Last night before the sun set, I had gotten this far with a pet mat for my mom’s dog, Toby:

After I took that photo and before I went to bed, I completed the second ear. Today, in between errands and laundry, I finished attaching the bones, the eyes, the nose, and the ears. I then added a narrow single crochet border using the color I had used for the bones and the central square.
At that point, I felt the pet mat still needed a little something, so I used a latch-hook rug technique I had first encountered in crochet when I attached “quills” to Henri the porcupine who is seen here:

By late afternoon, with the errands and laundry behind me and my outdoor office in full shade, I had time to cut 5.5″ strips of gray and white yarn that I then attached to the ears, and while it is not a photographic representation of my mom’s dog, it does, to my mind, evoke the essense of Toby:

I hope that Toby likes his pet mat and enjoys using it as much as I enjoyed making it.
Related posts: Do your ears hang low?
Henri gets his quills
What a wonderful idea! I love it… great job!
The added “fur” makes this so cute! Great idea….