Dog Selfie Attachment

I love my furry friends and just love taking pictures of/with them (who doesn't?!) Unfortunately, it seems every time I get their attention, they turn away by the time I snap the photo and it turns into an ear shot or just a hot blurry mess! Are you sick of never being able to get a good picture? Do you know that stressed out and irritated feeling of just trying to get ONE photo? (Oh, I know you do!) Stress no more because I have the solution! Take pictures of/selfies with your dog hassle free with the Dog Selfie Attachment! Like many canines, my dog goes absolutely bonkers over tennis balls and this attachment really gets him going! It draws his attention, makes his tail wag and brings out those happy doggy smiles! It is really simple to make and even easier to use. Plus, it is 100% kid and dog friendly!

First things first - like any instructable you need to gather your supplies. Luckily this one has a rather short list and you most likely have all the stuff on hand. Also, it only takes about 5 minutes from start to snap, so I KNOW you have the time!

You Need:

• old/broken headphones
• scissors
• a tennis ball
• an X-Acto knife
• hot glue gun
• hot glue sticks

Oh! How could I?!? I forgot the most important part! You need a super cute and furry Guy or Gal like my friend, O'Mally!! See his adorable smile? He just can't resist the Dog Selfie Attachment!!

Take the jack end of your headphones and cut the wire off where the two meet. The end of my jack was pretty hard but sometimes they are rather bendy. If your jack's end is bendy, cut off that part too. The tennis ball is pretty snug and it will be hard to insert the jack if its bending all over.

If you don't have a junk pair of ear phones, dig through your drawer or box of "old wires" (you know you have one somewhere.) I found a few different wires that would work like speakers from my old PC and a microphone attachment I used back in the day. My headphones were shot so i decided to use them. You just need a jack that fits into the headphone slot of your device that you're willing to give up.

Any tennis ball will really work, but I prefer to use the Kong brand. I got a pack of 3 for about $6 and the other 2 sure won't go to waste. I like them because they hold up a lot more then regular tennis balls and they squeak. The squeak is handy to grab instant attention if your dog is getting bored with the photo shoot.

In order to insert the jack into the ball, you need to make some cuts. Firmly press your knife into the ball. These Kong balls are pretty strong so you will need to use some effort at first. Once you get the first cut, the rest will be a lot easier. Rotate the knife 90 degrees and make another cut. Test the ball and see if you can squeeze the jack into the opening. If you can't, slightly rotate the knife and add more cuts as necessary until the jack can be pushed in. I ended up making quite a few cuts ending in a snowflake shape hole. The hole won't really be visible like a drill hole and it shouldn't be. You want the slices to hold the jack in place.

Insert the tip of the glue gun into the hole and add glue to the inside of the tennis ball. Continue to release glue as you pull it out. Quickly insert the jack into the hole and allow the glue to cool. Once the glue has cooled, add a ring of glue around the outside to secure the jack in place. This is probably not necessary as the jack was pretty secure after the first gluing. I plan to use this attachment a lot so I decided to give it a little more support.

You can opt to use super glue for this step, but I found that the hot glue did a fine job of connecting the two pieces. It also dried really fast so I was able to use it right away which is great! I couldn't wait to start snapping my puppy smiles!

The attachment is really easy to use. All you have to do is plug it into the headphone jack of your device. Sometimes the jack is on the bottom or even side, on a different end of your camera (like on my IPod.) Don't worry!! It will still draw their attention to your device if it's hanging from it. You can also flip your device upside down or on it's side (like I did) and the image will auto correct to right-side-up. Do whatever is most comfortable in your hands. The picture will be AMAZING, I promise!

Before you start snapping pictures, stuff an extra tennis ball in your pocket. Being in a photo shoot is a ton of work (especially for a dog!!) A good model needs a reward and a break! I had O'Mally do a few poses and then gave him the extra ball to play fetch for a few minutes. This fun break is necessary for your pup. Dogs need a reward if you want them to continue being obedient in the future and I know you wanna keep snapping those pictures/selfies!! I hope you enjoyed this instructable and make a Dog Selfie Attachment for yourself! It's too easy not to!

**Don't forget to vote for this instructable in the "Dog" and "Beyond the Comfort Zone" contests!**