Or… what to do with all those old, mismatched socks?
There’s an interesting phenomenon going on in my sock drawer: all my socks are sprouting leaks at the same time. Okay, maybe it’s not that interesting when I recall the fact that I tend to buy my socks in six packs. It’s no wonder they’re all wearing out at the same time — I bought them at the same time! But I’m left with a bunch of socks with extra holes, and I’m not sure what to do with them.
After much thought, I came up with two ideas:
- Quick and easy dog toy — tie a knot in a sock and hand it over. Knot several socks together for an extra-long tug toy.
- Quick and easy stuffing for other dog toys or beds — skip the cotton batting and use the socks to fill up the inside of a homemade toy or bed.
My dogs have very different personalities when it comes to toys. Lally (my boxer mix) loves her squeaky ball and ONLY her squeaky ball. All other toys don’t exist. Moose (my shepherd mix) loves whatever toy is in front of him for up to five minutes before he loses interest and goes to take a nap. For Moose, a ripped old sock might be a great two minute distraction. It’s a new toy! One he’s never chewed before! Whee!
Want to make an old sock toy more exciting? Knot a treat in the middle so your dog can rip the sock apart to get to the delicious gift inside. Or bury some biscuits in a box or bucket full of old socks and let your dog dig them out.
See? This is kind of fun once you get going. Dress your dog in old socks and let him pull them off — Moose loves this game for some reason. We’ll put socks on his feet (or sometimes on his snoot) and he’ll pull them off and wait for us to put them back on. He’s such a goofball!
But when you get creative… something that might otherwise be junk turns out to have a little bit of fun left inside.