I have been looking at least prototyping in TPU 3D printed dog toys.

  • john@lemmy.haley.io
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    TPU is a great choice for dog toys and a lot of them are manufactured from it! It doesn’t provide a good environment for bacteria to grow and is also used in medical equipment.

    https://www.petinterest.gr/en/content/tpu-material-what-it

    You’ll want to make sure that the toy is big enough for your dog and I think I’d use enough infill and walls to make it extra strong since puppers can have crazy strong jaws.

    • Rutty@sh.itjust.worksOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      22 hours ago

      I tend to agree with you on most points.

      However, some other people have taken a more cautious approach. I think currently the censuses is leaning toward, best not to.

      • roofuskit@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        21 hours ago

        Would you give a 3D printed toy to a human baby? Dogs are like small children, they rely on us for a lot and we’re responsible for their safety. I think an overabundance of caution about any homemade toy is a good place to start.

        My biggest concern would be it breaking apart in unpredictable ways so that something gets lodged in an esophagus or worse in the digestive system. If you can’t monitor your dog 100% of the time they have it, then I would not consider printing a toy.

        While TPU is used for dog toys, it’s also certainly injection molded. There are no layer lines and no unknown additives in the plastic that is used. 3D printing filaments have no standard of composition or disclosure of what is actually in a roll of filament. The materials used for dog toys from reputable companies are tested for safety.