Making your own homemade dog toy is a fun project that is fast, simple, and inexpensive.

The following instructions will show you how to make a braided fleece rope toy. This inexpensive dog toy will cost you less than $5 to make, and shouldn’t take you more than 20 minutes to complete! (Similar toys sell in pet stores for over $10!)

What you will need:

How to make your homemade dog toy:

1. Cut 3 strips from your fleece, the width of the strips is dependent on how heavy you want the braid -
   • 3″ wide for a lightweight toy
   • 5″ for a medium weight toy
   • 8″ + for a heavy weight toy
2. Lay the strips on top of one another and tie one rubber band 6″ from the end.
3. Hold the end with the rubber band between your knees and braid the strips of fleece tightly together.
4. Braid it to your desired length. (remember you will lose some length in the knots)
5. Rubber band the other end of the braid.
6. Tie a loose knot and slide or cut the rubber band off.
7. Pull on the knot as hard as you can to tighten it.
8. Trim the end tabs to about 3″, and cut in thirds.
9. Repeat knotting and trimming for the other end.
10. Tie a knot in the middle of the rope if you like.
11. Now you have your very own homemade fleece rope dog toy!

Additional tips:

• The tighter your knots, the longer the toy will last. So pull them REALLY TIGHT!
  
• Try braiding a round rawhide chew into the fleece for an extra treat.
• Make sure you do not use any fabric that has been treated with chemicals, such as a flame retardant.
  
• You can re-purpose your old and worn fleece jackets instead of buying fleece fabric new. Just cut them into strips.
  
• Inevitably this toy will get all nasty from the puppy lovin’ it will receive, just throw it in the wash to get it squeaky clean.
• If your dog is a heavy chewer or likes to rip apart his toys, do not cut the ends in thirds, it will make them easier to rip.
  
• If you want another great homemade dog toy idea, I recommend the tutorial for Making a Monkey Fist Knot Rope Dog Toy.
  

What’s Next?

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