Do-it-yourself insulated dog house. Do-it-yourself dog booth: drawings, step-by-step instructions with photo examples. A simple booth for a small dog - video

To make a do-it-yourself dog house, you will undoubtedly need drawings and dimensions of the structure. For example, if it is intended for a German Shepherd, then not only a large box will be required, but also increased mechanical strength, since this is a heavy and strong dog. Of course, the principle of construction will remain unchanged, no matter what the dog's blood and size, but he also wants to sleep in a place well protected from bad weather and frost.

And I'm warm and cozy here

Dimensions and drawing of the booth

The proportions of the dog house relative to its owner

To build a dog kennel in compliance with all the rules, it is important to take into account the dimensions of the animal - height, length and width. We will not talk about any individual case, but simply focus on the three most common types:

• For small breeds, for example, for a dachshund, you need a room 70-75 cm long, 60-65 cm wide and 55-60 cm high.
• For breeds of medium size, the same German Shepherd, you will need a building 120-125 cm long, 75-80 cm wide and 80-85 cm high.
• But for large animals like the Portuguese Mountain Shepherd, Caucasian, Deerhound, Moscow Greyhound or Mastiff, you need a structure 140-145 cm long, 100-105 cm wide and 95-100 cm high.

You can also use the table below to determine the size of the kennel for your pet.

In this case, you have read the general requirements that can be followed when drawing up a drawing or sketch in construction. But if you wish, you can make a VIP project that is right for your pet - this is not patricianism or elitism at all, but quite reasonable and reasonable care for the animal.

Another diagram of a dog house with dimensions

Measure your dog's chest in width - it should pass freely into the hole of the booth, therefore, from 5 to 8 cm must be added to the resulting parameter for the total width (2.5-4 cm on each side). The height of the hole can be calculated by determining the height of the dog at the withers and add another 5 cm to this indicator so that the dog can climb into the kennel by simply bending its head.

To create a VIP dog kennel project, you need to take into account the height of your pet from the ground to the tip of the head (H - the height of the box), the height at the withers (h + 5 cm - the height of the manhole), and the width of the booth is approximately equal to its height.

What you need to assemble the structure

Since such a design can be made only if certain materials and tools are available, we will consider these points in more detail. But I want to list all possible options, and you can choose according to your specific situation.

What materials are needed

Note. If you decide to make a stationary structure, then it is advisable to install it on a columnar foundation. For a portable kennel, a foundation is not needed - it is enough to hem pieces of timber or thick boards in one or two rows to the bottom of the box - this is for.

Moisture resistant plywood of different thicknesses

Here is a list of materials that you may need during construction, but you will need to make a choice from them:

• unpolished bar - 50 × 50 mm;
• rail - 40 × 25 or 50 × 25 mm;
• board 100 × 50 mm or 70 × 40 mm;
• planed edged board, but better tongue-and-groove - thickness 20-25 mm (for walls) or wooden lining like "collective farmer";
• planed edged board, but better grooved - thickness 40 mm (for the floor);
• moisture resistant plywood or OSB-3 (OSB 3rd class, waterproof);
• insulation - polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam (penoplex) or mineral basalt wool;
• roofing material - corrugated board, metal tiles (roofing material, as an exceptional case);
• fasteners - self-tapping screws, steel corners and lining;
• solid brick - ordinary or double (red) or silicate;
• cement, sand, gravel.

Attention! All lumber, with the exception of moisture-resistant plywood and oriented strand board of the 3rd or 4th class, should be treated with an Anti-rot antiseptic. After such treatment, the wood will hardly absorb, therefore, its service life will increase significantly.

In order for you not to make a mistake when choosing plywood, you should pay attention not to the seller’s assurances that it is not afraid of moisture, but to product labeling. For this, I specially compiled a table that shows all the markings that belong to moisture-resistant plywood.

Tools for the job

Cutting plywood with a manual circular saw

Of course, it is most convenient to build any structure using power tools, but you may not have them. Therefore, along with them, I will also come with the usual carpentry tools for handwork:

1. hand or stationary circular saw and/or electric jigsaw. You can use a hacksaw for wood;
2. electric drill or screwdriver (cordless drill) with a set of drill bits. You can use a curly screwdriver and brace;
3. metric tape measure, pencil;
4. building corner.

