Should puppies have a dog version of a catio?
When puppies are too small to walk for long or play while unsupervised, is a dogio the answer?
Whenever the weather is nice, I expect to see a couple sitting on the steps of a large house around the corner from me, casually watching their leashed pet. Normally, I’d expect the animal on the other end of the leash to be a dog, but it’s a cat. While I’ve seen plenty of stray cats in the Cats at Work program and even turned down a stray cat-sitting job recently, this cat is a little different than another pet cat I once was hired to watch. This couple’s pet is the kind of cat that probably would never return if given the freedom to walk in the yard unleashed. It’s the kind of cat who would probably do well with a catio.
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What is a catio? A catio, the shortened name of a cat patio, is a fenced-in section of a yard that allows cats to roam freely within that area. Usually secured by heavy-duty screening material, it allows the cat to play in the front (or back) yard without other animals getting near it (or vice versa). And while there are countless variations of them, I wondered why there isn’t a dog version of a catio. Unlike cat trees, which the average dog is not agile enough to really be able to enjoy, catios are a little different for small dogs and puppies. And they may be the best way for small, less-active dogs or puppies who can’t walk for long to get much-needed exercise.
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7 do-it-yourself tips for furnishing a dog patio
Thinking of creating a dogio (dog + patio)? Here are a few suggested options for puppies of various sizes to enjoy this fenced-in area, who can enjoy a dogio even after they reach their adult height and weight.
Skip the scratching post, add a digging area
Creating a digging area for dogs can get tricky. My first dog, Shep, lived next door to a dog named Lady. And Lady had quite the crush on Shep. She decided to start digging up a hole on her side of the fence. Eventually, the hole was big enough for the two to meet nose-to-nose. My next-door neighbor blamed us, not their horny dog, but I thought it was hilarious. Instead of blocking them from playing or digging, we created barricades by the fence so when she dug, she couldn’t quite squeeze under the gate. Instead, they could only just run back and forth, playing by the gate area.
In the case of a dogio, here are steps for creating a digging area: