Finn The Destoyer or Play With Your Dog!

I have an aggressive chewer of a dog.  You wouldn't think it to look at him, but put any soft toy within reach of his jaws and he will destroy it!

His name is Finn, and he's a Lab/Whippet mix.  He's as fast as greased lightning and as lean and svelte as a greyhound.

I have trained him to stay in my yard(I don't have a fence), so that he can run around and work off some of his excess energy.  The other day, we were out playing in the yard with a new tug toy that I bought him.  Admittedly, it was a cheap toy,(it only cost $1.60 at a local discount store), but he only had it for about two minutes when I looked over and saw him gleefully pulling stuffing out of the thing.  Needless to say, that was the end of that toy!

He also has or should I say had, something called a Wubber.  These toys fare better than most, but he has just destroyed his third one in about 2 years.

He loves playing tug of war and needless to say, these fetch toys don't do well. So I decided to make him one.

These box weave tug toys were made using the box weave knot and stitched and knotted at each end.  These have fared much better than the average tug toy that you can buy in a store, but I still have to take them away from Finn after we are through playing, because he will destroy these!

But, as long as I remove them after we are done playing, these last pretty well.

I have made some of these for sale.  Each is made with the care that I used in making Finn's toy.  But these are NOT CHEW TOYS!  They are for interactive play only.

Each of these toys are approximately 27 inches long, with about 17 inches between the knots.

Pink and White Braided Tug Toy

Gray on Gray Braided Pull Toy

Red and Dark Gray Braided Tug Toy

Purple, Pink and White Braided Dog Pull Toy

Ring In The Holidays

It's time for the Countdown to Christmas once again.  Thanks to Julie and Blu of the Blu Print  this year's selection of gifts looks even more wonderful than the last.  Anyone can participate as long as you have a shop somewhere on line.  All you have to do is promote every item from your fellow artists, preferably on Pinterest where all the items can be seen at once.  So join in and promote!

Here is a sampling of the gorgeous creations from this week's countdown.




Pumpkin Patch Autumn Doggy Bandana by Sew Amazin

Grocery Tote by Ennadoolf

Silver Dangles From Blonde Peach Jewelry

Silver Bell Earrings from The Singing Beader

Veterinarian Christmas Ornament fromKevsKrafts

Jewish Star Bracelet from Linda B 142

Dark Amethyst Beads by Cover Girl Beads

SteamPunk Clock and Owl Bracelet by Treasures of Jewels

Sen Coin and Blue Opal Chandelier Earrings by KataAllThat

Black and White Hot Pads/Pot Holders by RSSDesignsInFiber

Red and Green Merry Christmas Holiday Gift Tags by Adore By Nat

 

Recycled Bottle Chriastmas Ornament by ResetarGlassArt

Candy Apple Red Sugar Maple Art Photo by Butterlfy In The Attic

Collectible Thimble with Butterflies by Polymer Clay Beads

Welcome To My World

Welcome to the wonderful, marvelous  world of Wyvern Designs!  My name is Nancy and I am the owner, creator, and mastermind of  all that you shall see.

Okay now that that's over with, let me introduce myself.  As I said above, I'm Nancy and I can be found all over the web as Wyvern Designs. 

 Wyvern Designs on Art Fire where I sell my jewelry.

 Ancient Pagan Goddess Pendant







 Bohemian Beaded Batik Beach Bracelet

  Etsy  where I sell my hand made wool felted pincushions and sewing accessories.

Miniature Recycled Bottle Cap Pincushion

Miniature Strawberry Sewing Pins Set Of 5

  Meylah  where I am currently in the process of listing my knits and crochet items.

 Summer Leaf Scarf and/or Belt

 Skull Design Boot Toppers

 Goodsmiths  which contains my doggy related items, inspired by my Lab mis, Finn.

Finn's Favorite Patriotic Pull Toy

 

Finn's Favorite Bandana 

 Finn's my model for all my dog items.  He hates it but just barely tolerates having his picture taken.

I have been creating things for as long as I can remember.  When I was little, I would sit by my mother and sister while they sewed.  They would give me bits of cloth, lace and beads and button to play with.  I don't remember exactly what I made with these treasures but I do know that my artistic ability grew from those happy shared times with my family.

I've always drawn, painted, and sculpted.   My mom taught me to knit and crochet.  In the last few years, I've resumed knitting and crocheting, making fingerless gloves, scarves and belts.  I taught myself several new techniques in the knitting arena, such as knitting gloves and mittens on two circular needles, intarsia, and double knitting.  I even wrote some blog posts about my adventures in knitting, learning these new techniques.  They can be found here if your interesting in reading them: Adventure 1
Adventure 2  Adventure 3

Once upon a time, I was listing all my stuff on Art Fire.  As time went by, I didn't like the look of my shop.  It had become a chaotic mess, with my jewelry, knit, crochet, sewing supplies like wool felted pincushion, and items inspired by my Lab mix called Finn.  I decided to split everything up into separate shops.  As I was already signed up to sell at all the above places, I've been in the process of moving items around to my different shops.  I don't know if it's a good plan or not, yet, only time will tell.

I live in Central Massachusetts, about 45 miles from Boston.  I have a wonderful husband who supports me in all I do,  three grown children , one grandchild and, of course, my loving and enthusiastic dog, Finn.

Dog Adoptions From Local Animal Shelters

Let me preface this piece with the disclaimer that I think all those animal shelters out there are doing a wonderful job.  They care for and look for homes for numerous unwanted(by some) animals out there in this hard, hard world.

That said, I'd like to rant a bit about their, sometimes, unrealistic rules and regulations for a adopting a dog.

My husband and I recently adopted a Lab mix from a local shelter.  The shelter had some rules.  He was 3 months old and luckily I was only working part time so I was able to be home with him for a good portion of the day.  He's now 11 months old, housebroken and I just dismantled his crate yesterday because he's being such a good boy when left alone. 

The reason behind this rant  began when my son, who is in his thirties and is a responsible adult with a full time job and  owns his own home, started thinking about adopting a dog from a New England animal shelter.  He'd like a young but not too young, medium to large, male dog.  He works full time so the dog would be home alone for 8 1/2 to 9 hours a day.  But apparently animal adoption facilities do not think this is a good idea.  He has been told by several that he's not home enough to adopt a dog.  That a dog should be alone no more than six hours a day.

What planet do these shelter people live on?!!  According to their rules, only the independently wealthy, the unemployed, or stay at home Moms can adopt one of their dogs. 

I know these rules were made up with the best intentions, but they are unrealistic and unreasonable.  I don't know too many people who can afford to leave their job to adopt a dog and if they did, both dog and human would probably end up living on the street.  A fenced in yard can be cost prohibitive for some people and the lack of that feature should not be a deterrent to adopting a dog.  No wonder there are so many dogs in shelters.

I would like to be able to get this message to all the shelters out there.  Yes, there is good reason for some rules about the adoption of animals but there are dogs in shelters who are missing out on good homes because of some of your arbitrary rules.

Yes. a dog should not be left alone for exceedingly long periods of time.  But I've had dogs that were alone for 8 to 9 hours a day, who did just fine in my home and were loving and social animals.

Yes, a fenced in yard is wonderful, but my dogs have gotten their exercise through walks and interactive play without a fence. 

Shelters need to reassess their rules and let hard working loving people adopt some of their dogs.