The basic dog

The basic dog is a great balloon to start with if you're new to twisting.. It is also just a great balloon to start with in general (an easy warm up.)

The basic dog is made up of ten bubbles - one for the head, two ears, neck, 2 front legs, body, 2 back legs, and a small bubble at the end to keep the back legs in place. And it only requires three lock twists - one for the ears, one for front legs, and one for the back legs.

The great thing about the basic dog is once you have it down, you can easily make variations - point the ears down to make a basset hound or make a long body for Dachshund, etc. If you make one with a really long neck and small ears, it's a giraffe! Make a really small one with a long tail and it's a mouse! Many other four-legged animals have the basic structure of the dog but just have slightly different legs, tail, or ears... Adjust the amount of air you pump into the balloon for a longer/shorter body.

Another great thing about the dog is that it is one of the most requested items from kids!

Balloons - are you using good quality ones?

Balloon twisting is sometimes harder to do than it looks, but it might not be you! It might the balloons you are using.

The balloons you find at the toy store or local store are often pretty old and not so high quality. Professional balloon artists use high quality balloons, which are much less likely to pop and just easier to manipulate in general.

I've always used Qualatex balloons (in my limited experience) and they seem to be used by many professionals. Bellatex is the other major brand.


If you know me, feel free to just ask me for some balloons and to borrow a pump, if you want to try it out. I usually have more than enough balloons. (The Qualatex bags come in 100 count and 250 count.)

Balloons for D's Doljanchi

I twisted these balloons for one of my good work friends for her son's doljanchi, a great big Korean celebration for a baby's one year old birthday (lots of fun!) I'll eventually post instructions or links to instructions for these!