The Evolution of the Dog Toy

Back in 2006 Mom and I came across some nifty german wool that felted down like crazy! We decided it would be perfect for dog toys and knit up a stuffed kitty that we felted down similar to how we knit and felt the mice. It ended up being a bust. The toy took forever to knit and stuff, and didn't stand up as well against doggies as they do against cats. Plus it took so much yarn that no one wanted to pay the price of the toy! It was still a lot of fun, and I would probably make one again!

Next, in 2009, we used scraps of overfelted sweaters (sometimes Mom gets excited and felts a sweater down so that it is too thick to stitch into Recycled Sweater Mittens) and I needle felted them to say fun things. I made the shapes based on what I could cut out of the sweaters and what I thought would be fun to write! My favorite was the Bite Me! Lucy's favorite is fetch! On a side note, Lucy is an adopted dog who was a breeder before she came to Pam and Randy's. Before, she never played with toys...but now look at her! I think it was the fetch toy that really turned her on to toys...but I might be biased. :)

Then, living in Montana with no access (and no money to buy access) to needle felting materials, and an overabundance of scrap denim...I made the denim Bite Me! toys. They are good for non-chewer dogs who love a good squeak toy, but since I can't guarantee them against tough teeth, I have yet to sell them on the internet. I still have them at my craft show booths though, and people seem to dig them!

Maybe someday I'll have the next generation of dog toys to show you (and sell you!) but until then, I'll keep playing with the cat toys!