I built a model of my pet sheltie, Lola.  I haven't done any stop-motion animation for about 5 years and I've only ever worked with plasticine so I thought I'd try something different this time. I built a wire armature with epoxy putty joints. I google imaged 'dog stop motion armature' and found a great blog post by Sammy-Jo Tawn and basically copied her design.

I wrapped the wire and epoxy in teflon tape and bulked out the body with foam from an old pelican case.  I wish I'd used a more flexible glue (or latex), the super glue was super stiff once it set. I sculpted the head out of fimo and baked it in the oven. 

I bought my first tub of brush latex, opened it and promptly bought a ventilator mask. That stuff smells toxic! I dabbed on patches of latex, coloured with cheap acrylic paint, with a brush and stuck clumps of dog fur into the latex.

I let the latex set overnight, gave the puppet a brush to get rid of any loose fur, then filled the gaps with latex and more fur. 

I haven't quite finished the fur, but I got bored making it, so did a quick animation test with her to see how she moved. 

One of the tie-down nuts came out, and plenty of fur fell off, and I need to make a heavier fly rig, but apart from that pretty happy. Now I just need to build a friend for her to play with...