{ One of my favorite fun things as a child – the ball pit. }

My Dog is Living My Childhood Fantasy!

One of my favorite things as a child was those ridiculous ball pits at kid play places. I loved the feeling of being submerged in toys! I have been thinking about fun really engaging things for dogs to do that don’t take up a lot of space. I think this solution fits the bill! Miles’ dog toy pit cost me about $30 to set up. For really messy dogs and puppies, choosing specific times to allow the pup to play and adding an x-pen around the setup is a wise idea. Miles’ favorite way to play with his pen is to have treats scattered throughout the toys, so he can play and forage. He spends ages snuffling around and flipping the toys over. Most dogs really love flipping things around with their noses, and now Miles is flipping my couch cushions off of the couch less – haha! It is such a great way for him to be messy and love being a dog in his own fun space.

…As someone who doesn’t buy a lot of dog toys, and who has given away lots of dog toys, I was impressed at how many toys Miles has been gifted and/or has won over the years! Every year two local pet stores give Miles toys on his birthday, agility trials and fun matches often award toys, and friends and family give Miles toys. Do you have a lot of old dog toys laying around or in storage? Time to use them!

Necessary Supplies

• Old dog toys! All the dog toys!
• Collapsible playpen – $12

Optional Supplies

• X-Pen to wrap around it – $40 (so puppies don’t scatter the toys everywhere!)
• Bulk cheap dog toys (animals), (cute food) – $20 per bag
• Bulk ball pit balls, BPA free $20 for 100 – I added these to make Miles’ foraging harder
• Old frisbees – free!
• Empty water bottles with the little plastic parts removed (lid, and the little plastic part around the lip) – free!
• You can also toss food stuffable toys in the mix, read more on those here!

Avoid: anything the dog might eat, socks, rags, old shoes, fabric scraps

This can also be a really creative and special gift idea for family and friend’s dogs who “have it all!” All you need to do is get the Collapsible playpen and the Bulk ball pit balls (total investment: around $32), wrap the two up, and tell them about this post (https://milesandemma.com/dog-ball-pit/) so they can make their dog their own ball pit filled with all of their dog’s toys! I am going to start doing this, I think it is such a fun idea.

PS When I googled “ball pit” this video popped up of a family who made their living room into a ball pit for their kids. How cool is that?

If you make one comment below and I will contact you for pictures or videos!!

Seamus and Meghan enjoying their new ball pit: