Stacking Blocks... Do's and Dont's

I don't know if many of you know what those are, but they are like little pedestals that your dog learns to stand on. It helps teach them where to place their paws for a proper stand or stack. With Camden it is also teaching her not to be such a wiggle butt. She stays put but if someone gets too close then she her tail starts to go and she just loses it! 

Now these stacking blocks do not come cheap. Happy Legs are about $200 for a set and there are ones called Neat Feet that are about $71 for the size I need. That is quite the expense on something I hope to not have to use after a while. I looked at pictures online (and like the agility ladder) said "HEY! I'm one crafty lady. I can do that... NO SWEAT!"

A few days ago, I set out on a mission to create these stacking blocks from scratch. I had a general idea and some vague measurements from the internet. I jumped in my car, all full of confidence and self esteem. Little did I know what was in store for me! 

I got to Lowe's and easily found the massive wood section. I soon ran into snag number one. Baffled, I couldn't figure out why whenever I measured a piece of wood they were not the right size! Lowe's was inaccurate in their measurements... or everything was just in the wrong spot! I needed 4" width and all I could find was a 3.5" width trying to be cleaver and pass itself off as larger! I mean we all do that... but I didn't know wood was so self-conscience. Apparently, according to my father, EVERYONE knows that when it says 4" it really is only 3.5"... everyone but this chick!! I ended up going with a 6" piece (5.5") for the bottom platform. I figured it was better to go a little larger than smaller. 

When I got home all proud and showed my father he looked at me and asked what kind of wood I got. I said "pine." Well turns out I did not in fact get pine like I thought but hardwood, snag number two. This apparently makes things ten times harder. Harder to cut, harder to work with, and pretty much impossible to go from the 2 x 4 to the hard wood since you are going from soft to hard or vise-versa. So we decided to glue them instead of screw the pieces together. Change of plans... oh well. 

Reading the wood glue I came to realize I had just hit snag number three. I needed to clamp the two pieces together for at least 30 minutes. I didn't have a clamp or vice. My resourceful mother ended up finding some old weights and we were able to glue the top platform on to the bottom platform and let them dry over night. The next morning I held my breath as we removed the weights and I tested out the strength of the glue. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. They are looking pretty good. 

Now, I am on a hunt for rubber jar openers to create a non-slip surface... this is the truly hard part. I can't seem to find them anywhere!! Crossing my fingers that I will come across them or something similar soon. Many of you may ask if this is really necessary, but Cami's little paws slip off the back blocks and/or the blocks start to slide apart making her have to stretch out further than I want. 

Camden and I have already started working with the blocks as is and I hope that will teach her how to stand still and stack! I will let you know how that works... so far she is just unsure around them, but likes it ok as long as there are plenty of Zuke's involved. 

Unfinished stacking blocks without rubber grips

I will try to get finished pictures posted when they are done and get some pictures of Camden using them!! 

-Ashley