Dash on his KLIMB
At some point I wanted to Modify the Blue-9 KLIMB Dog Training Platform. We love these platforms. Through vast experience from field experts and our own experience, we have learned these platforms help dogs and trainers in several ways. They provide a safe space for dogs to go to when they are over threshold, and they help dogs feel more confident when they are training. It also serves to raise the dog so that you can keep their attention. We use them in our training routine regularly.
We have been doing a lot of work around dog training in the past few years. This type of work is great practice in understanding behavior modification strategies. There are many different types of equipment you can make changes to and modifying this Blue-9 KLIMB Dog Training Platform in purple is not any different. We started out with paying an extra $10 for this Blue-9 KLIMB Training Kit that came with the Professionally Designed Dog Platform
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The Decision
I only modified the Blue-9 KLIMB Dog Training Platform slightly. The platform itself is one of the more pricey options when it comes to platforms but they are built to last. We 100% spent the money and would do it again. Really we spare no expense on our fur babies. It’s no different than when we wanted a crash tested made in the USA Dog crate so we spent the big bucks on Lucky Duck Dog Kennel.
As we trained with he KLIMB, we notice that it would be nice to have some traction on the top of the KLIMB. We searched for some products to help when we ran across the Blue-9 KLIMB Traction Mat in Rubber. We thought that the official rubber mat was a little more than we wanted to spend and we purchased it anyway. We trained with it a few months until we got a new puppy who used it as a chewy and took about a week to tear it up.
This is Dash!
Plus it moved around a bit. I suppose I could have just glued it down. If I had to do it again I would have done what I am about to explain in a heartbeat. Because this was 4 years ago and our modified KLIMB is still going strong.
Dash on the KLIMB before it was modified…er well, before he used it as a teething toy.
Modify the BLUE-9 KLIMB
After considering the cost I decided to get back to modifying things the way I wanted. Like with one of my other projects where I Modified an AARKE
Saving a few bucks and teaching someone else are two bonuses. After all, we liked the KLIMB product and were in this for keeps. I was looking for a peel and stick carpet and they seemed to come in only packs of ten while I needed only one. So I went for this Mohawk Basics 24″ x 24″ Berber in a dark color. I bought a can of 3M Hi-Strength Spray Adhesive 90 I could have used the 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Spray Adhesive for a couple bucks less but I wanted this to stick and stay. No more puppy destruction accidents.
I grabbed my Milwaukee FASTBACK™ Compact Flip Utility Knife which you should have around the house anyway and I went to town. I grabbed my 24 Inch Tracing Paper Roll which I happen to keep in my shed. You can always just get a couple of paper bags and open them up. The mat section of the KLIMB is a large square with inverted rounded corners cut out. I laid the paper and traced out the pattern with my cheapy Mechanical Carpenter Pencils that I have a couple sets of.
I turned the carpet upside down and on the cement in the front yard. I put the tracing face up on top of the carpet piece. I traced out the pattern starting from the flat side of the carpet. I shaved off the entire other side in a straight line then proceeded to cut out the concave corners. I tested the shape and had to make a few small adjustment cuts to get it right. Easy enough with a sharp new Milwaukee Utility Knife Blades.
When I was finished I sprayed the 3M Hi-Strength Spray Adhesive 90 on the back of the carpet and on the top of the are of the KLIMB that I was going to stick the carpet on. I carefully laid the carpet. This is important because it is hard to move around once it stuck.
Training today
Today and many years later I still use that same carpet and KLIMB for both my Dogs Dash and Brian and they seem to love it.
