Hi everyone! Your friend Tuki coming to you from my perch at the Potter League. It’s starting to feel like spring but I’m sure your pets are bored with their toys after spending so much time indoors during the winter. Well, I have some ideas for you to make them new toys from things you probably already have around the house!

For your dogs, paper towel tube dispensers make great destructible (yes, I said destructible!) toys. Empty tubes can be stuffed with peanut butter and any other treat they like, or even some kibble if your dog is trying to cut down on treats. Your dog will have to get the treats out while holding the tube without crushing it. Of course, some dogs will just rip through the tube, and that’s OK, too! For a longer-lasting treat, freeze the tube and its treats first.

You can also do the same thing with an empty box if that is a better size for your dog or you want more of a challenge. Poke some holes in the box and add the treats so your dog has to toss the box around to release the treats.

You’ll want to supervise your dog while he is playing with these toys to be sure that he doesn’t eat any of the cardboard pieces that get torn off!

The muffin tin shell game is fun too. Put some treats in the cups of a muffin tin and cover them with tennis balls. Your dog will have to figure out how to remove the tennis balls to get to the treats! If he needs a little help at first, leave some of the cups uncovered until he gets the hang of it. If you want to make it more challenging, leave some of the cups empty but place tennis balls on top of them all. Your dog will need to use his impressive powers of smell to find the treats!

Other fun ideas include putting an empty plastic water bottle in an old sock and knotting the end – dogs love that crinkly sound when they chew it. Knotting or braiding strips of old t-shirts or fleece can also provide hours of chewing fun!

Don’t worry, there is plenty of fun to be had for the cats, too! To make a paper towel tube scratching toy, wrap some twine around an old cardboard paper towel tube to make a new scratching toy for your cat. With any luck, it will save your furniture from becoming a scratching post!

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You can also make a cat version of the muffin tin game with treats in the cups of an egg carton topped with ping pong balls.

For cats that love to chase things, make a pompom or feather wand by attaching some string or yarn to the end of a stick or dowel and gluing some pompoms or feathers along the string. This will give you a fun game to play with your cat!

For those of you looking to entertain your bunnies, a woven mat that is good for digging and chewing can be made by cutting an old cardboard box into strips and weaving them into a mat. You can also make a shreddable bunny mat by cutting the sides of a cardboard box to about 1 inch high, cutting the rest of the box into strips, and placing those strips vertically in the box. Then sprinkle the strips with herbs or timothy hay for tons of bunny fun!

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Last but not least, bird lovers can keep your beautiful birds entertained with some homemade toys. For birds that like to forage, place some seeds in an old raisin box or other small boxes for your bird to find. Some birds love to climb, and making a ladder out of two dowels with popsicle sticks glued on as the ladder steps is just the thing to keep them entertained. Just be careful that you anchor the ladder well to keep it safe. For a bird that likes to chew, take some old puzzle pieces (from those puzzles leftover from quarantine that have lost a few pieces!), poke or drill a hole in the middles of each piece and string them together and hang them in your feathered friend’s cage. Hopefully, this will keep your bird buddy away from things you don’t want him to chew!

I hope these ideas will keep your furry and feathered friends busy for hours!

‘Till next time, your friend, Tuki.

Mail questions to Tuki, P.O. Box 412, Newport, RI 02840, or send email to TukiTalk@PotterLeague.org. The Potter League for Animals can be found at 87 Oliphant Lane in Middletown and online at potterleague.org.