Do-it-yourself dog house from boards

There are two main requirements for a dog house during design and manufacture: convenience and suitable dimensions. Further, secondary issues related to the design, the shape of the roof and other trifles are resolved. This also includes the choice of material. For a yard dog, it is customary to build a kennel from brick, metal or boards. The first two materials are not always convenient for the manufacture of such a design. Usually the owner builds a wooden dog house in the yard, and it is such a house that provides maximum comfort to the dog.

What to consider when building a booth

Even before the start of construction, one important requirement must be taken into account: a do-it-yourself dog house is not just a kennel, but real housing. The dog will stay in this house for the rest of his life. In the booth, the dog will sleep or just hide from the weather. Housing should be so comfortable that the animal itself without coercion will use it.

When building a kennel in the yard from improvised materials, they take into account the important requirements for the design:

• Inside the kennel should be warm in winter and cool in summer. Such results can be achieved with the use of thermal insulation material.
• Even if the house is made without insulation, they try to avoid the formation of a gap to the maximum. The wind should not blow into the booth and rainwater should not get into it.
• A kennel for a dog is made on a small hill. From this, the bottom always remains dry, even during heavy rain.
• Young dogs love to frolic, and often jump on the roof of the booth. The strength of the structure must withstand the weight of the dog.
• Inside and outside the house, you must completely get rid of protruding nails, self-tapping screws, chipped chips and other sharp objects that the dog can get hurt on.
• As improvised means, materials without sharp chemical odors are used for the construction of the booth. Pine board is considered the best material for building a dog kennel.
• The dog is the guardian of the yard. A properly made hole will help the dog quickly jump out and jump into the booth, as well as observe everything that happens around without getting out of the kennel.

The simplest house built for a dog must meet all these requirements, but at the same time, a minimum of costs are allocated for its construction. The optimal indicator of the finished booth is simplicity, comfort, low cost, aesthetics and inconspicuousness in the yard.

Choosing the location of the dog kennel in the yard

It is optimal for a dog to build a portable type booth. The landscape design of the yard may change over time, and the kennel will have to be moved. The dog cannot be placed anywhere. In this case, climatic conditions, the location of courtyard buildings and a characteristic feature of the dog breed, that is, its habits, are taken into account.

It is good if there is a fence, building walls or other structures on several sides near the made booth, protecting the kennel from wind blowing. It’s good when a place with a do-it-yourself kennel is partially shaded. Early in the morning, the dog will be able to bask in the sun, and in the afternoon hide from the heat in the shade.

The lowland is not the best place for a dog kennel. During rain and snowmelt, housing will be flooded with water or dampness will constantly keep on the floors.

When choosing the optimal location of the house, one must remember the instinct of the animal. The dog is inherent in self-preservation and protection of its territory. Even without leaving the kennel, the dog must have a good view of most of the territory through the hole, including the entrance to the owner’s house and the yard. Ignoring such conditions will lead to anxiety of the animal. At the occurrence of each sound, the dog will jump out of the kennel, rattle the chain and bark, which will bring unnecessary anxiety to the owners. But it’s also not worth it to have a dog kennel close to a path where people often walk. Constant noise and movement irritate the animal, from which a constant barking will be established in the yard.

Determining the dimensions of the doghouse

Building a house for a dog with your own hands begins with determining its dimensions, and you can’t go wrong here. The photo shows a table with examples of different breeds of dogs. The size of the booth and the hole should correspond to the dimensions of the dog’s physique. The animal inside the kennel is provided with enough space to sleep, turn around and stand to its full height. However, you should not build a large booth with a margin. In winter, heat will be poorly retained inside such a house, even if the walls are made using insulation.

To optimally calculate the dimensions of the house, several measurements of the dog will help:

• The dog is measured by the height at the withers. 20 cm is added to the result. This will be the height of the kennel.
• In the supine position, the dog is measured from the tip of the tail to the end of the front paws, stretched forward. 15 cm are added to the result, determining the depth of the booth.
• The dog must be able to lie across the kennel at full height. The width of the house is determined by the same measurements as the depth. That is, it is optimal when the booth is square.

