Windsor Plywood’s Operation Renovation— Doghouse Edition

Top: Presentation day—Bane & Hyde get a first look at their new houses.

Middle: Bane and Hyde’s houses are completed and ready to present. Bottom Left: Hutch poses for a well-timed photo. Bottom Right: Oliver is relaxing after a “RUFF” day!

Acouple of decades ago, an opportunity presented itself to Windsor Plywood when a member of the Saskatoon City Police K9 Unit was shopping at our store. While in the store that day, we struck up a conversation about his work and some of the challenges they face when it comes to training the police dogs. I couldn’t help but think that we would have the perfect facility to test the skills of the dogs and their handlers given the different hiding places, scents and partitioned rooms of our store. This has worked very well over the years, as not only does the K9 Unit have access to the store and the compound outside of hours, they are also welcome in the store during open hours so that they can interact with people.

As our relationship with the K9 Unit continued to strengthen and grow, we were approached by the current Sergeant of the K9 Unit a few years ago with a set of blueprints for a doghouse for the new K9, “Hutch”. It immediately came to mind that this was a perfect suit for our skillset. Although his intent wasn’t for a donation, we had offered to not only provide the material free of charge, but to also build it and donate it as a token of our appreciation for keeping the people, our neighbourhoods and businesses of Saskatoon safe.

The doghouses became a great project and we took it a step further with fully insulated walls, floor and hinged roof that can be lifted for ease of access to clean. A removable partition was included for the winter months to block the wind from the doorway and easily removed for the summer. Each doghouse also includes an exact replica of their SPS K9 Unit police badge and personalized name plaque (thanks to Kelly and Chandi at Opheim’s Wooden Designs). Attention is in the details and we wanted to make certain that with this project, we provided them with a very unique and functional doghouse. Since that time, we have built and donated three more doghouses for Oliver, Bane and Hyde and will continue to provide doghouses as well as the use of our facility for the growing demand of the SPS K9 Unit.

Windsor Plywood Saskatoon is very honored to be involved in an experience that is so rewarding, and we take great pride in being able to give back to the protection services that keep us safe. We feel very privileged to be involved with the community in this way.