Some of you may know that we have a new puppy in our house and like all new puppies they are a bit of work, but bring lots of joy and happiness. And must be amused!
The new puppy is not directly mine, but my daughter’s. Due to the pandemic, we are frequently required to help out training, feeding and puppysitting. Which is no problem at all.
We all know puppies like to chew and this little puppy is highly animated, energetic and intelligent so she needs lots of stimulation.
Being a schnauzer, she likes the stuffed rat toys in IKEA’s range of toys.
Maybe it could be because that was their original purpose – i.e. as ratters on German farms. Whatever the reason, Schnauzers develop an affinity towards toy rats!
To this end we went to purchase an IKEA ‘Råtter,’ to keep the pup amused, but Ikea had no stock! The råtters are too popular!
No problem, I thought.
I can make something similar. Dogs aren’t too fussy about what kind, shape or colour their stuffed chew toys are? Surely?
My homemade solution included finding scrap fabric for the rat’s body,felt fro the dubious looking feet, wool for the eyes and whiskers, a string handle from a cardboard merchandise bag for a tail, (I think it came from Ella bache cosmetic purchase), and 5 to 10 minutes on the sewing machine.
It ain’t pretty but it is functional.
This is the result of the Råtta experiment:
Instead of being a furry rat, my home made version looks like a mutant platypus but what does it matter?
The puppy really likes it. Humans attach meaning to stuffed shapes, so as long as it keeps the pup away from chewing my socks, toes, shoes, furniture etc. Then all is good.
Butter would not melt in its mouth.
Something to Ponder About 