This might be completely obvious to others, and I’m probably opening myself to ridicule, but I only recently discovered it and find it awesome. If you have dog that like to chew things, many of those fancy plush squeak toys last about a day. But if you take an empty plastic water bottle, slip in inside an old sock, and tie off the end, you now have an endless supply of free dog toys!
I did this after finding $10 “bottle buddies” at a dog store, and have already gone through three of these things in a little over a week. Removing the cap and ring helps avoid a choking hazard.
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We discovered that several years ago by accident. We had an empty 2-L bottle next to the recycle bin and our dog started playing with it on his own. He really enjoyed himself!
Careful there; if your dog is anything like mine, once you start giving him old socks, he’ll start thinking ALL socks are OK to destroy – the ones you drop on the floor, in the hamper, etc.
My dog doesn’t even need the old sock around it.
Be careful your dog doesn’t hurt his mouth though. Jezebel always ends up cutting herself on the plastic.
By the way, Jonathan… that sock is pretty dirty looking!
Take the cap off and the little ring left on the bottle’s neck before you put it in the sock.
I took it one step further, I have a critter free home. First my dog decided he liked the neighbors more than me, (Steak form the table will do that) so I gave him to them. Then after my 14 year old cat died, I didn’t replace it. Can’t believe how much money pets have cost me over the years. Also, I can now go on vacation without making pet arrangements.
This is a great idea! However, I would get some inexpensive socks that look or smell nothing like my socks to put around the bottle. To prevent cuts the socks should be pretty thick.
DCnTN, Im with you. I know we will hear from pet lover’s everywhere but, darn, it’s nice to not have to worry about what to do wtih the dog when you go away for a long weekend or a trip. And it’s nice having a yard you can walk barefoot in all the time, with no dead patches. Of course, I miss my dog’s companionship–especailly when I’m getting the short end of the stick with the wife or kids (!)–and I miss the exercise that I got when I walked him.
Wish I had an older neighbor who had a dog I could “borrow”. 🙂
I take 2 liters and put treats in them… The dog flips the 2-liter up in the air trying to get the treats out. Great source of entertainment for the dog.
I thought about adding treats for guaranteed distraction, but the socks seem to add some added attraction and protection from gum damage. Putting the treats inside the sock seems like it would get messy. Need to find a way to have both!
All this doggy talk has reminded me of one of my famous “doggy moments”!
I went to a party in my twenties and ended up sitting next to 2 girls on the sitting room floor. The girl closest to me was very pretty, but she smelt very badly. Real badly. I was not impressed with her personal hygiene, and so rewarded her with a disdainful look and then ignored her.
Just before I excused myself I glanced at my own shoe covered in doggy poo – eeeuuw – It was me that was the stinky!!!!
this doesn’t sound safe to me. Any dog worth her bite will puncture the water bottle in no time and then you have to worry about them getting cut or swallowing plastic.
Great little toy that really costs nothing. We all have empty plastic bottles and holey socks. Great tip for a toy!
I just heard another great idea! Put a tennis ball or rubber ball in the sock and then knot it. If it is a long tube sock you can put in a ball then knot it, then another ball, then knot it, etc. What a fun shaking, tugging,fetching dog toy.
2 Liter bottles work great with my dog, but he’s mostly interested in the cap. Once he pops the cap off the bottle he loses interest in the cap and the bottle and just leaves it for something else.
So now I use 20oz bottles with a treat stick in them, cap on tight, wrapped in an old tube sock with holes poked in the bottle so he can smell the treat.
He’ll chew on the knot first, either until he pulls it apart or chews it off. Then the cap, then he’ll kick the bottom around till he get’s the treat stick out, takes him a while. Then he loses interest in it again lol.