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As Christmas fast approaches, we’ve got to get our lists of presents in order. As festive as this time of year is, it’s also very expensive as you have to consider gifts for your friends, family, children, and pets. Gifting friends and pets a DIY Christmas present is an affordable option to get through the season—while having plenty of fun at the same time. Skip the queues and use a few materials that you have around your home instead.
Whether you’ve got a creative streak or not, we’ve got a range of awesome DIY Christmas dog toys for you to try out that’ll get your best friend’s tail wagging!
The 9 DIY Christmas Dog Toys
1. Christmas Donut Toy by Pretty Fluffy
| Materials: |
2 pairs of thick Christmas-themed socks, ribbon, and Christmas tag |
| Tools: | Needle, thread, and scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
This first Christmas DIY dog toy is an easy one to make, and you likely already have all the materials you need around your house. To start off with your Christmas donut toy, take a pair of thick Christmas-themed socks or any green or red socks you have, and cut an opening in the toe of the socks. You’ll now have openings on both ends.
Start from the opening and roll the sock over itself, pulling it tight as you go, to form a donut shape. Use the thread and needle to connect the loose end of the sock to the rolled donut to secure it. Do the same with the other sock. You can add a homemade Christmas tag or ribbon to this gift to make it look presentable but remove the tag and ribbon before you give it to your dog.
2. Christmas Snuffle Mat by Pets Plus Us
| Materials: | Red and green fleece, plastic dish mat, and treats |
| Tools: | Scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
If you’re looking to make a gift that will occupy your dog for hours, DIY your dog a Christmas snuffle mat. A snuffle mat is both fun and rewarding for your dog as they’ll have to sniff out their treats hidden among the fleece strips.
Start out by cutting your green and red fleece into strips. How long you want the length of the strips is up to you. The longer the strip, the more challenging it’ll be for your dog to find their treats. You can also cut your mat to the size you prefer.
From here on, all you’ll need to do is attach the strips to your dish mat and hide your dog’s treats inside. It’ll take you a bit of time to complete, depending on how big your mat is, but it’ll be worth it when you see your dog eagerly sniffing through the puzzle.
3. DIY Christmas Wreath Dog Toy by Sew Historically
| Materials: | 4 green fleece strips, 1 red ribbon, and a hair tie |
| Tools: | Needle-nose pliers, scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Moderate |
To fully immerse yourself in the Christmas season, give this Christmas Wreath dog toy a try. It’s an easy toy to make but getting the spiral crown and square knots right might take a few tries.
Once you’ve got the shape of a wreath, secure the ends, and trim them. Lastly, you’ll add a decorative ribbon around the wreath toy and tie it in place. Not only is this an excellent toy for your dog to chew on throughout the holidays, but it’s super cute and will look great in all the festive photos.
4. Busy Box Enrichment Toy by Wear Wag Repeat
| Materials: |
1 Christmas-themed cardboard gift box, toilet rolls, dog balls, rope toys, an egg carton, treats, and toys |
| Tools: | Tape |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
If you liked the idea of the snuffle mat but found it too challenging or time-consuming, you’re going to love this busy box enrichment toy because it’s the easiest DIY Christmas dog toy on our list. Even though it’s so simple to put together, your dog will be entertained for hours.
You can use a Christmas-themed cardboard gift box for this toy. Or you can use a normal cardboard box and wrap it in red and green paper. Go and collect all the items around your home that you don’t mind your dog chewing on and destroying. You can collect items such as unused toilet rolls, dog balls, treats, rope toys, an egg carton, and toys and place them inside the box.
The more textures and smells inside the box, the more exciting it’ll be for your dog. Tape the box closed and present it to your dog. Even though all the items inside the box are safe for your dog to chew on, don’t leave your dog and the busy box enrichment toy unsupervised.
5. Christmas Rope Dog Toy by Six Dollar Family
| Materials: | 4 strips of red and white fleece |
| Tools: | Scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
Similar to the Christmas wreath dog toy, we’ve got a Christmas rope dog toy for you to try out. These make wonderful toys for dogs that enjoy playing tug of war with their owners or other dogs.
Before you tie your initial knot, make sure that the four strips of red and white fleece are the same length. Your next steps are easy once you get into the braiding groove. Once you’ve braided your rope until you’ve reached the end of your fleece strips, tie the ends into knots to prevent the rope from unraveling.
6. Squeaky-Stuffed Christmas Tree Toy by Dalmatian DIY
| Materials: | Green fabric, colorful fleece scraps, stuffing, squeaky toy |
| Tools: | Scissors, needle, and thread |
| Difficulty Level: | Moderate |
For a bit of a DIY challenge, you could put your skills to the test by making your dog this squeaky-stuffed Christmas tree toy. Start by cutting out two triangles from your green fabric that match in size.
Use your needle and thread or sewing machine to connect the edges of the two triangles, leaving an opening at the top. Place your stuffing inside to make the tree fuller, and add in your squeaky toy. Sew closed the opening.
Now it’s time to decorate your stuffed “Christmas tree,” so cut out decorations from your colorful fleece and sew them on. You can get as creative as you choose with this final step.
7. Holiday Cracker Toy by The Barkington Post
| Materials: | Christmas full-length sock, treats, water bottle, and cord |
| Tools: | Scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
This holiday cracker toy is going to rattle and smell good—a perfect combination to grab your dog’s attention. Grab your full-length Christmas sock and cut off the foot. Add a few treats inside your water bottle and poke holes into it. Place your water bottle inside the sock and tie the ends closed with your cord.
That’s it—you’re done.
8. Christmas Toy Flirt Pole by Almost the Real Thing
| Materials: | Christmas toy, rope, and a broom handle or PVC pipe |
| Tools: | None |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
You can turn anything into a DIY Christmas dog toy, including a flirt pole. All you need to do is use a Christmas-themed dog toy, such as a reindeer or Christmas tree, and some green and red rope.
Pull your rope through your broom handle or PVC pipe and tie a knot at one end. The rest of the rope should extend out the other side of the pipe. Securely tie your Christmas toy to the rope that is dangling out the opposite end. Once everything is secure, you can swing around the toy for your dog to catch in the same way that you’d use a cat wand.
9. Easy Sew Christmas Stocking by Swoodson Says
| Materials: | Christmas stocking and treats |
| Tools: | Needle and thread |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
Depending on your level of design skills, you can choose to make a Christmas stocking or use a store-bought Christmas stocking. Either way, it’s going to end up ripped apart by your dog. Place different treats inside the stocking and loosely sew the cuff together, closing the stocking.
Your dog will smell the treats and spend time chewing the stocking apart to reach the treats. Depending on your dog’s chewing abilities, they may spend less time opening the stocking than you spent sewing it together.
Wrapping Things Up
After going through each of these DIY Christmas dog toy ideas, we hope that you’ve found one or a few to try out yourself. Don’t spend too much time trying to perfect each toy because your dog will likely rip it apart in no time—but that’s all a part of the fun. We trust that both you and your furry friend will have a Merry Christmas.
See also: 16 Best Christmas Dog Toys – Reviews & Top Picks
Featured Image Credit: leks quintero, Unsplash