The entrance to the kennel cannot be a simple hole. The size of the hole should be free for the quick passage of the dog, and also not very spacious, so that in winter less cold penetrates into the housing. The height of the manhole is determined by the same measurements of the height of the dog at the withers with the addition of 12 cm. 10 cm are added to the measurements of the chest of the dog to calculate the width of the manhole. In shape, the entrance to the booth is made round or in the form of a rectangle.

We prepare materials for construction

Most often, the owner of a summer house or a private yard has a question of how to make a booth for a dog from improvised material so that it turns out strong, and at the same time incurs a minimum of costs. So, the frame can be welded metal, but it is difficult to sheathe it. For these purposes, it is better to use a bar with a section of 50×50 mm. Flooring, wall cladding and roofing are made of boards 20–30 mm thick. An OSB sheet will do, but chipboard cannot be used. From heating in the sun, the stove emits an irritating smell for the dog, and when moisture gets in, it swells and crumbles into small sawdust.

Outside, the walls and roof of the booth over the boards can be sheathed with galvanized iron or corrugated board with your own hands. Plastic lining is not allowed. The dog will simply tear it apart in a matter of minutes. In the manufacture of an insulated booth, all structural elements are made double, and foam or basalt wool is placed between them. Waterproofing is carried out from ordinary inexpensive materials. You can take pieces of roofing material, film, old linoleum, etc.

Step-by-step production of a dog house

The photo shows a detailed diagram of what parts the booth consists of. Having decided on its dimensions, the drawing can be used in the manufacture of the structure with your own hands.

So, let’s figure out how to make a dog house from wooden blanks:

• First, a frame is knocked down from a bar. It will set the dimensions and shape of the entire structure. The frame of the rectangular bottom is knocked down first. Four corner posts are attached to it, and two – forming an opening of the manhole. From above, the racks are tied with a beam. That is, it turns out the same frame as on the bottom. For strength, the frame is reinforced at the corners with slopes and jumpers are nailed. The corner posts of the frame can be extended 100 mm below the bottom frame. In this case, you get a booth with legs, and in the future you will not have to put it on stands.
• The floors inside the kennel are laid from boards or cut out from OSB boards. If you make an insulated booth with your own hands, then you can cut a piece of OSB onto the bottom frame. Then, from the rails along the edges of the structure, another frame is stuffed, forming a void. Waterproofing is laid here, then thermal insulation, and floors are stuffed from the boards on top.
• The sides of the frame, which form the walls of the dog house, are sheathed with boards or OSB. In the case of the use of insulation, the walls of the kennel are made exactly as they did the warm bottom.
• The roof is easiest to make a shed. To do this, it is simply enough to nail a couple of bars to the upper trim of the frame opposite the manhole to make a slope, and then fill the boards. For a gable roof, you will have to knock down two triangular rafters from a beam, and then fix them to the upper trim of the frame. The resulting slopes are tightly sheathed with a board. On the gables it is better to cut triangles from the OSB plate.
•  Regardless of the design of the roof, it is sheathed with roofing material, since even tightly nailed boards will let water through. For roofing, it is better to use sheet metal-based material. Galvanized or corrugated board is suitable. If you use sheets of ferrous metal, they will periodically have to be painted to protect against corrosion.
• The finished booth for the dog is painted with soft paint. The tree can simply be treated with antiseptic impregnation, and then with drying oil or varnish.

When the paint is completely dry, the booth is set to a permanent place, and a dog is tied next to it.

The video tells about the manufacture of the booth:

Features of choosing a roof shape

So, we looked at how to build a doghouse with a shed and gable roof. However, for novice dog breeders, the question may arise, what to be guided by when choosing the shape of the roof.

A gable roof is best done on small booths. Inside the house, this design increases the space, but makes the kennel itself heavier. A large booth with a gable roof will turn out to be very heavy.

A shed roof is easier to manufacture and much lighter than the previous version. The roof is suitable for a large booth. By the way, it can be made removable, which will allow you to better clean inside the house.

If the dog from the first moments positively assessed the booth assembled from improvised material, then you did not work in vain.