Flirt Pole
Got a few hits from people searching for flirt poles. I mentioned one here briefly. What is a flirt pole? It’s a handle little toy that accomplishes two things:
1 – It’s a fun toy for your dog.
2 – It requires minimal effort on the part of the user.
Here’s a picture of one in use. Now, you don’t have to do all that ramp jumping stuff to wear a dog out. Mine just likes to chase it. Here’s how you make one:
You need: 1) a stick of some sort (I use a telescopic handle from a car wash brush that I accidentally ran over) – it can be of nearly any length. I’ve seen them as long as 10 feet. Mine is about 3 feet. 2) Some thin nylon rope (if you use a long stick, you use less rope). I use about 6 feet. 3) Bait. The bait can be anything that the dog likes to chase and is light enough to flick around. I have used old socks, plush dog toys that have had the stuffing removed (by the dog), and old wash rags. Some folks use strips of rawhide.
Attach one end of the rope to the end of the stick. Tie the bait to the other end of the rope. No, go dog fishing.
Get the dog to play with the bait. Wiggle it in front of his face and encourage him to chase it. You can remain completely stationary and flick the flirt pole. The dog will start chasing it. If you have a dog that likes to jump, you can get some good aerobatics going on. Also, dragging it along the ground is fun for them too as it simulates prey drive.
Flirt poles are not meant to be tug toys. I don’t recommend that, when the dog catches it (and he will eventually outsmart you) you tug the toy. Just drop the handle, let the dog prance around with it and tell him what a good boy he is for catching it.
Your dog will love it. If you have a dog that apparently doesn’t like sticks (Politically Correct Dog was apparently hit with one in his former life as he runs from sticks as soon as they appear) you may not get them to play.
I’ll dig up some pics of Politically Incorrect Dog in action later.
Update: Here’s a pic of one of the longer ones in action. And it has more sophisticated plans than mine.
June 8th, 2004 at 5:43 pm
Ok this is really embarrassing but my fiancee has some sort of “flirt pole” for her cat…its basically a 4ft long plastic “stick” with a rabbit foot looking thing hanging on the end…my dog goes ape shit over it!
June 9th, 2004 at 2:21 pm
I used to make something similar. I called it a “cat torturer”. It was a straightened coat hanger with a three foor string of rubber bands and a bobber at the end. The coat hanger wire was flexible enough to get some serious motion.
Once I made one with a piece of one inch dowell as the bobber. One of my friends was playing with it and my cat. The cat caught the bobber and backed up as far as he could go. When he lost his grip, the bobber flew back and hit my friend between the eyes. It actually staggered him and has provided years of laughs at his expense…
June 10th, 2004 at 10:32 am
Great idea.
However, I would recommend not using an old sock. The dog may not know the difference between old socks and socks you want to wear again.
(Cool site, btw)
June 10th, 2004 at 10:44 am
Thanks. With my dogs, the sock thing isn’t a problem. They tend to know what they can chew on because they know not to chew stuff unless it’s been given to them.
June 10th, 2004 at 5:40 pm
Man, my dog isn’t even close to that level yet. He’s still in the “if it’s forbidden, it must be especially worthwhile” phase…