For me, Christmas Day really starts when both dogs leap onto the bed and open their Santa Socks. They're already excited as the bedroom's usually out of bounds, and it takes just seconds to get wrapping paper and dog toys all over the place! If you're struggling for ideas for doggie stocking fillers, here are some tips that will fill the dog with festive cheer and won't cost you money.
I try to get a mix of fun toys, puzzle toys, chewy food and always a ball in the socks. Both dogs love to play with a ball, and in the excitement of the moment this is the familiar gift they aim for first. More food focused dogs will have different priorities!
Making puzzle toys is easy as long as you prepare ahead of time. Loo roll and kitchen towel tubes are perfect for making puzzle toys, along with egg boxes and any small cardboard box that can be opened easily by your dog. Put a small handful of good and smelly dried treats inside the tube, just enough to make a rattling sound, and turn the ends over to make a loose seal. For terriers you can scrunch up a bit of newspaper to make it more challenging to open. Wrap with a brightly coloured page from a magazine if you want a super-festive cracker-style look. Don't make it too hard for your dog to open and be prepared for some happy destruction as your pooch gets the treats out.
Old socks are perfect for making dog toys and can't be recycled for much else. Tie the first sock into a knot and then then use this as the centre of a ball of old socks as you simply add more socks. I usually tie extra knots around every 6th sock or so to give it a bit more structure. Sock balls are great because they're soft enough to be thrown around inside the house (by the dogs) and don't cause too much damage.
Dog chews are always popular even if your dog is too excited to get down to purposeful gnawing straight away. This year Effi and Gyp will be getting half a Yak chew each and all I have to do is make sure that it doesn't get buried in the duvet for later! Half a chew sounds a bit mean, but I don't want the dogs to overeat early in the day and leave no room for their turkey dinners.
With two dogs a tuggy toy is ideal as they can play together while we enjoy an early morning coffee. Rope tuggers last for years and I usually hide this toy in September (and give it a wash) and 're-appear' it in the Santa Sock. The dogs are polite enough not to comment and love tugging each other on and off the bed.
Effi and Gyp are the dogs who check out all the walks, and the occasional country pub, for the Driving with Dogs website
