Using a dog toy stick with rope for fetch? See simple tips for better throwing games.

Getting Started with the Stick and Rope Idea

Okay, so I decided to make one of those dog toys, you know, a stick with a rope attached. My dog just loves fetch and tug-of-war, but I kept hearing stuff about plain sticks maybe being bad, splintering and all that. And some rope toys just fall apart way too fast, leaving threads everywhere.

So I thought, why not try making something a bit sturdier myself? Seemed simple enough. First thing, gotta find a decent stick.

Finding and Prepping the Stick

I went for a walk in the woods behind my place. Didn't want anything too thin that would snap right away, or too thick for my dog to grab comfortably. Found a piece of hardwood, maybe maple or oak, felt pretty solid. It was about the right length too, maybe a foot and a half long?

Got it home, first thing was to clean it up. Knocked off the loose dirt and bark. Then, I spent a good while sanding it down. Took some rough sandpaper first, then a finer one. Really wanted to get rid of any sharp edges or potential splinter spots. Heard horror stories about splinters in dogs' mouths, so I was pretty careful with this step. Kept running my hand over it until it felt smooth all around.

Adding the Rope

Next up was the rope. I had some thick cotton rope lying around from another project. It felt pretty strong but also kinda soft, figured it would be better than that thin nylon stuff that can sometimes cut gums, you know?

Getting it attached was the tricky part. I thought about drilling a hole through the stick, but worried that might weaken it. So, I decided to just wrap and knot it really, really well near one end of the stick.

• I wrapped the rope around the stick multiple times, pulling it super tight each time.
• Then I tied a few strong knots. Think it was some kind of square knot, followed by a couple of half hitches just to be sure.
• Pulled on it hard myself to test it out. Didn't want it coming loose the first time my dog gave it a good yank.

Took a few tries to get the knot feeling secure, but finally got it locked down pretty good. Left a nice long piece of rope hanging off for playing tug.

The Finished Toy and Testing Time

So there it was, my homemade dog toy stick with rope. Looked pretty decent, actually. Solid stick, well-sanded, with a chunky rope handle.

Called my dog over. At first, he just sniffed it, kinda unsure. You know how they can be sometimes. But then I gave the rope a little wiggle, and his ears perked up. Tossed it a short distance, and boom! Fetch mode activated.

He brought it back, and we had a good game of tug. The rope held strong, and the stick seemed to handle the chewing and pulling okay. Important part: I watched him really closely while he played, especially at first. Made sure he wasn't splintering the wood or trying to swallow bits of rope. You still gotta be careful, even with homemade stuff.

It's been a few play sessions now, and it's holding up. He seems to love having both the stick part to gnaw on and the rope part to grab for tug. Was it worth the little bit of effort? Yeah, I think so. Felt good making something myself, and it seems to be a hit!