DIY Monkey Fist Dog Toy – How to Make a Rope Ball Dog Toy

Daisy laid on the hairdresser’s floor and let my daughter climb all over her. She is the biggest Pit Bull I’ve ever met and gentle as could be. My kid loved her!

She also had the biggest jaw I’ve ever seen on a dog and could tear through chew toys like nobodies business. If you have a dog with a powerful jaw (or just want a super sturdy dog toy) then you’ll love making this monkey fist dog toy.

Making sturdy rope ball toys for dogs is easier than it looks. And I’ve included two different versions with video instructions.

1. The Basic Monkey Knot Dog Toy
2. The Monkey Fist Explosion Dog Toy

How to make a chew toy for a dog? Click here to find out.

Basic Monkey Knot Dog Toy

This is the basic version of the toy and creates an incredibly sturdy knot that will hold up to almost any aggressive chewer. This video will show you how to easily make a monkey knot.

Monkey Fist Knot Instructions (Video)

Materials Needed:

• 3 meters of sturdy rope (that’s it!)

Instructions:

1. Tie a knot in the end of your rope, working it as close to the end as you can.
2. With your hand open and your thumb pointing up, lay the rope across your palm with the knotted end facing toward you and down towards your work surface.
3. Wrap the rope 3 and a half times around your hand, tucking the rope in between your first and middle fingers to hold it in place.
4. Turn your hand over so that you can see the back of your fingers. Take the piece of rope that is still being held between your fingers and run it under the 3 loops on the back of your hand so that the end of your rope goes in the direction of your wrist.
5. Now bring the end of the rope back up over the 3 loops and run it back between your first finger and middle finger from the back side of your hand back to your palm.
6. Gently remove the bundle of rope from your hand being careful not to undo your loops.
7. Wrap the rope 3 times around the first set of loops you created, then rotate the bundle 90 degrees so that your stopper knot faces you.
8. Taking the rope end from the bottom, run it diagonally through the first hole in the bottom closest to you, run it through the center of the 3 horizontal loops, and come out of the top of the opposite side.
9. Now you are going to make 3 loops around your horizontal 3 loops going all the way through from to back and working your rope from right to left.
10. Rotate the bundle until the stopper knot is at the top.
11. Tuck your stopper knot into the center of the bundle.
12. Following the line that continues from the stopper knot, start tightening the rope until your monkey fist is a tight knot.

Note: Nylon rope is going to be more sturdy, but I prefer all cotton rope because it passes through a dog’s gut easier when they swallow it.

Learn how to make dog toys out of socks- 5 ways! Click here to learn more.

Rope Ball Dog Toy – Monkey Knot Explosion!

This version of the monkey ball toy creates a ball that has little “legs” sticking out. This gives curious dogs more to chew and makes it really fun to play with.

Check out the video above for the basic instructions on how to make a rope knot ball and add in the details below.

Materials:

• 6M of climbing rope – cut it into
• 4x 50cm
• 1x 4m

Instructions:

1. The 4m bit makes the monkey’s fist and the other 4 smaller bits make the tails.
2. Take one tail and thread it through the gap in the monkey’s fist, at each join there is a gap and in the whole knot, there are 8 in total. Each tail goes in a gap and diagonally out of the opposite gap.
3. Do this with all 4 tails so that there are 8 loose ends in total.
4. Tighten the Monkeys Fist around it and add stopper knots, although the tails aren’t actually secured to the fist they don’t come out easily, and if they start to slide the stopper knots prevent it falling completely out.

Hope you and your dog have tons of fun with these toys!

Want to learn how to make a stuffed dog toy? Click here to find out.

The Bottom Line on Making a Monkey’s Paw Knot Dog Toy

Making toys for your dog doesn’t have to be expensive or hard. Most people take a bit of time to learn how to make a monkey fist, but once they do it becomes easy and you can make them with different kinds of ropes and in different colors.

For more DIY Puppy Love, check out Rope Ball Surprise Dog Toy!