DIY Snuggle Pet Toy for Your New Puppy

One of our wonderful puppy owners purchased a Snuggle Pet for her puppy.  We tried it out with our litter and all the puppies loved it....When Oscar went to his new home it was a real comfort for him to take the Snuggle Pet home with him.  To help him with this transition his owner put in the battery operated heart, and the warmers that were provided with the toy.   The heart mimicked the sound of his mothers heartbeat and the warmer gave him a cozy spot to cuddle since he no longer had his litter mates.   His new owner was so happy to have the Snuggle Pet, and so was Oscar.

After reading the rave reviews from other Amazon customers and seeing how much the puppies enjoyed snuggling with this toy, I really wanted to buy a Snuggle Pet for my own puppy.  I put it in my shopping cart, and realized the $39.99 price tag was putting me outside of my budget for essential puppy purchases.  ....But I really wanted to try this!   So....being a long time 'Do-It-Yourselfer" I decided to make my own.

At first I thought about just making a pillow out of fake fur from the fabric store....But then it occurred to me that it would cost less to recycle an old toy from our family collection of a gazillion stuffed animal toys.  Most of our plush toys have sentimental attachment for my kids.  But there was one little 'Toto' dog that was not a particular favorite.  I bought the toy for $5.00 from Kohls last year.   

$5.00 plush toy dog from Kohls

I looked it over to see if there was any parts that could come loose.  The eyes were too secure for me to remove and the nose was soft and made of faux leather.  It seemed very well constructed. 

So I took out a seam ripper from my sewing box, and went to work removing the seam under the body of the dog.  I ripped out the tag, and that provided an opening that was the perfect size for removing stuffing. 

Removing the stuffing creates a place for me to insert some Warmers that I purchased from Amazon.com.  You can also buy these warmers in the camping section of a Sporting Goods store.  I chose warmers that are a large size and had 20 plus hours of heat.  So one warmer should last all day.  They are non toxic and safe....but I will make sure to secure the opening with a strip of velcro that I glue in place with hot glue.  I could also put a small clock in the toy to mimik the heart beat...but I think I will skip that step.  In my opinion the value of this toy is in the cuddly warmth, more than the heart beat.

 

The manufacturer describes these Warmers as follows...."Warmers are safe to use, odorless and non-toxic. The Heat Factory warmer is a soft, lightweight pouch containing a biodegradable mixture of iron powder, charcoal, salt, sawdust and vermiculite. When exposed to the air, an oxidation process takes place that generates heat."

 They come 10 in a pack and cost $12.66
You can find them in our Shop under Puppy Supplies.
 
 After the 'Heat Factory Operation" you can see that the doggy toy does not look much different then it did in the beginning.  I never pulled the stuffing out of the head, because it did not seem necessary to do so.  But the body now lies flat so our puppy can easily snuggle into it.

Although not as perfect as the original Snuggle Pet...it still lacks the heart beat....it may not be as handsome...I am still pretty happy at the results. And the price of $12.66 for 10 days of cozy warmth was pretty awesome.  

 Now to see how well my puppy likes it!