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My Dog Loves Sticks, But Not Swimming After Them

So, my dog, Max, he's absolutely obsessed with sticks. Like, seriously. Every walk, gotta find the biggest, best stick. Problem is, we started going to the lake more, and regular sticks? They sink. Or get waterlogged and gross. Plus, sometimes they splinter, which worries me.

I saw those fancy floating fetch toys in the store, shaped like sticks, but geez, the price. And they looked kinda flimsy. I thought, I bet I could make something like that myself. Something that floats, looks kinda like a stick, and won't break the bank or Max's teeth.

Figuring Out What Floats

First thing that popped into my head was those pool noodles. You know, the cheap foam ones? Got a bright orange one lying around in the garage from last summer. Perfect. It floats, it's soft-ish, and it's big enough to make a few 'sticks'.

So, I grabbed:

• The old pool noodle
• A serrated knife (like a bread knife – scissors were useless)
• Sandpaper (had some medium grit stuff)

That was basically it. Didn't want to get too complicated.

Making the Floating Sticks

Okay, so I took the noodle out back. Decided I wanted a couple of different sizes, like real sticks. Measured out maybe a foot-long piece first. Hacking at it with the bread knife wasn't pretty, but it worked way better than trying to saw smoothly. Got a chunk off. The ends were rough, foam bits everywhere.

This is where the sandpaper came in. I just rounded off the sharp edges from the cut. Tried to make it look a bit more 'natural', less like a chopped-up noodle. Then, just for kicks, I rubbed the sandpaper lightly along the sides too. Didn't do much, but maybe gave it a tiny bit more texture? Hard to say.

I repeated this, making another piece about the same size, and then a shorter, fatter one from the leftover bit.

I thought about adding rope or something, drilling a hole through, but decided against it for the first try. Keep it simple, see if the basic idea even works.

The Test Run

Filled up the bathtub for a quick float test. Yep, they floated like champs. Bobbed right on top. Good enough for me.

Took 'em out to the yard. Max sniffed one cautiously. He's used to actual wood. But I tossed it, and his fetch instinct kicked in. He grabbed it! It's soft enough he could carry it easily. We played fetch for a bit right there.

The real test was the lake. Next trip, I brought the noodle sticks. Tossed one in the water. It floated high, easy for him to see. He plunged right in and grabbed it, no problem! Way better than him trying to grab a half-sunk piece of wood. He seemed to love chasing them in the water.

Was It Worth It?

Totally. Took maybe 15 minutes? Used stuff I mostly already had. The 'sticks' aren't gonna win any beauty contests, they look like hacked-up pool noodles. But they float, they're safer than wood sticks, and Max enjoys chasing them in the water. He still prefers real sticks on land walks, gotta admit. But for water fetch? These things are great. Might make a few more, maybe try roughing them up a bit more next time.