Watch a video on building a warm kennel for a dog.

Video: Do-it-yourself warm dog house

Construction stages

Installation of the entire structure can be divided into stages. But the very first of them (making the foundation) may be unnecessary for a portable structure. Besides. The roof can be made single-pitched or double-pitched, but this will also affect the manufacture of the frame.

Column Foundation

Column foundation for a doghouse

Making such a base is very simple: for this you need to dig four holes 10-15 cm deep, where the supports will be built. When building a dog house with your own hands, then, of course, you should already have the necessary drawings and dimensions, but you can also just draw a simple sketch on a piece of paper. Therefore, it will not be difficult for you to determine the perimeter - make holes in the corners.

Standard parameters of ordinary brick

Pour a sand-gravel pillow 5-7 cm high at the bottom and tamp it down, and then pour the same layer of concrete there. The next day, fold the columns from (you can see its dimensions in the image above) - they will turn out 250 × 250 mm in the perimeter, according to the standard. The height of the column from the ground should be about 10-15 cm - this will not allow water to flow into the kennel during heavy rains or melting snow. Level the supports.

Gable roof frame

Plank floor frame

The next step in the step-by-step instructions will be to make a frame for the floorboard flooring. In this case, a board 100 × 50 mm, 70 × 40 mm or a bar 50 × 50 mm is suitable - it depends on the weight of the animal and your desire. It is not necessary to use exactly the sizes indicated in the image - they may not be suitable in your case. It is best to start from the specific dimensions of your dog.

If you cut off all four blanks, exactly observing their length, then there will be no problems with the diagonals - they turn out to be the same. Reinforce the joints of the boards with perforated steel corners with reinforcement and then check the diagonals - they should be the same.

Hem the frame from below with moisture-resistant plywood

To make a warm floor in the kennel, you need to hem the frame from the bottom with moisture-resistant thick plywood (select the marking and thickness using the table). After you screw the sheet to the frame, any play will disappear. If the area is large, then you can add a transverse or longitudinal jumper from an identical board - it will serve as a log.

Note. In the event that the structure will be installed on a columnar foundation, the frame, after checking the diagonals, is screwed with anchors to the supports. Roofing material is preliminarily laid on the bricks - this is a cut-off waterproofing.

Finished doghouse frame

Now it's up to the vertical posts of the frame - start with four risers in the corners, secure them with steel angles and fix them with temporary braces from scraps so as not to knock down the vertical level. After that, screw the top trim and insert the intermediate posts. In this case, you can use a board 100 × 50 mm or 70 × 40 mm, or a bar 50 × 50 mm - it all depends on the size of the booth and the dog.

truss system

Simple gable truss system

The next step is the assembly of the rafter system, where the number of pairs of rafter legs depends on the depth of the booth and can be from two to four. This number also depends on the roofing material (hard steel sheets or soft roofing material).

There is another nuance in the installation of rafters - this is roof insulation. For example, you make a do-it-yourself dog house, the drawings and dimensions of which are determined by the dimensions of your animal, but at the same time you live in a cold region. If this structure is intended for huskies, then everything is in order - even in 50-degree frost they sleep peacefully in the snow, but other dogs cannot do it. This means that under the rafters you need to install a continuous crate of thin edged boards, plywood or OSB, lay insulation and waterproofing (thick polyethylene is suitable) and only after that screw the crate under the roof.

The method of resting the rafter leg in the Mauerlat

It is most convenient to make landing cuts on the rafter legs, as shown in the photo above. So the legs will rest against the Mauerlat (upper harness) and besides, you will fix them on the side with perforated steel corners. Screw a 50 × 50 mm bar as a ridge beam.

Walls, floor and roof

Underfloor heating in a dog kennel

In this case, the same insulation materials that you intend to use for walls and roofs will do. There are no special recommendations here either - a layer of waterproofing between the lags, if you doubt the moisture resistance of the subfloor, then insulation, waterproofing again and after that the installation of the boardwalk.

The principle of wall cladding with plywood

You, most likely, will also insulate the walls, so it is more convenient to start trimming the sidewalls and ends from the inside of the box. You can use different lumber for this purpose - plywood, OSB or board, but in any case there should be no gaps. After the inner lining, install insulation between the frame posts and cover it with a waterproofing film, and then veneer.

