How Can I Make A Spring Pole For My Energetic Pitbull??? EDIT

[prettypitbull]

Does any one out there have the particulars to make a spring pole for my Pitty? I don't want to spend a lot of money but it HAS to be safe! Thanks!!! 

 EDIT* Maybe it's called something different, but it's a pole with a rubber tire on the end for a dog to grab onto. They like to swing from them!!!  Anyone?* EDIT

[bamawrly]

Go to Pit Bull Forum and do a search on there. You may have to become a member but there are tons of useful info.

[fizzle7033]

Here's one

http://www.pitbulllovers.com/training-articles/pitbull-training-springpoles.html


And another

http://www.workingpitbull.com/springpole.htm][url]http://www.workingpitbull.com/springpole.htm[/url]

[prettypitbull]

Wow!!! You would not believe how shocked I was to see one reply let alone two to this question! I posted it like a year ago almost! Anyways thanks for the links. As soon as the weather gets better (we're having a bit of a cold snap again here in Canada) I'm going to make one for my pooch! I'll post some pics of the finished product and him in action (if he likes it that is!) Thanks again!

[very_vizsla]

i made on out of a super strong bungee cord & a kong toy. i hung it over a tree branch & the dogs LOVE it!

[empress_deva]

I am always late with responses, sheesh, but here is what we did.
My husband and I made one for our pit bull and she loves it. 
We used a garage door spring and attached a very long length of rope to it to be safe that she would not be able to reach the spring portion with her teeth.
We got the nylon rope (which frays perfectly at the end) and the garage door spring (we chose it based on how much weight it could take) from the hardware store and used a nylon collar that she never quite fit.  The spring is attached to the collar with one of those rock climbing claspy things and the collar is what attaches the whole set up to the tree.

For the most part she isn't a flier, she just jumps up, grabs the rope out of the air and drags it as far down as she can, and just yanks it over and over with her mouth and paws until it slips out of her mouth.  Then she goes back up for it again. 
She had an ACL tear about a year ago in a car accident, and the doc even said that the spring was a good way to keep her joints limber (which was an added bonus because our original plan was just to work off some of her excess energy). 
Here are a couple of action shots.



I think the whole set up cost us about $25 or so.  Well worth it.

[lil_angelfuk]

i bookmarkes this!!!!
i made one not springy and yeah.
awesome thanks!

[Souldier]

Oh we made one of these for our American Staffordshire/American pitbull mix, Kali.

Basically all we did was buy a garage door spring from Maslack (also can be found at Canadian Tire, Home Depot, and most hardware stores) and fastened it to a very sturdy tree branch using a heavy duty rubber strap used at my boyfriend's work (transport driver) that is the same as this, but much wider and thicker:


To attach this strap to the tree arm, we removed the hooks and used something that looks like this to connect both ends as well as the garage door spring - the only difference is that our fastener had a piece in the middle that screws to open/close:

This one is exactly what we used but ours is a bit thicker:


We used another of these fasteners at the bottom of the garage door spring to make changing the toy/rope/tire easier.
For a toy we used an old flat tow rope that we tied in knots. The bonus with this is that the thing is so long you can cut it into sections and keep some for backup when the one on the springpole gets destroyed. Looks like this, only we removed the hooks and ours is about 3 inches wide:


Another good thing to dangle from the spring is a wheelbarrow tire. They are pretty cheap and do not have any metal straps in them so they are safe for the dog to bite down on.
Also make sure you use a garage door spring because they are the most sturdy - trust me on this one! Trial and error proved that pitbulls can really stretch out crappy springs. They look like this:



WORD OF CAUTION:
People discriminate against pitbulls all the time. There are breed bans everywhere - including in my province (Ontario). Breed specific legislation is wrong, stupid, and insane which I'm sure all of you who have posted in this thread could agree. I've been advised by fellow pitbull owners that some animal control agencies and animal advocate groups have a list of items that dog fighters/rings commonly have on site and springpoles are on the list. If you have weird neighbors who hate your dog, dogs in general, or are just brainwashed by the media - please let them know why you have a springpole and that it is just a toy!
You can read more about this here:
http://www.pitbulllovers.com/training-articles/pitbull-training-springpoles.html

[prettypitbull]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I finally made one and he HATES it! Absolutely will not play with it. Oh well. And, Souldier, I'm from Ontario as well so I know how you feel!

[Souldier]

Stupid breed ban... gosh... 
I wish wish wish with all of my heart that it gets lifted and changed to a dangerous dog ban that doesn't target specific breeds but rather individual character. Calgary opted for a dangerous dog ban and they were able to reduce dog bites by over 70% the first year. The pitbull ban has done nothing but punish responsible dog owners and encourage criminal-like minds to own the breed because of their "banned" status which obviously makes them even more scarry.

So your doggie hates the spring pole? Is your toy dangling or just barely off the ground? We started our girl with the toy just barely touching the ground and gradually raised it. It still really isn't that high - only about 3 feet off the ground because we also have a jack russell that enjoys playing with the thing. We had to show our girl how to play with it and encouraged her by playing with her. Now she can't leave the darn thing alone!