Who’s a lucky dog? St. Patrick’s Day is coming soon, and it’s ever so easy to have a little pinch-proof playtime by making your dog a new green toy. Here are our DIY St. Patrick’s Day dog tug toy ideas for making different shapes and styles of fun and festive woven fleece tug toys.
Glorious Greens (and More!)
Modern St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are all about the green, but did you know that Saint Patrick’s traditional colour is actually blue? And as luck would have it, blue is a great colour for dog vision, too! For most of us though, when it comes to colours for St. Patrick’s Day, you can’t go wrong by mixing together fresh bright greens on their own or with a pop of white. You can even through in some golden yellow perhaps a flag inspired orange, if it takes you fancy and suits your materials. Or you can go wild with the whole doggone rainbow! Dogs don’t see colours in quite the same as we humans do, but our dogs also love fun more than looks when it comes to toys. Many of the dog toys that we make and buy have colours and design features that are festive for us crazy humans, while the dogs are all about the fun factor of playtime. Win win for everyone if they’re both pretty and pretty fun!
Tug Toy Weaving Styles and St. Patrick's Day Ideas
Tug Toy Colour Options
I like to use fleece for making DIY dog tug toys. With the exception of a glittering gold (easily substituted with bright yellow), most St. Patrick’s Day colours are readily available in fleece. Although the dogs don’t see green the same way as we do, using it with a contrasting colour like white still makes for a nice combination. Again, they love the fun of playtime more than the looks of the tug. Tug toys can be made with other materials, if you don’t have fleece, dislike using it for personal or environmental considerations, or just feel like something different. Choose with care.
Tug Toy Weaving Patterns
Any of our DIY dog tug toys can be easily adapted to St. Patrick’s Day (or other holiday) colours. If you’re new to making tugs, the easiest type of fleece tug to weave is probably the simple square box knot tug toy. It’s a great option for beginners or for any level of crafter looking for a cute and quick DIY. Those instructions are one of our most popular posts. From the basic box knot, it’s an easy advancement to try a simple spiral tug toy or add a loop to either style of tug.
St. Patrick's Day DIY Tug Toys
There are two different types of green and white St. Patrick’s Day dog tug toys pictured in this post. I wanted to make a twisted double spiral St. Patrick’s Day tug toy, but ended up making two tugs. Lucky dogs indeed. The small spiral tug (light green and white) was made using the leftovers from the big twisted double spiral tug spiral. All of my fleece was the same end-to-end length, but double spirals require four equal strands and two longer strands (dark green in this case). Rather than putting the offcuts back into my stash, I made a small tug with my extra fleece.
Making a Simple Spiral St. Patrick’s Day Dog Tug Toy
To make your own simple spiral tug, you will need four long strands of fleece. The toy shown is made using two light green and two white. Using two strands of each colour (two horizontal of one colour, two vertical of the other colour) creates the spiralling colour effect as the woven layers build up in the finished toy.
For full step-by-step DIY instructions, diagrams, and photos of how to weave a simple spiral tug, please hop across to our DIY spiral dog tug toy post.
Making a Twisted Double Spiral St. Patrick’s Day Dog Tug Toy
To make your own twisted double spiral tug, you will need six long strands of fleece. The toy shown is made using two dark green, two light green, and two white. It is made exactly like our twisted double spiral Valentine dog tug toy in a fresh green combo instead of pink and red. This weaving pattern is one of my favourites. It’s a little heftier than a four strand tug, and looks great when woven with sets of complimentary or contrasting colours. Plus it’s deceptively easy, too.
For full step-by-step DIY instructions, diagrams, and photos of how to weave a twisted fleece double spiral tug, please hop across to our DIY twisted double spiral dog tug toy post.
Safety first, furfriends! Remember, no matter what a toy is made of or how it’s made, toys are meant for supervised interactive play. Know your dog before giving him or her any new toy. Some dogs try to eat toys or parts (whether bought or handmade) and that’s dangerous. Toys are for playing, and playtime is always safer (and more fun!) with you involved. You can read more in our dog toy safety post, including tips and helpful links for safer playtime. Have fun and play safe!
