How to make a do-it-yourself dog house: useful tips and instructions

When your dog lives with you in an apartment, he does not need to equip a separate place to live, just make a certain corner. However, dogs don’t like to be cooped up for long periods of time, and you’ll have to take your pet outside whenever it wants to.

Another question is a dog in the private sector or in the country. Here your four-legged pet will spend time outside almost all the time. Not all owners agree that the animal should live in the house, and agree that the dog needs to build its own housing, that is, a booth.

And how to make a booth for a dog with your own hands and what is required for this, we will tell you below. This is not as difficult as it might seem at first. You can use to build any available materials. These are boards, plywood, beams and more, they should first be equipped with protection against leakage during rain.

How to choose booth size

Before you start work, you first need to decide on the dimensions of the future home of your dog, which you will do with your own hands. To do this, you need to know the breed, and the growth limits of the animal. If the dog will no longer grow, then when drawing up drawings with your own hands consider the following parameters:

• the depth of the structure should be commensurate with the length of the animal from the tip of the nose to the tail with a slight gap;
• width depends on the height of the dog to the tips of the ears plus a gap of about five centimeters;
• the latitude of the manhole is determined by measuring the chest of the animal plus a few centimeters;
• height – slightly higher than the height of the dog.

If the booth will be built for a small puppy that will grow, then it is better to play it safe, find out the parameters of an adult animal of this breed on the Internet and take them as a basis when drawing up a do-it-yourself booth drawing.

Remember that the size of the booth should not be “butt”. The dog must be comfortable rest and sleep in it. So that the animal does not blow in strong winds and drops of heavy rain do not fall, it is better to place the hole not in the middle of the front of the booth, but on the edge.

If for the region where you live, strong winds are a constant phenomenon, then it is recommended to make a two-chamber booth. To do this, at the design stage, take into account the following tips:

• multiply the width in half and make two compartments from the inside, placing a partition between them;
• make two holes in the booth, from the front and from the side of the wall.

How to place a booth in the yard

To make the animal as comfortable as possible, consider when choosing a place of installation booths such tips:

• so that the structure does not fall into a puddle after rain, install it on a hill;
• the booth should not be near a reservoir;
• it should not be entirely in the shade, but it should also be illuminated by the sun’s rays in moderation;
• do not place it near places where other pets live;
• do not plant flowers near the booth;
• to install the structure, choose a place with a good viewing angle;
• the place should not be heavily ventilated.

If, in addition to the booth, you have a separate enclosure for keeping the animal, then it should be installed on its territory. In addition, it is also desirable to equip the aviary with a canopy.

Do-it-yourself booth design

The dog house can be equipped with a flat roof, which, if desired, the animal can climb, or a gable roof, similar to the style of other buildings on your site.

If you stay flat, then remember that the roof in this case must be very strong so that it can bear the weight of your dog. In any case, it should support the weight of the snow in winter. As a rule, to make a roof with your own hands for a booth, a continuous flooring of boards or plywood is used, and on top they are covered with some kind of roofing material (remnants of slate or metal tiles).

When working with a roof, remember that its slope must be thought out in such a way as to allow water to drain freely, and it must be resistant to dog claws.

It is advisable to build a booth with your own hands so that its design is collapsible. So it will be easier to periodically clean and process it from fleas or ticks. This includes, in particular, a construction with a removable roof or with removable other parts of the booth.

The booth must not be installed directly on the ground, otherwise it the floor will rot quickly. It is best to first put the flooring from the boards, between which air will circulate, and put a booth on top of it. When the flooring is damaged, the boards will need to be replaced with new ones.

Do I need to insulate the booth and how

The question of whether your dog’s home needs to be insulated depends on how cold it gets in the fall or winter in your area. If there is a need for insulation, then either foam plastic or mineral wool is usually used for this. A booth made of boards or plywood should be insulated on both sides, but there is no need to equip a structure made of bars 10 cm thick with heaters. But to insulate the floor and the roof will not be superfluous.

Building a doghouse with your own hands

For the construction of a dog dwelling with your own hands, it will be most correct use only natural materials, in particular, a tree, preferably its coniferous species.

You will need lining for the outer skin of the structure with a diameter of 12,5 mm. Also prepare chipboard, plywood, floorboard and blocks of different sizes. To make the outer corners of the booth and create a certain decor, you will need a corner made of wood, decorative slats and a symmetrical baseboard.

As mentioned earlier, to insulate the booth, you will need mineral wool, polystyrene foam or glassine, and prepare slate or profiled sheet for the roof. But roofing material or shingles for the booth will not work, because the animal has a habit of gnawing the roof, and they will be dangerous to its health.

To work on the construction of a dog house with your own hands, you should prepare the following list of tools:

• a hammer;
• roulette;
• building level;
• shovel;
• pencil or marker;
• saw;
• galvanized nails;
• paint;
• hacksaw;
• olifa;
• wood preservative.

Building a booth for a dog with your own hands

Now that you have taken into account all the useful tips for building such a small but important structure for your pet, and stocked up with all the materials and tools, you can get to work. The algorithm of actions will be as follows:

• First, cut the boards. Remember that if the roof is planned to be shed, then the back walls of the booth will be shorter than the front ones. This is necessary in order to protect the structure from getting wet during rain;
• prepare wooden beams for the frame. Their length should be slightly longer than planned, it is better to cut them if necessary than to take new ones if they are too short;
• make a frame from the bars according to a pre-prepared drawing;
• take the boards and sheathe the frame from the inside with them, after sanding them. It is better to start doing the roof right away;
• make a hole in the booth on the front wall and process its ends;
• insulate the floor, walls and roof with a specially prepared material, and on top of the insulation, fix the upper part of the plank wall from lining or chipboard. It is best to use wood siding;
• seal all cracks and seams so that the booth is not blown through, and the dog is as comfortable as possible inside. For sealing, slats, plinth, glazing bead and other materials, preferably made of wood, should be used;
• Let’s go to the roof. It is best to use slate sheets.

When the booth is ready, process it from all sides antiseptic and install on a pre-prepared tub of bricks or wooden boards. Then paint it and wait until dry.

Congratulations, you have made a home for your four-legged pet with your own hands. It remains to run it inside and pay attention to its behavior. Surely your dog will be very pleased with such a housewarming party.