevin would know he could tug at them, and let him have it. It did take a little while for him to get into it, but once he was, he was in shred heaven.

I should add, I never let him play with this (or any other shredable toy) without my supervision. I made sure to cut the towel pieces long enough that he wouldn’t accidentally swallow one, and if he does manage to rip the strips into smaller pieces, I’ll just toss them. I also like that if the towel bits get gross, I can throw them all in a wash bag and run them through the washing machine. Overall, it’s a cheap, easy toy that provides hours of entertainment for a shred-happy dog.