How to Easily Make a Dog House

As a dog owner if you have a garden or just a nice courtyard you surely have considered building a dog house more than once. It’s normal that you worry about the comfort of your pet, and what’s more, as a responsible owner, one of the most important things is to make your dog happy. If you do not have a clear vision where and how to start building it, do not worry, today we will put you on the job to help you build the ideal booth for your dog.

We will start by locating the booth facing south. It is an important detail since your pet will be more sheltered from the winter air currents. Another, most important point to take into account is the overall happiness of your dog. It must be the dog’s exclusive place. Somewhere where he will gladly go to take a nap in full comfort without a need to constantly bite the leash attached to the house or get harmed by weather conditions.

Build a Cheap but Solid Dog House

The price of building your dog’s shelter will depend on the materials you use. Not only that you will have to acquire wood (the recommended thickness is one and a half centimetres or 0.6 inches), but you will have to use other materials and tools such as:

• Paintings or oils with anti-humidity properties (never toxic)
• Screwdriver
• Galvanized screws
• Mounting adhesive
• Strawberries
• Brushes
• Varnish
• Asphalt cardboard
• Keyhole saw

You always have the option to buy it somewhere. In the market, there are houses made of wood and plastic. The best choice would be wood because it will protect and isolate better from the cold. The advantage of plastic is that they are very easy to clean. Also, you can check the internet, I’m sure you’ll find many places where they sell used doghouses.

So without further ado, let’s start building a dog house step by step!

1. House for Large or Small Dogs

Before doing anything, the first thing you have to think about is the size. The ideal dimensions are not too big or too small. The one that is not very small is the obvious choice. But, how can you predict the correct the size? Think that your dog should be able to go around and inside without problems.

Maybe you thought that the bigger the house the better. No, it can not be very big because it would no longer generate a warm atmosphere inside. Do not forget that one of the objectives of creating this shelter is that your pet is protected from cold and rain.

2. Value the Importance of the Base

The base is one of the fundamental points of a good house. If you did not put a base in mind, you should be aware that you will not protect your dog well. Think about it for a second. You wouldn’t sleep on the floor where the cold and humidity that entails.

Not to mention that it probably rains a lot where you live. But, What should you value when building the base of your dog’s house? Isolation! Ideally, you could isolate the floor with cement or concrete.

However, the general idea is to always look for materials that are waterproof. The height of the base is another important aspect. It’s not a good idea to build the dog’s house at ground level. Because, it will continue filtering the humidity and if it rains a lot, it could even flood.

The measurements of the house will always depend on the size of the dog. We will leave you with a brief orientation that you can possibly apply:

Length: 1 – 1/2 times the length of your dog (without the tail).

Width: 3/4 the length of the dog (without the tail).

Height: About 1/4 higher than the dog’s height to the head.

3. Get the Wood

If you have the right tools, you can buy the boards and cut them yourself.

Recommendation: First draw the sketch of each wall or plank you need on paper. Then, when you’re sure, you carve it in the wood.

If you do not have a jigsaw, make the sketch on paper and go to carpentry to cut the wood to size. We also recommend that you build a house with a gable roof (not flat). Thus, if it rains the water will fall to the ground.

To do so, you must remember that the tables corresponding to the entrance and the rear wall must end in a triangle. All in the same table, never in two.

Extra tip: The size of the entrance has its importance. If you create a too large one, it will let the heat escape and your pup will lose that warm atmosphere that we mentioned before.

4. Lift the Walls of the House

To mount the walls we would simply have to apply mounting adhesive on the edges of the pieces. To reinforce the subjection we would use lag screws. It is always good that for the interior parts of the walls are painted with varnish for hygienic reasons.

The walls should have a stop reserved for a leash that you can attach your dog to it if he is still a pup that needs to adapt to the new place. Once he gets used to his new place you can remove it since many owners just can’t look their pup tied to a leash.

Extra tip: if you want to give it an extra grip and strength it even more then you can use metal frames. You should screw them in the corners of the walls.

5. Place the Roof

You already have the four walls of your dog’s new home, we just have to assemble the roof. As we did with the walls, we will place frames on the inner walls of the front and rear triangles (over half). So, when we put the roof, we can screw it on the frames.

When placing the roof, take care that the boards are at an angle of 90 degrees. This will prevent you from creating a channel where you can filter the water. Another solution would be to place a ribbon between the two roof boards. To reinforce the roof you can use different materials. There are people who use asphalt cardboard or tarred cardboard.