How to Make a Buja Board

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by Aaron - Online Dog Coach

What is buja board you ask? A buja board or wobble board is a piece of dog training equipment used as a precursor to the teeter totter in agility dog training. Many, if not most, dogs are sensitive to both the motion and sound made by a teeter. You can also use the buja board as a dog exercise and confidence builder. View the Buja Board agility lesson for training instructions.

As the Buja board is only a training aide, and not an official piece of agility equipment, there are no required dimensions. The dimensions that follow are only a rough guideline based on experience. The 4’ x 4’ piece of plywood can be as small as 3’ x 3’. All that really matters is that the piece of plywood is square. A 3’ buja board with a smaller pivot ball would be more appropriate for training small or toy dogs.

Materials List

• xC2xBD“ or 3/4“ Plywood, 4’ x 4’.
• 2“ x 4“ x ~40“ long
• 2-1/2 to 3“ long wood screws, 20 total
• Paint, ~1 quart
• Sand for texture
• Pivot ball, ~8“ in diameter (small basketball or large tennis ball)

Tool List

• Saw (hand saw, circular saw, or miter saw)
• Electric drill with bit to match screws
• Paint brush
• Pencil
• Drill bit, ~1/8“ diameter

Step 1

Using a straight edge, draw lines diagonally across one side of the plywood. (see Figure 1) These will be used to position the 2×4’s on the board.

Hint: Avoid handling and cutting a full sheet of plywood. Many home improvement stores sell half sheets of plywood, which is perfect for this project.

Step 2

Cut the 2×4 in to two pieces at 11“ long and two pieces at 8“ long. And as my favorite TV carpenter says, always remember to wear your safety glasses.

Hint: In many cases, a piece of scrap wood from your last home improvement project will suffice.

Step 3

Align the 2×4’s on the back of the plywood as shown in Figure 2. Using a pencil, trace around the inside and outside of the 2×4’s.

Step 4

Remove the 2×4’s from the plywood and drill 12 pilot holes, 3 per side, as shown in Figure 3. From the top side of the plywood, insert the screws along one row only until they start to protrude out the bottom side.

Step 5

Hold the appropriate piece of 2×4 in place and attach it using the partially started screws from Step 4.

Step 6

Place the plywood such that the one attached piece of 2×4 is facing upwards. Now set the remaining 2×4’s back in their proper location on the plywood. Drill pilot holes and insert screws in the locations shown in Figure 4. All of the 2×4’s should now be attached to each other and properly located on the back of the plywood.

Step 7

Finish attaching the 2×4’s to the plywood by flipping the plywood over and inserting screws into the remaining 9 holes. With the exception of paint, the buja board is now complete.

Step 8

Paint and add anti-skid to the top of the board. This is easily accomplished by painting the surface and sprinkling it with sand before the paint dries. Once dry, a top coat of paint should be added to keep the sand in place.

Hint: If you are not concerned with the color, most home improvement stores have “oops“ paint available at a significant discount.

Step 9

You are now ready to begin training with your very own buja board.