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Enrichment
- Our Play Area |
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About this page:
| The playground offers mental stimulation
and physical challenges. |
We start our puppies training here, it really
helps to build their confidence.
Human kids love it too. :-) |
Several people have ask me and no, my
dogs did not live in this area full time. <G>
Our animals never get bored with it, even as adults.
After a few years of it being up,
not one dog has caused any damage. It was a good
investment ! |
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| First tower |
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| The area under this
one is now a sandbox with a swing for our daughter |
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2nd Tower
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There is a swinging
bridge from tower two - to a platform we added
(right photo below) |
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| We drilled holes
through the boards and ran on plastic coated steel cable on both
sides. PVC spacers were added like the website below suggested. |
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| Cottonwoods Sweet
Waysa |
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This is a "Bark Box" or, for animals
that don't bark, a "Scratch Box" -
A person hides inside and the dog finds them and gives an alert,
it is then given a reward.
On top of it is an old tunnel we had. (Has lasted YEARS!)
I looked at different drainage pipes - they were all pretty
expensive.
Ours was made from made from 55 gal barrels; with the lids cut
off, and welded together. (make sure there are no
sharp/rough edges on the inside.)
The weight is supported by two large tires at either end, which
are bolted into the 4X4 post..
On the right side (photo above on left) is a board that goes
from "tower #2" to the wooden spool. It
gives/wobbles when they walk across it. |
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In left photo, we bought some
threaded metal pipe at the building center and cut them to
different lengths and cemented them into the ground. Then cut
3/4 " plywood into large circles, attached a flange to the
wood and screwed it onto the post. It makes great stepping
platforms to a large wooden spool for entering and exiting the
tunnel.
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The caps on each side of this
wall
come right off and boards can be added or removed as the pup
grows. |
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To "place", or "on
it" -
teaching directionals.
Mine are kind of large, but we made
use of some pallets (free) by adding legs
and covering with outdoor carpet.
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The steps on either end are
"open" unlike the ones above the slide in "Tower
#1"
The wooden slats along the top are spaced so the animal learns
to be aware of his / her footing. |
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| Things I want to
add... |
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Hubby can get springs
(automotive)
we can concrete them into the ground and attach to a board.
This would move around quite a bit when the dogs run across
it.
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| Swinging Log |
Teeter-Totter base
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| A-Frame |
Somehow (I haven't figured it out
yet) we are going to build a Maze for the dogs.
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Other things I want to add are;
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A crawl - a board that is positioned off the
ground, high on one side and low on the other (where the dog
has to go in and then crawl to get out/continue.)
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Regular wooden ladder (the side with steps
propped on a tower)
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A harness lift (gets the animal use to be
suspended)
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A log pile
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Visit the links below for more ideas |
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© Cottonwood Kennel All Rights Reserved
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