Building the dead dog

2 Comments / Journal, Puppetry / By
Start with the drawingI started by taking a drawing of a dog’s skeleton and enlarging it to fit the skull that I had. I simplified the basic shapes to come up with the pattern for the dog.
Spine of polyethaleneNext I carved a spine of polyethalene, which is a very light and firm foam.

Ribs of polyethaleneNotice how I made the ribs as discs rather than as struts. This approximates the shape of the dog’s ribcage and offers flexibility, with relative ease.

Add airplane cable for strength I added airplane cable for strength and to join the head to the spine to the pelvis. The cable passes in through the actual spinal cord opening, loops through two holes, which must be for blood vessels or nerves and then is ziptied to the foam spine.

Wood legsThe pelvis and legs are made out of wood, much as I would with a standard puppet, but without the need to have crisp movement. This puppet needs to flop.

The nose and beginning foam You can see that I used a simplified pattern that mimics how muscles attach to the body.

Side view of head Neat, huh?

Me with dead dog And here I am with the completed skeleton of the dead dog. It flops well.

2 thoughts on “Building the dead dog”

  1. -d-

    I’m surprized at how large it is. I’m glad it flops well. Does it make the approriate thump when it hits the floor?

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