Valentine’s Day DIY – Dog Collar Heart Accessory

Valentine’s Day is almost here, so with a little help from my mom I whipped up this happy heart DIY to help you spread some love any day of the year!

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

DIY – Dog Collar Heart Accessory

This simple DIY can be made with a few items that you can likely find laying around your house.

What you need:

  • Scissors
  • A few small scraps of fabric
  • Needle and thread
  • Elastic
  • Sharpie
  • Dog Collar
  • Cotton stuffing (don’t have any on hand? you could always use some paper towels or tissues)
  • Embroidery thread (substitute needle and thread if you don’t have any)
  • Metallic paint (optional)
  • Pencil with eraser (optional)

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

Step 1: Using a sharpie draw two small heart shapes onto your fabric. You may want to draw one on a plain piece of printer paper first and cut it out to use as a stencil.

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

Step 2: Cut both hearts out of your fabric.

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

Step 3: If you are using a plain piece of fabric then you may want to add a little Bling. By using the eraser end of your pencil you can stamp some dots of gold metallic paint onto your fabric hearts.

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

Step 4: Next measure the width of your dog collar, add about an inch, and cut this length out of your elastic. Once your paint is dry on your hearts you will want to sew a piece of looped elastic to the painted side with a needle and thread.

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

Step 5: Place your heart cutouts on top of each other (paint side up) and begin to stitch the two together using a piece of embroidery floss (or regular thread if that’s all you have). Stop stitching when you are about 3/4 of the way around.

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

Step 6: Stuff your heart with cotton filler (or any other stuffing you would like to use) and then stitch your heart the rest of the way shut.

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

Your heart collar accessory is now complete, and you can slip it onto your dog’s collar.

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

I don’t know about you, but I think it totally says I LOVE YOU!

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

If you decide not to add paint to your happy little heart, you may want to use a fun fabric instead – just like the one my mom made below.

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

I’m totally wearing my heart on my sleeve neck!

Valentine's Day DIY // Heart Collar Accessory for your Dog // Ammo the Dachshund

If you’re looking for more ways to spread a little love this year, make sure you check out my online SHOP for Valentine’s Day Greetings and more! Ammo the Dachshund

The collars I am wearing in this feature are from the lovely Mattie & Margot, and they have lots of great colors that would look oh so sweet with a happy little heart on them. 

Also you can fetch the id tag I’m wearing above from Blanket ID.

Hello Dolly – Dog Approved DIY Doll Beds

Hello Dolly // DIY Doll Bed - dog approved // Ammo the Dachshund

Did I ever tell you that I live with a crafty bunch of people? Oh yes, so when it came time to get a birthday gift for my cousin Maddie, we didn’t just go to the store to buy something, no we strapped on our tool belts and made a doll bed! Ok well Dad strapped on his tool belt, but I knew just what to do when the doll bed was ready.

Hello Dolly // DIY Doll Bed - dog approved // Ammo the Dachshund

So since my Dad made a super sweet bed for my cousin’s doll, I figured the least I could do was make sure it passed the rigorous doll bed test. Incase you need to put a doll bed to the test too, here’s my guidelines for dog approved doll accessories.

Ammo’s Doll Bed Testing Guidelines

Hello Dolly // DIY Doll Bed - dog approved // Ammo the Dachshund

Hello Dolly // DIY Doll Bed - dog approved // Ammo the Dachshund

Test 1 – The Jumping Test: No doll bed is doll ready unless it can pass the jumping on the bed test. So put your paws to work and get to jumping on that bed! This one gets an A++ for jumpiness!

Hello Dolly // DIY Doll Bed - dog approved // Ammo the Dachshund

Test 2 – The Prayer Test: We all know that dolls have to say their prayers before bed, so get your prayers ready! I prayed for more cookies – although mom says I may have mixed up praying and wishes, but regardless the doll bed passed!

Hello Dolly // DIY Doll Bed - dog approved // Ammo the Dachshund

Test 3 – The Stretching Test: Make sure there is enough room on your doll bed for stretching out. If your sausage body can’t fit than you can bet miss dolly won’t either. Plenty of room here for my hot dog!