The booth is ready for use

Now it remains only to lay the insulation under the roofing material on the lower solid crate. After that, cover it with polyethylene for waterproofing and install the cladding itself. In the top photo, you can see that the booth is covered - it's not only safe, but also beautiful, besides, you can choose the color according to the roof of the house. A decorative metal corner is installed on the ridge, which not only decorates the structure, but also prevents leakage.

Shed with pitched roof

Dog kennel with pitched roof

In this case, the frame is modified in accordance with the slope of the roof. That is, the front racks are higher than the rear ones, and the intermediate ones are of medium size, but they are installed only after attaching the upper trim. Everything else is no different from a building with - the same need for insulation and waterproofing, as well as wood treatment with an antiseptic.

Note. The slope angle of a shed roof can be at least 5⁰. But even if you make it bigger, the snow will still linger on the roof. Therefore, in order to avoid critical loads (this mainly applies to the northern regions), snow should be removed periodically.

Video: Installation of a dog house

Conclusion

It's up to you to decide what kind of booth for a dog that you make with your own hands will turn out to be. Here you can take as a basis the drawings and dimensions given in this article, but it is best if you use the guide to draw up a project based on the dimensions of your pet. He will be grateful to you, although he will not be able to express his feelings in words that are understandable to you, but he compensates for this with his devotion.

Owners who keep a dog in the yard just need to make sure that their pet has a warm and cozy "house". Of course, you can solve this issue by buying a ready-made booth. But if you like DIY and do not want to spend a lot of money, information on how to make a dog house yourself will be useful to you.

Although this is not a permanent building, but still the construction of a dog kennel requires some preparation and compliance with a number of rules that you need to familiarize yourself with before getting down to business. Let us consider in more detail the basic principles of creating a drawing, choosing a place and materials for a booth, as well as the sequence of work on its assembly.

Types of booths. What to choose?

First of all, you need to decide on the type of construction. On this basis, the booths are divided into:

• equipped only with a place to sleep;
• having a place for rest and a vestibule.

The point of arranging a vestibule in a booth is that the animal has a comfortable place to rest in the summer heat, when it is too hot for him to be inside the kennel. In addition, the tambour will retain some of the dirt from the dog's paws, preventing it from getting inside the booth. In principle, this part of the design is optional, so if you are limited in funds, then you can do without it.

Also, booths differ in the type of roof. She happens:

• Flat. Your pet will surely love this top, as dogs love to bask on the roof of their home.
• Gable. This design looks more aesthetically pleasing and makes it possible to equip a small attic under the roof for storing toys and various dog care products.

Very convenient is the option in which the upper part of the booth can be opened. Usually for this they make a shed flat or sloping roof, hinged. It makes it possible to ventilate the kennel and greatly facilitates its cleaning.

As for the design, various types of booths can be rectangular, square, stylized as a house or embody more unusual design solutions. We will talk about which models of booths are the most convenient and original a little later.

Deciding on a location

The choice of the place where you plan to settle the dog should be approached responsibly. It should not be strongly blown by the wind, it is also desirable to have a source of shade nearby so that the dog does not suffer from the heat in summer. To prevent the formation of rain puddles under and around the booth, it is better to install it on a hill, as excessive moisture and dampness are harmful to the health of the animal.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that the dog, being near the booth, has a sufficient view of the yard and can see the entrance gate, otherwise it will be too restless. For large breeds, it makes sense to build an aviary around the booth, so the dog will have the opportunity to see everything that happens and at the same time isolate it from the yard (which is important if small children or small animals walk there).

Advice! It is worth taking care of the absence of constant irritants near the booth that provoke the dog to bark, otherwise it will often bark, causing discomfort to the owners and others.

Creating a diagram or drawing is an important stage of work

After the type of booth is selected and a suitable place for it is found, the next thing to do is to create a diagram or drawing of a future design. As a basis for sketches, you need to take the size of the dog. In order for the booth for your four-legged friend to be as comfortable as possible, you need to consider the following parameters:

• The height of the dog at the withers.
• Height from withers to toenails.
• The girth of the animal in the chest.
• Length (from nose to tail).

