Dog Toy

My children think Pistachio gets better treatment than they did. I made my kids play with old cardboard boxes, old toilet rolls, unwanted styrofoam boxes, broken printers. I did not buy them toys. It did not make sense to buy them toys. Money was in short supply and they got tired of a toy in 5 minutes. Somehow, they could occupy themselves with old buttons, sticky tape, ice cream sticks and satay sticks for hours.

I spent quite a bit on Pistachio's dog toys. Then, I realised that I should not have. Like my children, Pistachio likes home made toys. Best of all, he likes smelly toys. If there is a pile of laundry on the floor, Pistachio dives in and makes off with all the underwear.

Pistachio is like me. We both like smelling people and things. I must make very clear that I don't smell underwear though. Nonetheless, that observation gave me inspiration for designing a simple toy that Pistachio loves.

It is simply a sock that I fill with all sorts of things - his food snacks, pistachios, bits of hardened beef fat or chicken cartilage. When the sock gets all dirty, I turn it inside out and wash with laundry powder and bleach.

This sock can be used for games of fetch, and even hide and seek. It occupies him as I work. He just sits with it in his paws chewing. I even allow myself to think that it also cleans his teeth of plaque.