Pallet Dogs

Pallets....what to do with them? Since 1998, I’ve been creating art with pallets, Pallet Art, everything from picture frames to armoirs. For this project I chose to go simple. A few cuts here and there, some screws and voila, Pallet Dogs. The perfect, fun art piece and….FREE!....almost.

Tools:
Cordless Drill and/or impact driver equipped with the proper driving bit and also a countersink.

Your choice of cutting tool….Jigsaw, circular saw even sawzall. Any of these will work. For this I chose the Jigsaw with a large aggressive blade.

Supplies:
(1) Pallet.

(Handful) 2" and 1 ¼” Decking screws. Suitable for outdoor applications.

Plan your cuts. Dogs have four legs (most of the time). So in this case I counted five decking boards from the right, and then cut the center board just below the center support. I then pull up and pried off the decking board. Next I form the mouth by cutting the left three boards, again below the center support, flip the pallet cut the backside boards behind those three and the bottom rail support right in front of the first leg. I then remove any back decking boards that will interfere with my dog form. In this case I ended up removing all the decking boards except the last one.

Next, I flip the pallet and proceed to cut the teeth. I remove the center 3"-4" section of the short decking pieces in a random fashion. Your cuts are now complete!

Create the features with your scrap. With the chunk you cut out, separate the decking from the 2x4 support. Two of these decking boards will be the lips. Next cut the ears. Long, short, triangle, square...you decide. I chose medium rectangles for this dog.

Attaching your features. Predrill with your coutersink bit, and attach with exterior screws the lips and then ears. I try to make the screws go through the 2x4 supports. Next I make the eyes. I cut non matching 'eye whites' and smaller pupils and then attach them with countersunk screws again.

Finally I attached the tail with a piece of leftover scrap. Finished.

I then send a wooden stake or two in the ground and attach the pallet dog to the stakes.

Your dog is complete! You can paint, stain or just leave them natural. Anything goes with these dogs, use your imagination. Customized them in any way. Have fun!