Having a dog is great - they are a member of a family but one of the struggles is organizing all of their supplies. In this tutorial I am going to show how to build a leash hanger so that your leashes have a home and are easy to find when it is walk time. You can even personalize this project for your furry family member. In this example, I built a holder with a single larger hook.

Materials & Supplies

Tools: Laser, Miter Saw, Router (Optional), Orbital Sander, Drill and Ruler/Tape Measure
Wood: 1x10 Board - 9.25” Long and 1/8” Baltic Birch Plywood
Stain, Paint, Stir Stick, Foam Brushes, Rags/Towels, Latex Gloves, and Parchment Paper
Polycyclic and Paint Brush
Hook and Hanging Hardware

Laser Cut Design

“Woof” & Dog

I decided for this design to go with a square leash hanger with a dog silhouette with the hook as the tail. I also added the word “Woof”. You can use any word that you want - such as your dogs name.
I then loaded my design into the laser cutting software to cut it. This took me a few minutes to cut on 1/8” Baltic Birch - which I am able to do with one pass at 100% power and 5 mm/sec. Each machine/material is different so make sure you do a power test.
You can also cut vinyl for this, cut a stencil and paint on the design, or cut the design with a scroll saw.

Air Assist: The image on the left is with and the right is without. It does help reduce the amount of charring.

Cutting the Base

I used a 1x10 board, which is 9.25” wide and since I wanted my design to be square I simply cut my base on my miter saw to be 9.25” long.

I did go ahead and use the router to create a simple round over. This is options - you can also just sand the edges.

Sand

I do a light sand job on the sides then top/bottom with my orbital sander. Make sure to follow the wood grain and start with a lower grit number and move up. In this case I use 180 & 220 grit sand paper.

Stain & Paint

Next up it is time to stain my wood pieces.

First I gathered up all of my supplies: Stain, Stir Stick, Foam Brushes, Rags/Towels, Latex Gloves, and parchment paper (or other material to protect your surfaces).

I stir the stain and then apply a light coat - following the direction of the wood grain. I leave the stain on for about five minutes - but you can leave it on more or less time depending on how dark you would like the color to be. It takes about an hour for the stain to dry. I do the top and sides of the pieces first, then the bottom second. I do it in this order so that any potential drips or over runs are on the bottom vs the top.

I decided to paint the leash red for a splash of color. You can paint any color that you want to match your decor or favorite color.

Poly

After the stain has dried, it was time to protect the wood. There are several different options for protection. I mainly use Spar Urethane in the liquid format - since it is exterior safe and water based. There are spray options that I will use for smaller details - I will warn that the oil based will tend to be a bit yellow. In this case, it isn’t a big deal but if you are using white or a lighter color then it may be an issue. I put the poly on with a basic bristle paint brush - it is easy to clean up since it is water based.

When apply the finish, make sure light brush strokes in the direction of the grain. After it dries, I lightly sand the poly then apply another coat.

I do use the pet determent mats to spray paint on. I have learned they don’t work so great to deter farm cats … but great to paint on since it elevates your work. I call this - looking for the silver lining.

Watch for areas where the poly may settle - you can see on the left corner where more appeared about five minutes after I had checked it last.

Glue

Once the Poly has dried, I glue on the design. You can use wood glue or CA glue. In this case I used the clear Gorilla Glue - Make sure that you get the kind that doesn’t foam. I will glue on then design then place heavy books on it as a clamp. I am proud to say I finally found a use for some of my old college text books.

Hardware

Next up is adding your hanging hardware on the back - I would do this first to make it more stable then flip add your hook. I did measure to make sure that the hanging hardware is level and that the hook is centered on the dog.

I have used a black hook as the tail but there are a lot of different color options.

Summary

Time & Cost

Time, Leash, Labor — Time:
The table of times does not include design time, set-up, or drying time

Cost: Supplies ~$2
Cost: Materials Used - $5.75
1x10 Board - 9.25” Long: $1.50
1/8” Baltic Birch Plywood: $0.80
Stain & Paint: $0.10
Polycyclic: $0.50
Hook: $1.15
Hanging Hardware: $1.70
If you need to purchase materials your cost will be more, this is just for the estimated portion used.

There are a lot of different options you can make - let your creative juices flow freely.

Here are a couple of other examples of versions I have made.

Building a Leash Hanger