When measurements are made, you can go directly to the drawing. The following booth parameters should be indicated on it:

• Height (H). It is taken from the calculation - height at the withers plus 10-15 centimeters, so that the dog can sit freely inside without touching the ceiling with his head.
• Depth (L). This parameter is equal to the length of the front paws with a margin of free space of 10-15 cm.
• Width (W). Its value will be equal to the width of the vestibule (if any) and the bed. The tambour can be of any size that allows the animal to comfortably enter and exit the kennel, but the bed should be made according to the length of the dog, of course, not forgetting to take into account a margin of 10-15 cm.

Separately, it should be said about the hole. It should not be made too wide to avoid the leakage of warm air in winter, but it should not be too narrow either. The height of the manhole (indicated in the figure h) is considered ideal, equal to the height of the dog at the withers minus 5-10 cm. Its width (w) is slightly larger than the girth of the animal in the chest.

The choice of materials for the booth

Of course, all types of dog houses need quality materials. Most often, wood is used to build a kennel. It is better to choose conifers, as they are quite affordable and have the ability to repel insects.

You can also take an ordinary edged board, but in this case it must be carefully sanded and made sure that there are no splinters on the surface. In addition, before starting the assembly, the boards should be treated with an antiseptic and water-repellent substances.

Instead of boards, cement-bonded particle boards can also be used in the construction of the booth. But chipboard is not suitable for these purposes, since it emits harmful substances and poorly resists moisture. The same applies to plywood.

The roof can be slate or a sheet of roofing iron. If the climate in your area is harsh, you should take care of insulation and lay a layer of insulation between the walls of the booth and the outer skin. The lining itself is usually made of lining, as this material “breathes” perfectly and helps to retain heat.

Do-it-yourself kennel assembly - step by step instructions for craftsmen

Having a ready-made drawing and all the necessary materials on hand, you can begin to manufacture the individual parts of the doghouse and connect them. Assembling a kennel with your own hands (especially if you have chosen a complex structure) is not an easy task, but step-by-step instructions will help you not to make a mistake.

So, installation and assembly are carried out as follows:

• Construction starts from the bottom. For more warmth and comfort, it is better to make it double.
• Bars or boards are attached to the bottom at a right angle, which will become the basis for the walls of the booth. Supports for the roof are fixed between them, and bars are also stuffed, indicating the entrance.
• Further, the inner surface of the booth is sheathed with the selected material (board, lining).
• The roof is being installed. It is important to make sure that it fits snugly against the walls. If desired, the roof can be insulated with foam or mineral wool.
• At the final stage of work, the walls are thermally insulated and covered with clapboard or other suitable material from the outside.

Photos of dog booths: interesting models and design options

Dog owners who not only want to take care of housing for their pet, but also want to decorate their yard and yard at the same time, should look at the photo booths for the dog below. The above photo selection consists of unusual and beautiful, but at the same time comfortable models.

Such a cute red booth with a gable roof will be in place in any area and will give comfort to your four-legged friend. In addition, it is easy to do it yourself.

Simple and tasteful. This wooden structure not only looks great, but also provides the dog with a place to play and a comfortable vantage point.

Another very original idea is a barrel booth. It is hardly suitable for a harsh winter, but it is an excellent option for summer.

And this design can be a good solution for owners of several dogs.

It is inconvenient to call this model a booth, rather it is a full-fledged dog house. It is ideal for keeping a large breed dog and eliminates the need to build an aviary for him.

As you can see, the booth is not only necessary, but also a very beautiful attribute of the yard where the dog is kept. And, if you approach the matter responsibly and with imagination, it can be a wonderful addition to the design of your garden plot.

Man's friend, as everyone knows, is a dog, it has taken root so much that since ancient times dogs have become home guards. So why not make them their own cozy and warm place, thereby thanking them for all their efforts, because guarding the house is not an easy task. In the manufacture of this homemade product, no hard-to-reach materials will be used, which greatly simplifies assembly. In this article, I'll show you how the author made a homemade booth that will be a warm place for your pet and four-legged guard.

In order to make a do-it-yourself booth, we need:
* Plywood sheets
* Vapor-proof insulation for the winter season
* Wooden bars
* Pair of loops
* A circular saw
* Screwdriver
* Screws
* Roofing material, roofing material, tiles, etc.
* Clapboard, if needed (optional)

That's all the materials that will be needed when assembling a homemade booth.
At the moment, there are many ways to make booths on the Internet, but this one has a significant difference, it is warm walls due to the air space in the walls, and also has a separation between the cold outer zone of the booth and the warm zone of the booth.

