"Puppytopia"
fka "The Puppy Palace"
When a new puppy comes to live at Kaos, or visit for an extended period of time, we set up The Puppy Palace. Puppies, you see, need a safe place to hang out during the day until they're big enough to play in the yard with the rest of the crew without fear of injury. The Puppy Palace provides them a safe, indoor space. Aunt Lacy, the indoor dog, keeps them company and they also learn a little about boundaries. The transition from The Puppy Palace to crate training has always been very easy, as has house training. If you live behind me and hear "good potty on the paper" and "good potty outside" please don't laugh at me :-)
To create your own Puppy Palace (which, by the way, might be an ideal indoor enclosure for those small dogs that probably shouldn't hang outdoors all day where hawks and other large birds of prey can view them as snacks but haven't necessarily earned "run of the house" privileges) you'll need the following items:
| 1. | 2" PVC pipe and four 90° elbows |
| 2. | 2 - 42" tall ex pens |
| 3. | Cable ties (aka zip ties), pliers and nippers to trim them (get the long ones) |
| 4. | Pipe insulation foam |
| 5. | Heavy plastic sheeting (3mil to 4mil) |
| 6. | 1 - 6'x8' piece of vinyl flooring |
| Step 1 | Lay down the heavy plastic sheeting. This will protect your flooring since the vinyl is NOT impervious to liquid. |
| Step 2 | Lay the vinyl flooring on top of the plastic. If you're in the mood, you can trim the plastic so it doesn't extend past the vinyl. If Cheyenne lives at your house, this is a good idea so she won't trim it for you. |
| Step 3 | Cut two pieces of PVC pipe to approximately 4' long. Cut two more pieces to approximately 8' long. Go a little short, you need to account for the corner pieces in the final dimension. Pound the pieces together lightly with a rubber mallet. Set this framework on your vinyl flooring. |
| Step 4 | Set up the two ex pens around the framework of PVC you've created. If the doors don't meet to close, cut the PVC pipes down, as needed. |
| Step 5 | Put the pipe foam over the top of the ex pens anywhere they come in contact with a wall or any other surface you don't want to refinish/repaint. |
| Step 6 | Attach the ex pen to the frame using cable ties. Keep in mind that the puppies WILL chew on anything that catches their attention, so try to put the connector to the outside of the pen. Pull them tight with the pliers and trim off the excess. |
| Step 7 | Don't forget to use cable ties to close the seam where the two ex pens join. |
| Step 8 | Hang your water buckets, lay down some puppy pads and your Puppy Palace is ready for residency. |
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Note: If you're going to put a crate in Puppytopia, do NOT put it near an outside wall. That makes a great stepping stone for a puppy to climb out of Puppytopia while you're not home and explore all those things you're trying to protect (or protect it from) like lamp cords, furniture, etc. Just trust me on this one. |
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Pictures of Puppytopia 2007 |
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Layer 1 - tile floor; Layer 2 - plastic sheet; Layer 3 - vinyl flooring |
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We did NOT put cable ties ON the pipe foam, so as not to damage the wall. Because the ex pens are doubled back here, tying them together holds the foam in place. |
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Corners and cable ties. The cable ties are spaced every 10" to 12" to secure the ex pen and frame together. Check cable ties daily and replace as needed. |
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Because our frame is a little bit big, our door is an overlap with one from each ex pen. It also adds a little additional strength when they learn where to jump. |
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We're hoping these two extra pieces provide some stiffness to the side of the pen where the water buckets hang. Pieces running the full length would probably work better, but it was 10pm and I didn't much care at that point. |
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Puppytopia, waiting for its resident. |
| We've made a minor change to Puppytopia, check our blog for more details. | |