DIY Dog Bungee Toy

Hey guys.

Just looking at making up a toy for my dogs to play with while they're home by themselves. Not sure if you have seen them, but you can get rubber chickens on the end of a bungee strap that you just throw over a post/tree etc.

They're 120 dollars+ so I'm thinking about making one myself with one of her current tug of war toys and the addition of some kind of bungee strap. I just don't know where to go for the bungee strap, short of getting speargun rubber or an old bike tyre tube.

Anybody have any suggestions?

I'd absolutely love to get her an automatic ball thrower, but she doesn't know when to stop - and I have no doubt she'd kill herself.

 

You could use the elastic tie down straps sold at auto acessory shops.
There's the cheap round ones and the much better heavy duty rubber strap ones. The latter would be better as they take quite a lot of pulling.
Those and a length of rope should do it. I'd wrap the metal hooks in some foam for dog protection, they are well coated with plastic but could still cause an injury or a lot of pain if the strap was pulled to full extension and then let go, especially as the dog will be pulling with it's head so any accident is most likely to involve a wack to the head.

You could limit the amount the dog can extend the elastic by running a rope in parallel with it that's longer than the elastic.

 

Just looking at one brand of that type of toy. It looks like they've used some nylon webbing stitched over elastic inside for the bungee part. The webbing would stop the elastic being overstretched. I wouldn't go near anything with hooks attached. A fellow over here was killed by an occy strap when the hook hit him in the neck. You'd also need to be very careful with any length of rope because of a hanging risk.

 

+1 A friend mine's Dad literally lost an eye to an out-of-control occy strap, it scooped it straight out of the socket!

 

Properly attached hooks, NOT the way it's done on the cheap "occy" straps, are safer. Somehow you have to connect something elastic to something rigid and that's not all that simple. Done incorrectly the point of attachment is were it fails and that's where the cheap "occy" straps are dangerous. At a pinch just a bicycle inner tube with the valve section cut off is a cheap source of reasonably tough rubber however connecting it to the rope is messy. Even that if it comes undone the wrong way can inflict a lot of pain and scare the animal, probably never to go near a toy again.

For strapping and other stuff I've used http://www.strapworks.com/default.asp over the years.
They also stock tubular strap which would be ideal for putting around the elastic portion of the lead. Anything nasty is then encased and protected.

 

Goto your local physio and ask for theraband.

Made one for my dog, he loves it!.

http://www.specialneedstoys.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=899

 

I completely forgot about that stuff.

Have you got a pic of how you've set yours up? I definitely don't want any hooks, I was just going to have some it looped so it tightens on itself when I throw it over a tree branch or something.

Small section of rope thrown over a tree/beam under the house. Small section of rubber tube or theraband tied onto her tug of war toy. No hooks etc and shouldn't be any chance of getting caught in it.

 

Another thought. You could use an old stocking. It has "give" and if (when) he breaks it, it will just fall down and not flick at him. You can also make a "rope" out of old stockings (cut bands off the legs then join the bands together by looping each. The only thing I'd be concerned about is him hanging himself, but if you keep it short enough it might be ok.

 

I went to City Farmers today and they had some dog leads with a built in bungee. They were $36-ish so may not be in your budget, but might be adaptable for your purpose (and if woofer doesn't wreck it, you could use it as a lead). They had the hand grip thing like when you go waterskiing, a Y-type handle, not just the usual loop and then the elasticy bit and the usual clasp thing to put it on a collar.

EDIT: just searched and it's called Ezydog "Original shock-absorbing dog leash" if you want to have a look at it.

 

Worst idea ever... If the dog swallows the stocking, it can get itself wrapped around his insides... My lab swallowed one of my wife's knee highs, and we were quoted thousands to remove it... Luckily Mackie ended up passing it, but it was nervous couple of days sifting through poos until we found it...

 

Maybe OP's dog knows what food is? Seriously, there is quite a difference between a full length stocking and a knee high, but if the OP's dog is the type who eats anything then he'd need to watch out for anything he leaves the dog with unattended.

 

What? How would a dog know what's food and what isn't? Most dogs eat their own faeces too for christ's sake...

 

Well she does know the difference between food and a stocking. But having said that she's still quite young and likes destroying things.

Cheers for the ideas guys I'll get cracking soon.

 

Yeah, exactly, it's not like they get in their mouths and think "OHMIGERD! This is so tasty, I'm going to swallow it!!!"

Gotta love people who think dogs are furry humans...

 

I've got a length of shock-cord (thing occy straps without the hooks) from Magnet Mart or Bunnings. it's like 2 bucks a metre. Cheap!

I've tied a bunch of my old socks together into a giant knotted ball and tied it to the cord, and the other end of the cord to a pillar on my house. He quite enjoyings ferretting through the socks for hidden treats and trying to pull it away (but it never seems to work haha)

Otherwise, for cheap but awesome toys, try a Bob-alot, or for the tight-arse version, get a 2L coke bottle and drop some food in there. (Just be careful if your dog will just eat everything it finds, mine won't eat plastic so I'm safe!)

 

I think it's you that think dogs are furry humans. Ask any vet how many dogs they see coming into the surgery after eating non-food items. Hint - it's a shiteload.

Dogs aren't furry humans, hence they don't think 'hmm, this isn't food, I won't swallow'.

 

Well I ended up puncturing my tube on the bike. So I've cut that and used a small section of rope and tied it into the chew toy.

She seems to like it so I'm very happy.