The advantage of this design is less heat loss to the environment, working on the principle of double-glazed windows. The dimensions of the booth can accommodate a dog 50 cm at the withers, if your pet is larger or smaller, then adjust the dimensions individually.

Step one.
As in other homemade products, at the beginning you need to make a drawing, which will give a complete idea of ​​\u200b\u200bfurther work.

The picture also shows the dimensions of future parts that need to be cut out of plywood, based on these data.

Step four.
Let's make a roof for the booth, which will also be a lid. Such an interesting decision was not made in vain, by opening the lid you can easily clean the space, which is also a big plus.

Before installing the booth in place, do not forget to install it on bricks or build special legs, thereby slightly raising the booth above the ground. This is done due to the fact that the earth can be damp and partially linger in plywood, which will also significantly reduce its service life, and a wet floor can negatively affect the thermal regime inside the booth.

On this, the pet box is ready. In order to give beauty to the booth, you can sheathe the walls with clapboard, but this is already to the taste of everyone.

No matter how spacious the backyard is, the animal should have its own place. In it you can relax, hide from the weather and stay away from annoying attention. For dogs, this place is a booth.

A standard wooden booth is a smaller copy of a house, consisting of a roof, walls and floor. The roof is single-pitched or gable, located parallel to the ground or sloping at an angle. Booths appeared massively in the Middle Ages, when dogs began to be kept not only to look after the herd and hunt, but also to protect the economy. Peasants were not always able to feed large shepherd dogs, so one of the first exquisite and practical booths appeared in the homes of wealthy families.

The dog kennel can be equipped with a vestibule or be made in a simple one-volume version. The vestibule plays the same role as in a residential building, protecting the main room from the weather. Simple structures have only one walled space, into which the dog enters directly from the street.

A quality kennel should keep warm in winter and not warm up much in summer, so wood is the best material. Solid metal structures are not recommended. A tin-plated booth will be heated under the sun, and in winter the dog will not be able to warm up.

In a building that is too spacious, it will be quite cold, since its heating occurs only due to the heat of the animal. A cramped room will not allow the pet to stretch at full strength and will not allow it to spread out during sleep. The optimal size of the kennel should be calculated for each breed of dog.

Before you build a booth, you should find out if the dog can live on the street. Keeping indoor dogs in a kennel is contraindicated. This is especially true of artificially bred breeds. Their resistance to disease and harsh weather is low and can lead to disease.

Dimensions

When planning any kennel, you should not use ready-made options without making sure of their suitability for a particular dog. The dimensions of the living space are calculated as follows:

• height - should be 10-15 cm larger than the height of the dog at the withers. For each breed, the dimensions of the animal are approximately the same, so a full-sized booth can also be built for a puppy;
• length (depth) - is 5-10 cm more than the length of the dog;
• width - taken 5-10 cm more than the height of the dog (slightly lower than the estimated height of the kennel).

This is how the dog is located in the booth to rest to the fullest:

The optimal width of the hole in the booth exceeds the width of the dog by 10 cm, and its height should be about one and a half times greater than the width.

For example, a shepherd dog house should have the following dimensions: 1350 × 1000 × 950 mm with a hole 400 × 600 mm

These parameters allow the animal to easily turn around after entering the dwelling and do not constrain it during rest. The shed-roof booth option will be more spacious, since the entire roof plane will be raised to the optimum level. A gable roof is more economical and provides the required height, reducing excess space for heating. A flat roof without a slope can be made for a kennel in a covered aviary.

Watch a video on how the master makes an insulated version of a booth with an opening roof:

What else do you need to know about dog house design?

1. Removable roof - necessary for periodic cleaning. In the upper part of the roof, windows covered with plexiglass can be left. This will provide some light inside and will be helpful for guard dogs by reducing their reaction time after leaving the dark.
2. Tambour - needed for a dog that will be in the yard all year round. It should be comparable to the dimensions of the booth so that the dog can turn around freely.
3. Mat for a dog - it is necessary to lay out, regardless of the degree of floor insulation. You can buy a special carpet or use regular blankets and thick rags. Even better are rugs made of durable and relatively rigid material that will not clump. The coating can be glued on with glue (stationary version) or fixed with double-sided tape (can be cleaned or changed periodically).

