Saskatoon family creates 'stick library' for neighbourhood dogs

A family in Saskatoon has come up with an innovative way to keep dogs happy during this frigid winter.

Recently, David Carter was looking for ways to keep his ten-year-old son Jeremiah busy during the pandemic, so the family collected some scrap wood from their garage and got to work making life a little bit easier for dogs.

"I got to learn how to use a nail gun," said Jeremiah. "We had this burning tool that I burned the letters on. So, yeah, we had a lot of fun."

The idea of a stick library for dogs originated in New Zealand and has since spread around the world. Similar to little free libraries, dog owners are encouraged to return the sticks to the box.

The family noticed a similar stick library in the city, but noticed sticks were being strewn around the street and not brought back.

So, the Carter family decided to place their library in two dog parks in the Avalon and Furdale neighbourhoods, in part for their goldendoodle Nala.

"Some of the dog parks have a limited amount of trees and those trees get well used," said David. "And our dog is like many others, she loves to have sticks."

So far, the stick library seems to be a roaring success.

"When we go there, there will be some people like talking about it and we're behind them listening in, like all excited," said Jeremiah.

"It's cool hearing people talk about it and knowing that we made it."

The father and son team said they're planning to build more of the stick libraries at other dog parks they frequent in the months to come.