This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

From left, Girl Scouts Lorelai Huben, 14, and Allison Underwood, 14, of Girl Scout Troop 62306 stand next to a part of the dog agility course they designed and built at Nut Plains Park in Guilford on Aug. 29.

From left, Girl Scouts Allison Underwood, 14, and Lorelai Huben, 14, of Girl Scout Troop 62306 are photographed next to a part of the dog agility course they designed and built at Nut Plains Park in Guilford on August 29, 2022.

A section of the dog agility course designed and built by Girl Scouts Allison Underwood, 14, and Lorelai Huben, 14, of Girl Scout Troop 62306 at Nut Plains Park in Guilford on August 29, 2022.

GUILFORD — Community and hard work. This is what the dog park is built on.

This theme continues with the addition of a canine agility course, researched, vetted and built by two 14-year-old Guilford Girl Scouts.

Lorelai Huben and Allison Underwood’s Girl Scout Silver Award project entailed building an agility course in the back part of the dog park, the area reserved for bigger dogs.

Requirements for a Silver Award are “to find an issue you care about and then make a difference in your community,” according to the website girlscouts.org.

“We both really like animals and we both wanted to work together on something and we thought since we both liked animals we decided to ask around and Catherine [Marganski] reached out,” said Lorelai Huben, talking above the sound of a circular saw being used to cut wood.

Assisting the girls on this Saturday afternoon are Rebecca Underwood’s father, Jeremy Underwood, and her neighbor, John Marquez.

Jeremy Underwood said his job has been “making sure they didn’t lose toes or fingers when they used the power tools.”

“They put ever screw in here, this is all them,” he said, standing next to the A-Frame.

“They did the cuts,” he said. “I think I did one angle cut because they were a little scared of the circular saw. I’m showing them how to use to measure, how to use the tools and then they do it.”

“It’s remarkable,” he said.

Troop 62306 co-leader Tracy Underwood, Allison Underwood’s mother, said this kind of teamwork is an integral part of this undertaking.

“Part of the project is them delegating their teammates, giving them jobs and responsibilities on what they need their team workers to do,” she said.

“But they have set all those screws, so it’s nice to see them be leaders, but also put in so much hard work and effort,” she said.

Dog Park Founder Catherine Marganski, who worked tirelessly to open the dog park, is thrilled to have this addition.

“I am blown away with the quality and the sturdiness and how awesome this obstacle course is,” she said. “Blown away.”

“I think when anyone sees this course, they’re going to think a professional course maker made it and not two young teenagers,” she said.

“I’ve seen a lot of projects around town, Eagle Scout projects, and to me, this is the best project I’ve seen,” she said.

The 1½ acre dog park opened in March 2016. It is fenced, with a brick apron entryway and designed with open space, combined with some shade, picnic tables, benches and a gazebo for dog owners and an area cordoned off for small or shy dogs.

The agility course includes four stations.

The weave pole course incorporates 12 flexible poles secured by cement and spaced every 24 feet apart, “so if they hit them they won’t get hurt and they won’t break,” said Lorelai Huben.

The bar jumps, similar to the ones used for horses, were constructed with two 4-by-4 wooden posts, spaced 5 feet apart, with holes drilled 4 inches from the ground up to 24 inches.

The holes are reserved for moveable jump cups that hold PVC piping, “so you can change the height for difficulty per dog,” said Allison Underwood.

There are three bar jumps, spaced 10 feet apart.

“It’s made for if a dog runs into it, they are meant to fall off so they don’t hurt the dog or break,” she said.

There is also an A-Frame.

“It is meant for the dog to go up and over,” said Allison Underwood. “We have slats so they can hold on and they will have supports under the bottom.”

After talking with a veterinarian with Guilford’s Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine, the A-Frame was changed from 8 feet tall to 5 feet tall.

Lastly, there is a 3-foot-tall by 5-foot-long cement tunnel, created exclusively for the dog park by A & W Sanitation.

The agility course is in the shadiest section of the dog park.

“I think it’s a lot better for owners and their dogs,” said Lorelai Huben. “If they’re going to be exercising or running this course, it’s better for them to be in the shade.”

“They won’t get as tired as easily,” she said, referring the canines running around. “They won’t be as exhausted and owners, I don’t think, want to stand in the sun with their dogs all the time.”

The two Guilford High School freshman were solely responsible for designing the project, obtaining permission to install it from the Guilford Parks & Recreation Department and creating a budget.

They are grateful for the donations and discounts from various local businesses including Page Hardware & Appliance Co., A&W Sanitation and Landon Lumber Co.

Co-leaders Rebecca Huben and Tracy Underwood talked about the girls’ accomplishment.

Tracy Underwood talked about the financial responsibility the girls undertook.

“They’ve budgeted,” she said. “They’re right on the budget. It’s been all pretty incredible. They’ve done all the labor.”

Many of the items were donated, but any other costs are covered by money collected from cookie sales, donations from the dog park and Parks & Recreation.

“(We are) so incredibly proud,” said Rebecca Huben. “Only 10 percent of Girl Scouts get their Silver Award, so this is a huge accomplishment. It’s the highest award they can get at this level.” The next step is the Gold Award for seniors, she added.

Although the award requires 50 hours minimum, the girls estimate they worked between 60 to 70 hours.

“They have both put in a lot of time and research and coordinating,” added Rebecca Huben. “They were the ones to reach out to A&W and they reached out to Catherine [Marganski] and they reached out to Park & Rec. They have done so much work.”

Lorelai Huben is looking forward to introducing the course to her 10-year-old retired Greyhound, Lincoln.

Allison Underwood is also looking forward to watching her 3-year-old black Labrador Retriever, Beacon, enjoy the different stations.

“He’s definitely an athletic dog,” Allison Underwood said. “He’s scared around people, but he loves dogs, so maybe when it’s quieter, he’ll enjoy it.”

Both girls are looking forward to having visitors to the dog park enjoy the fruits of their labor.

“I feel really proud,” said Lorelai Huben. We’ve been working on this for a while and we had a couple of bumps in the roads.”

“We were trying to figure out what to do, when to do it, when to meet with schedules clashing, but I feel really proud of both of us because we worked so hard and it’s finally paying off,” she said, smiling ear to ear.

Allison Underwood is thrilled the dogs will be able to enjoy the course.

“I’m glad that the dogs will have something else to do and the owners will have another thing to do with their dogs,” she said.

“I do notice, too, the people, they always talk,” she said. “So, that’s another thing that could spark conversation and relationships between people.”

Guilford Dog Park, Nut Plains Road, Guilford; guilforddogpark.com; Facebook Guilford Dog Park