Thelma Levitt’s Dog

by Ralph Dewey

While in the UK recently I got a chance to meet a very creative twister named Thelma Levitt. She shared a nice looking dog balloon model with me and I liked it. She has been kind enough to let me write it up in my column. She sent me some step by step photos and instructions for her dog. I will add a few comments as well.

The dog’s head is made from a Mocha Brown 6″ heart. Insert two raisin knots. Then inflate it to about 4 inches and tie off the nozzle.

Make a raisin knot then poke it into one side of the balloon at a location 1 inch above the knot. Grasp the raisin knot with your other hand on the other side of the ballon. Tie a scrap piece of a #260 around the captured knot to secure it.

Squeeze the balloon so the air fills the nozzle area as shown in the photo.

Make the ears from a black #160 balloon. Twist off a 7″ bubble and tie the ends together to form an ear. Make another 7″ loop for the second ear. Use the nipple end of a black #260 to make a 1″ nose.

Hold the head so that the raisin knots drop to the bottom. Grasp one of the knots at the location for one of the ears. Attach one of the ears to the raisin knot. Do the same to connect the other ear.

Inflate a Mocha Brown #350 to about 8 inches and tie off the nozzle. Tie it to the raisin knot at the back of the dog’s head. Attach the nose bubble by tying it to the nozzle of the dog’s head.

For the body of the dog, twist off a 2″ bubble (the neck) and a 1-1/2″ ear twist (pinch twist).

For the legs, inflate a Mocha Brown #260 balloon fully except for about 3″ and tie off the nozzle. Twist off a 3/4″ bubble and an 8″ bubble. Fold-twist the 8″ bubble to complete one foot. On the other end of the balloon twist off an 8″ and 3/4″ bubbles. Fold-twist the 8″ bubble to make the second foot. Twist the long balloon in the middle to form two legs. Connect the center of the legs to the base of the neck. Tie the two small 3/4″ bubbles together. Cut off and discard any excess balloon.

Near the end of the inflated portion of the #350, twist off a 1-1/2″ bubble and ear twist it. A 2″ bubble should remain as well as the inflated nipple end which becomes the tail. Make another set of legs like you did previously and connect them to the ear twist at the tail.

Draw the face on your dog to complete it. To make it more interesting you can add a red 5″ round balloon as a ball. Or you can twist a white #260 into a bone and place it in the mouth of the dog.