Woof! What’s that Lassie? Timmy’s trapped in the well again? Woof Woof! No? Oh, I see, you’ve found some plastic-free dog toys? Now that really is neat. Well done girl!
Delight your dog with these plastic-free dog toys made out of hemp rope, a natural material that is biodegradable at the end of its use. Dogs shouldn’t be gnawing on plastic any more than humans should, so choose eco-friendly pet toys for the good of your pet and the planet!
Knot sizes – all sizes are approximate as these products are handmade, so may vary by up to about 1cm for the knot size. Handle length can vary by a few centimetres, handles which are longer or shorter than this will be listed in the options drop-down box.
SMALL: Diameter 5cm, circumference 16cm approx. Suitable for puppies, ‘toy dogs’ and smaller dog breeds. Handle length – average 30cm. £9.
MEDIUM: Diameter 7cm, circumference 22cm approx. For medium-sized dogs, this is tennis ball size – which should give you the best idea of if this is the right size for your dog. Handle length – average 35cm. £10.
LARGE: Diameter 8.5cm circumference 27cm approx. For big dogs – if a tennis ball is too small for your dog, then this size is more appropriate. Handle length – average 40cm. £11.
Please choose a size suitable for your dog – vets recommend that you should only give a dog a ball that is larger than its mouth to reduce any risks of the ball getting stuck. If the entire ball fits in the dog's mouth it is too small. That goes for all balls you give a dog, not just these dog toys, especially tennis balls, which can compress with the force of a throw and expand once caught in the dog’s mouth.
These toys are for fetching and tugging. As with all dog toys, it’s best not to let your dog gnaw on these hemp ropes for too long, to reduce the risk of them eating bits of rope and ruining their toy. I’m sure you can provide them with far tastier treats for them to chew!
*Please remove the paper tape on the rope ends before giving this to your dog to play with. The ends will fray but it has been knotted so it won’t unravel any further than the knot.*
Rope Dog Toy
Dog toys… with the rise in dog ownership, there has been a dog toy boom. Brightly coloured, bouncy, tactile, annoyingly squeaky…there is a dog toy to cover all bases. Your pet dog has never been subject to so much choice of toys, even when the classic slobbery tennis ball is probably just as good from your dogs’ point of view. Unfortunately, many of these toys are made of plastic. (Including the tennis ball.) This isn’t a good idea for a few reasons.
1. Toys get lost and end up as litter. Dogs are easily distracted and will leave a toy if faced with a more fun game. Owners are also notoriously bad at throwing, so will inevitably chuck a toy into an impenetrable hedge, which the dog will be highly unimpressed with and refuse to go get it back.
2. Eating all that plastic isn’t the best idea. We know that imbibing plastic is harmful to humans, and we see extreme examples of what eating plastic does to seabirds, (I’m sure you’ll all have seen the distressing photos of dead albatrosses with the plastic in their stomachs) so why do we allow our dog to rip that fluffy plastic toy to shreds when no doubt it will swallow some of this plastic fluff?
3. Dogs get bored of toys, just like children. So, we buy them more plastic tat to play with. Sound familiar? These toys* cannot generally be recycled, and there is not the culture of passing on dog toys like there is with some children’s toys, mainly because dog toys end up a bit grosser having been chewed and slobbered on…although the same could be said of a toddler’s playthings. Anyway, landfill is the end destination for most of these briefly entertaining distractions in the life of your dog.
*I accidentally wrote dogs instead of toys here, and thoroughly amused myself when I realised the mistake I’d made. …Please don’t recycle your dog haha.