Hello Dolly // DIY Doll Bed - dog approved // Ammo the Dachshund

Hello Dolly // DIY Doll Bed - dog approved // Ammo the Dachshund

Test 4 – The Monsters Under the Bed Test: And the final and most important step in doll bed testing is to make sure there aren’t any monsters under the bed. I checked, and thank goodness Dad built a monster free bed.

Hello Dolly // DIY Doll Bed - dog approved // Ammo the Dachshund

Well, it looks like my cousin’s doll bed passed the test and now it’s ready for lots of dolly activities. I really hope I can come over for slumber parties! Especially if there’s popcorn. Ammo the Dachshund

DIY: Build Your Own Agility Jumps

*This post contains some affiliate links

For those of you that follow me on Facebook, you probably know that I recently have started taking agility lessons. While being an agility loving Dachshund isn’t a new concept, some might think that due to my short legs and long back that agility might not be the sport for me. But lucky for me, my mom believes that being active and fit are more important to keeping me healthy in the long run than making me sit on the sidelines. Agility might not be for every dog out there, but for me it is one of those things that keeps me motivated to run my little tushie off and keep the middle of my “hot dog” from touching the ground.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

So with my start into the World of agility, mom decided to help me build a set of my very own agility jumps for the back yard. Lucky for you I made sure we documented the entire process so that you too can build your own backyard set!

DIY: Build You Own Agility Jumps

The following step-by-step tutorial will show you how to build two jumps for your dog for about $40 in materials (we did most of our shopping at Lowes).

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

Materials:

  1. Two 10′ pieces of 3/4″ PVC pipe (this will make 4 jump poles)
  2. Three 10′ pieces of 1″ PVC pipe
  3. Eight PVC “T” connectors for 1″ pipe
  4. Twelve PVC end caps for 1″ pipe
  5. Tape measure
  6. PVC pipe cutter (a circular saw or hand saw can be substituted)
  7. Sharpie (or item to mark the pipes with)

*You will also need to either purchase or make your own jump cups for this project. We opted to buy our own jump cups.*

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

It’s also helpful if you have a supervisor for this project on hand – if you do not have one I’m happy to lend my services for a nominal fee, you know where to find me.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

Next you will need to make some cuts in the 1″ PVC pipe. After measuring and marking your cuts with a sharpie, you can use a pipe cutter or a circular saw to make your cuts.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

Cuts to Make on 1″ PVC pipe:

  1. Eight 12″ pieces
  2. Four 1 3/4″ pieces
  3. Two 50″ pieces
  4. Four 30″ pieces

*make sure you are only making your cuts for these out of the 1″ PVC pipe (you will cut the 3/4″ pipe to make the jump poles later)

Next you will start the assembly process – if you prefer to make your jump really secure you can use PVC pipe glue to attach the pieces, but we opted to forgo the glue and just tightly assemble each piece. This way the pieces can be disassembled later or put away for the winter.

Assembly:

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

1. Create the feet of your jump by slipping the 12″ PVC pieces into the top and bottom ends of your “T” connectors. Then add an end cap to each end of the pipe.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

2. Next add the 1 3/4″ PVC pieces to the open end of the “T” connector.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

3. Then add another “T” connector to the ends of your 1 3/4″ pipe, make sure they face in the directions pictured above.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

4. Add the 50″ PVC pieces in-between your two “feet”.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

5. Place your 30″ PVC pieces into the open “T” connector and then add an end cap to the top of each pipe.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

At this point your jumps are nearly complete, but you will need to add jump cups to them. You can purchase a set of jump cups* for $19 for a set of 10 (make sure you purchase the 1″ pipe size). After you have your jump cups you will need to measure the distance between the jump cups to determine how long your jump poles need to be. In our case this was 49 3/8″ wide.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

So out of the 3/4″ PVC pipe you purchased cut 4 pieces at 49 3/8″ (or the measurement you took between the poles after attaching your jump cups).

