Category: Do It Yourself

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DIY: Sweet Potato Dog Chews

Sweet potato chews are super easy to make and way cheaper than buying them.  And they’re good for your pups—lots of fiber!

You don’t need a food dehydrator for these, just your oven.  (Definitely cut the slices thick—Mary & Tim, of the nifty blog, 17 Apart, actually made a 2nd thicker batch that’s closer to what you can buy in stores.)  Check out their great tutorial on sweet potato chews.

Store your chews in an airtight container or your freezer.  Oooo, these would make a nice gift for other dogs you know.  Sweet!

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DIY: Cardboard Cat Rocket

Too cute!  I’ve made cat houses out of cardboard, but nothing as nifty as this.  Check out the superb cardboard rocket tutorial at Craftzine from Haley Pierson-Cox, who has her own site, The Zen of Making full of DIY goodness.  There are even carpet squares for each level.  Haley uses actual screws and nuts to hold the rocket together, for the most part, instead of glue, which gives the rocket more structural integrity and avoids exposing your kitty friends to any chemicals in the glue.  I don’t know how much of an issue that is unless your cat eats glue, but I do like how the hardware looks in the final product.  Have fun—your kitty will be over the moon!

You’ll need:

  • 4 cardboard boxes, 20″ x 20″ x 20″ square single-walled cartons
  • 2 carpet squares, 20″ x 20″
  • 68 #10 washers
  • 34 #10 nuts
  • 18 1/2″ #10 screws
  • 16 3/8″ #10 screws
  • Screwdriver, optional
  • Wrench, optional
  • Tape measure
  • Box cutter
  • Long ruler or yardstick
  • Pencil or marker
  • Thumb tack
  • String
  • Drill or awl
  • Duct tape
  • Hot glue gun
  • Bone folder
  • Paint, in your favorite colors – Haley used Crayola Washable Kid’s Paint
  • Paint brushes/sponges
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DIY: Rabbit Toys

(courtesy Margaret Duclos who takes amazing pics of her dogs, including the gorgeous Royal)

Today’s post is in honor of the little girl bunny pictured above who recently showed up in a friend’s garden.  After several days, they were able to trap her and, though they put out ads for her, her owners haven’t claimed her.  I wonder if she was someone’s Easter bunny who got dumped.  Boo!  She’s has a wonderful home now though—Margaret has already started clicker-training her.  Yea!

It’s really important to provide your rabbits with physical and mental stimulation.  They like to explore & play and providing toys is a great way to keep them occupied & happy.  It gives your bunny appropriate outlets for chewing, digging, shredding, etc. and helps prevent destructive behavior.

Check out this totally kickass post on making your own rabbit toys!  There are a bazillion ideas for entertaining & safe toys for your bunnies—most DIY and low-cost. (Note: it looks like the links to Amazon are affiliate links, but the author did put a lot of effort into gathering good info.)

Want even more toy ideas?  The House Rabbit Society also has tons of suggestions for rabbit toys.

Be sure to check out my podcast on Rethinking the Easter Rabbit and these posts on house rabbits:

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