Playtime for Your Pet

Buying toys for your dog is a nice gesture, but he’ll be just as happy with homemade games, like these:

Blue-jean baby

Tiny puppy teeth should chew – but not on your furniture, the cat, slippers or your favourite high heels or boots. How can you stop it? Make sure that your pup has plenty of toys to call her own. Make inexpensive, sturdy toys out of old denim jeans. Cut a double layer of denim into a square, stitch together on three sides, stuff with a few old tennis balls (not pantihose, which she can choke on if she tears the toy apart), then stitch up the fourth seam.

Softballs for small dogs

If your furry friend is of the tiny dog breed family, he will have a blast chasing around an inanimate object larger than he is; an old tennis ball is just the ticket to occupy his attention for hours.

Chase the light

What could be more fun for a frisky dog than chasing a torch beam in a large, darkened room? Make sure not to shine the light in his eyes and move the furniture to avoid the crashing that generally follows the chase.

Plastic bottle toss

Punch two holes in the cap of an empty plastic soft drink bottle. Fill it with colourful mini pompoms, then thread a thick string through the cap and knot it and screw the cap back on tightly. Now throw the bottle towards your puppy and draw it back. He’ll enjoy chasing the elusive toy for hours, as long as you’re willing to play along.