Leather help - trying to make a dog toy

[Betty]

I'm trying to make a soft dog toy for Tanner, something that doesn't shred within mintues.

She really doesn't like more durable rubber toys, and will ignore them as soon as she gets her treats out of them. She absolutely loves her fuzzy stuffed toys, but she's tearing them up as fast as I can sew them back up. She does have rawhides, but those are nasty, stinky messes, and we like to play tug-of-war, and she can't get a good grip on rawhides for that game.

I'm looking at patches of real fur pelts at craft stores, and chamois car polishing clothes found at places like AutoZone. I'm also thinking about deerskin hides, etc. I don't want a huge piece, just enough for a dog toy or two. My intention is to stuff a piece and sew it shut the best I can. Hopefully the leather will be tough enough to withstand a 20 lb. shark dog.

I don't know anything about how these hides are processed and if there's chemicals in there that could be hazardous to a dog's health.

I posted this question on a dog forum, but haven't gotten much feedback, so I hope someone who works with leather here can help.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[pgrass101]

http://www.tandyleather.com/products.asp?dept=288

These are not tanned, might be what you are looking for?

[QKShooter]

You have to watch because some leather and fur type hides are tanned with nasty chemicals that stay in the leather and will leach out.
Some is Chromium tanned and that's not good for pets at all.
I have lots of Vegetable tanned and Oak Tanned tooling leather and I'll be happy to send you some at absolutely no cost or obligation to you....BUT, first let me check and make absolutely sure it's OK for pets. I believe that it is OK for consumption but, I'm not 100% positive.

I'll check for you this evening.

[PapaScout]

+1 on vegitable tanned leather from Tandy. Try tying a strip in a knot and boiling for about 10 minutes to toughen the leather even further.