After making your cuts for your jump poles, you might decide to paint the poles. According to the AKC Agility Rulebook, jump poles must be striped for visibility, so who was I to argue with adding a bit of color!

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

After taping off some stripes on my poles with painters tape and newspaper mom let me choose the color I wanted from the cans of spray paint we had in the basement.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

After a few coats of flashy blue paint, my jump poles were looking mighty fine. (You can also stripe your poles with colored electrical tape).

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

And then after letting them dry overnight, they were finally finished, and they were glorious!

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

Oh and don’t worry, I only jump a 4″ height for practice – but I had mom and dad make me an extra jump rail for when Trooper comes over to practice with me.

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

Putting my new agility jumps to the test was the best part though!

ammo the dachshund diy dog agility jumps

Look at me, I can fly! 

 

I’ve created this handy PDF for you to download that has all the instructions you will need to make your own set of DIY Dog Agility Jumps. Happy Jumping!

 

*These jumps are intended to be used for backyard fun. If you plan to build jumps for competition use make sure you build your jumps to rulebook specifications.

 

Disclaimer: To the best of our knowledge this equipment is entirely safe, however, we are not liable for any damages or injuries you or your dog may sustain from following these instructions. Use your best judgement when building equipment for your dog – and be safe! 

Birthday Week: DIY Dog Toys

One of the other fun gifts I got from my mom on my Birthday was some new dog toys! These dog toys are really special though, because my mom made them! Do you believe it? My dad didn’t even notice they weren’t store bought goodies.

Keep reading to find out how my mom made these super special toys just for me….thanks mom!

*Disclaimer: this post does contain some affiliate links

DIY dog toys

DIY BALL DOG TOY

Supplies:
Old ball (a tennis ball* works great)
About 1/2 yard of Fabric
A piece of ribbon
Scissors

DIY dog toys

1. Gather your supplies. Mom used an old squeaky ball from one of my toys and one of dad’s old stained polo shirts (he’s a messy eater just like me).

DIY dog toys

2. Cut your fabric into two strips – roughly 6″ x 14″ (you can adapt this to really any size you want)

DIY dog toys

3. Fold the fabric strips in half and wrap around your ball (placing the ball in the center of the folds). Tie your ribbon as tight as you can around the base of the ball after wrapping it several times around.

DIY dog toys

4. Cut the tail of your fabric into several 2″ wide strips, then using three strips at a time braid them into sections. Try to make your braids as tight as possible (it’s harder for little teeth to rip them apart then).

DIY dog toys

5. Using the excess fabric at the end of your braid tie several knots to keep the braids in place.

DIY dog toys

Yeah! Now you have a brand-new toy for your favorite furry friend!

DIY PLASTIC BOTTLE DOG TOY

Supplies:
Plastic Bottle
About a yard of fabric (we used an old tye-dyed bed sheet)
Scissors

DIY dog toys

1. Select a plastic bottle to use as your new dog toy. Then cut three to four 1″ wide strips of fabric off one of the edges of your fabric. These will be used later as ties, a piece of ribbon would also work for this purpose.

DIY dog toys
2. Using your remaining fabric place the bottom of the bottle about 3″ from the edge and wind the fabric around the bottle. Wrap it up just like you would a hoagie in paper – tucking in the excess just before you reach the end of the fabric.

DIY dog toys

3. Using the 1″ wide strips of fabric you previously cut, tie them around the bottle tightly – using them to secure the fabric to the bottle. Make sure to tie one right after the bottle cap as well.

DIY dog toys

4. Cut the excess fabric near the cap of the bottle into 2″ wide strips. Then using three strips at a time, braid each section and finish off by knotting them.

DIY dog toys

ammo's birthday

Aren’t new dog toys the best?

Not the DIY Type? Check out my list of 10 tough toys for dogs  and the 31 Best Dog Toys of 2019!

*make sure you always supervise your pet when letting them play with homemade toys. Remove immediately if they start to chew or swallow any pieces. We aren’t responsible for any injuries caused from following our homemade dog toys tutorial – so play responsibly!