Great Idea! Father-Son Duo Build Stick Libraries for Local Dogs
David and Jeremiah Carter needed something to ease the COVID-19 pandemic boredom. Their fun idea—bringing sticks to local dogs—turned out to be just the thing. By Austin Cannon February 22, 2021 Advertisement Pin FB More Tweet Email Send Text Message Print 
dog with stick library Credit: Courtesy of Doodles of Saskatoon
An excellent, productive solution for pandemic boredom has certainly pleased the pups who frequent dog parks in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Those dogs have been able to enjoy stick libraries at the Avalon and Chief Whitecap dog parks in the Canadian city. The wooden boxes are exactly like little free libraries: they're full of sticks that the local dogs can pick from and play with when they visit the parks.
It's all thanks to father-son duo David and Jeremiah Carter. David Carter told CNN he saw someone had created a stick library in New Zealand. The family likes to look for weekly projects, and he figured it would be an excellent activity for him and Jeremiah, the 10-year-old who was missing out on his usual days of sports and hanging out with his friends because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The end result? Joy. When the Carters one day visited their first stick library, it was nearly empty.
"As you can see from the broken sticks all around the park here, it seems to be a little bit of a hit with the dogs in the park," David Carter told CBC.
The Carters collected some scrap wood to build the libraries, letting Jeremimah take care of the particulars with the power tools.
"I got to learn how to use a nail gun," the youngster said to CBC. "We had this burning tool that I burned the letters on. So, yeah, we had a lot of fun."
Similar to little free libraries, the owners and dogs who use the sticks are encouraged to bring them back once they're done playing—though new sticks will be arriving weekly at the Chief Whitecap branch. The Carters told reporters that they'd noticed how there were few sticks available at the local dog parks, and the ones that had fallen from trees were used up quickly.
Another fan of the stick libraries? The Carters' 2-year-old goldendoodle, Nala.
"Our dog is like many others, she loves to have sticks," David Carter told CBC.
Pretty cool idea, right? If you have some spare wood around—and if you're bored during the pandemic (which you are)—then maybe think about building one of these for your house or local dog park. We couldn't endorse the idea enough.
And while we can't speak for dogs, we're sure they would say the same. Case and point:
