Making Soft Toys a Little Safer...For Cheap!

So if your dogs are anything like Troy and Enrique they absolutely LOVE playing with stuffed toys.

Troy and Enrique havin some fun

Of course if you're anything like me, you absolutely HATE cleaning up all of the fluff you find scattered everywhere. 

Look at Woody's face...he KNOWS...

The stuffing can and does make an absolutely horrific mess.  You will be finding chunks of it for days; even after you thought you already cleaned it all up.  A bigger problem, however, is the potential it has to harm your pups.  Anything that goes into a dog's mouth has the potential to be swallowed.  The potential is there for your dog to choke on a big chunk of stuffing.  Vomiting could also be an issue.  Dogs that swallow too much stuffing can also suffer from an intestinal blockage, which can result in dangerous and costly surgeries, or even death.

So what's a concerned pet parent to do?  Obviously you can't just not buy your pup toys.  Especially if you value you and your dog's sanity (not to mention your house).  There are safe, soft dog toys out there.  Skinneeez is one brand that comes to mind.  They have a couple of different animal shapes, and are available at major pet stores like Petco.  The only problem is they can be fairly expensive, especially if your dog goes through toys like Troy and Enrique do.

So you want your pets to be a bit safer when they play with their soft toys, but you don't want to break the bank by buying expensive dog toys every few days.  Worry not, dear reader, because I'll show you a way you can do just that!

First thing's first.  You want to pick out a stuffed toy.  It can be a dog toy, but really any stuffed toy could work.  Just be sure you avoid toys with hard eyes or items that could easily be chewed off and swallowed, like tags or ears.

I grabbed this cheap little dog toy at Big Lots for about $2.  As you can see it's some kind of animal.  Dog, skunk, chipmunk, whatever.  I'm not really sure, but it does have two squeakers-one in the head, and one in the tail. 

What ARE you?

 Next you need to find a seam.  This one took a little bit of a search just because of how fluffy the toy was.

Like Where's Waldo? but not nearly as frustrating...

 Once you've found a seam it's time to grab a knife and slice it open.  Just be sure you get a sharp one.  We don't want you getting hurt while doing your best slasher impression.

We also won't judge if you hum the theme to Halloween.

 Now that you've made a big enough opening, it's time to rip it's guts out!  Literally.

The horror...

 It's at this point you may start having second thoughts.  Stay strong.  You need to pull all of the stuffing out.

The HORROR!

Once you've gone ahead and thoroughly gutted the...patient the only thing left to do is close it up and toss it to your pups!

Now, there are a few things to consider.  First off, the toy is not going to be 100% dog safe.  Mainly because there are very few toys out there that are 100% dog safe.  The de-stuffed toy will be safer, but you should still supervise your dog's playtime.  Or, you know, play with them.

Second, this type of toy will not last any longer than it normally would.  A dog that tears through a stuffed toy in an hour will tear through the same toy just as quick when it doesn't have stuffing.  On the plus side, though, it won't take you 2 hours to clean up the mess.

Finally, petMD has a listing of common symptoms of an intestinal blockage.  Get your dog to a vet as soon as possible if you notice any of these symptoms.

That's all for now.  Play safe out there!