Smooches pooches! We have a special Valentine’s Day dog DIY to share with you today. Tug toy hugs and kisses! These DIY Valentine’s Day dog tug toys are made using our easy square knot weaving method, but with a few extra steps to make one tug into a closed circle for the O and combine two tugs to form an X. Here’s how the Valentine tug toys were made.
An Oldie But a Cutie
This DIY Valentine’s Day dog tug toy set were some of the first special shaped tug toys created and shared on the Dalmatian DIY blog, many years ago. My weaving and shaping techniques have gotten a lot more refined over the years. Haha! Although these tugs may not be quite perfect, the basics of making simple shapes remains the same. And this is yet another example of my common saying that the dogs don’t care about perfect looks, just fun! Not up to making shapes yet? You can, of course, just make a simple woven fleece dog tug toy in Valentine colours, like our exclamation point. Or check out our double spiral tug for another Valentine-themed idea. Whatever you make, the dogs will feel the love if you have fun together no matter what the shapes or colours.
Weaving a DIY XO Valentine's Day Dog Tug Toy
Tug Toy Materials
The materials and craft supplies used in making the DIY Valentine’s Day dog tug toy set shown here are:
- Polar fleece fabric
- Scissors
A basic box knot tug toy is made with four long narrow strips. Our X toy combines two short tugs, intersecting in the middle (eight strips total) and our O toy uses one longer tug (four strips), joined at the ends to form the circle. If making a matched set of XO toys, you will need roughly half the length for of the X as used for the O. You can scale the toys by altering the width and/or length of the fleece strips, making the tugs larger or smaller to suit your dog and your fleece options. See our post on fleece tug toy sizes for tips.
If you’d like to switch from a box knot square weaving style to a simple spiral weaving style, the materials are the same.
Weaving a Circle Tug for the O (Hug Tug)
Weaving the tug:
- Cut four long strips of fleece. The length and width are at your discretion to scale the toy to the size of your pet as noted above. The strips in the toys as shown were approximately 2m long x 4-5cm wide.
- Tie a temporary knot securing both strips near one end. This knot will be undone before connecting your circle, so not too tight! Undo any time after your weaving is secure.
- Knot using a square/box knot (as shown) or other weaving method of your choice. Detailed instructions as well as additional diagrams and step-by-step photos for this weaving method are available in our comprehensive post on making square knot dog tug toys.
- Weave until you start to approach the end of your strips.
Closing the circle:
- If you have not already done so, undo your temporary knot.
- If using two different colours, as shown, align the ends so that the colour patterns line up.
- Incrementally tie some of the strands to secure your circle, taking care to try an create a uniform look that ties in with the existing weave. This may involve pulling some strands through to the opposite surface. Not all strands need to be tied, but you do want the circled to close tightly and hold secure.
- Cut your loose ends, leaving enough excess to allow you to tuck them into the circle. Take care to follow the pattern of the weave where possible to conceal the join. Don’t beat yourself up if the closure point is visible. Imperfect is still pawfect for fun! Woofs!
Weaving a Crossed Tug for the X (Kiss Tug)
Weaving the tug toys to the intersection point:
- Cut eight medium strips of fleece. The length and width are at your discretion to scale the toy to the size of your pet. As noted above in the material details, if making a matched set of XO toys, you will need roughly half the length for the X strands as used for the O.
- Starting with four strips, tie a loop knot in one end to secure.
- Knot using a square/box knot (as shown) or other weaving method of your choice. Detailed instructions as well as additional diagrams and step-by-step photos for this weaving method are available in our comprehensive post on making square knot dog tug toys.
- Weave until you have woven a straight tug piece roughly half the diameter of your circle. This will be one of the four legs of your X.
- Repeat with your other four strips.
Creating the intersection:
- Take one of your tugs and loosen off the last woven knot, and then slip the end strands of the other tug through to join the tugs.
- Arrange your strands back into a cross (+) shape for the working end of the receiving tug. Exchange some of the strips for added security (optional) and take care to ensure that the colour patterns remain aligned before resuming weaving.
Finishing the tug:
- Resume knotting until the length is even on both sides of the junction, then tie a loop knot to secure the ends.
- Return to the strands of the other tug at the midpoint. Pull on the strands if/as needed to ensure the first half of the tug is snug against the body of the other tug. You don’t want a loose joint or slackness in the joint. Arrange the strands and resume weaving until the length is even on both sides of the junction, then tie a loop knot to secure the ends.
- Trim ends if/as needed. I did a tight trim on this X to make the shapes closer to an XO, but Humphrey prefers tassels on tugs.
Need more help? See our post on DIY double infinity loop dog tug toys for more details and updated instructions on methods for creating a tug toy intersection.
Additional DIY Dog Tug Toy Making Help and Information
Helpful information is also available in our tug toy FAQs, tips, and troubleshooting mini-series:
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 doggone 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!