Where is the best place to place?

The main criteria when planning a place for a kennel:

• space closed from direct sunlight. This may be a plot in the shade of a tree or a house wall, as well as a gap between the main and outbuildings;
• near the booth, a piece of land and a hard surface (asphalt, quarrystone, tile) should be located simultaneously. On the ground, the dog will be comfortable in the heat and cold, and the stone will help to wait out the wet weather, when the ground becomes “limp” due to rain;
• the booth cannot be placed in a lowland in which precipitation will accumulate. Also, you should not choose a place through which water flows when watering the site, during floods or rain.

How to build a dog house? Stages of work and preparation of materials

1. Material selection

It is best to take a solid tree as the basis of the booth - bars with a square section. Since the dog will be constantly in the dwelling, the use of wood protection products should be minimized and lumber resistant to rotting should be selected. Practical and cheap pine wood is best suited.

The thickness of the bars should be 50-100 mm. The larger the dog, the stronger the material you need to use. This will increase the stability and strength of the kennel in strong winds.

The walls are also preferably made from solid boards. A single-layer pier may not be enough, so the stock of wood should be calculated based on twice the material consumption. You can cut out finished fragments from a chipboard and later sheathe them with a non-toxic and durable material. It is not recommended to make a booth from solid plywood, as the construction will turn out to be cold and short-lived.

2. Tool for the job

The minimum set of tools should include a saw, drill, hammer and screwdriver. For marking you will need a long ruler or tape measure, a pencil and a square. When assembling the structure, nails (100-150 mm) or self-tapping screws are used. Thin drills will have to drill holes in the attachment points to make the fit of the structure better.

3. Where to start - we make a drawing project of a dog house

You can draw a kennel diagram yourself or use ready-made projects from the network. A typical design is shown in the left figure. Any project is easily drawn based on the template in the right figure.

Standard sizes of booths (length (depth) × width × height):

• German Shepherd (large dog). 1350 × 1000 × 950 mm, manhole - 400 × 600 mm (width × height);
• bull terrier (medium dog). Booth - 1150 × 750 × 800 mm, manhole - 350 × 500 mm;
• Pekingese (small dog). 700 × 550 × 600 mm, manhole - 300 × 400 mm.

4. Site preparation on the site

After choosing the optimal location of the booth, prepare the ground surface. It will have to remove all vegetation from it and remove the top layer of soil. The foundation can be laid out of bricks fastened with cement mortar. Putting the booth directly on the ground is not worth it, since even the most stable wood will rot after a long period of inactivity on wet ground.

5. Preparation of material for the booth

The roof of the kennel must be sheathed with waterproofing. Sheets of roofing material laid on the surface of the slopes will be optimal. It is desirable to cover the bottom with a single piece of plywood or grooved boards. This will make the floor more durable and prevent your dog's claws from getting stuck in the cracks.

In the process of work, you can carry out a “fitting” of the booth. So it will be much easier to assess how comfortable it will be in the kennel for a family pet.

6. Mounting order

The assembly steps of the kennel occur in the following sequence:

• trimming the frame bars according to the selected drawing;
• preparation of the required number of edged boards or cutting out walls from a chipboard sheet;
• assembling the frame with nails or self-tapping screws;
• installation of boards or chipboard on the walls;
• a heater is placed in the gap between the planes of the walls - polystyrene foam or mineral wool. In a single-layer wall, the insulation is placed in the gap between the main partition and the finishing layer;
• installation of finishing, which is plywood sheets or wooden lining.
• laying floor boards and fixing the rug;
• installation of a roof, pre-knocked down from the boards. The removable roof can not be so carefully connected to the base of the booth, using quick-release fasteners for this;
• applying an external coating (varnish, paint or wood preservative);
• roof waterproofing.

At the entrance to the booth, which does not have a vestibule, you can hang a thick canvas apron. It will improve heat retention in winter and will protect your pet well from bad weather.

After assembly, the house is placed on a small elevation above the foundation. You can fix the structure on the corners, which are fixed simultaneously to the kennel and the base.

Kennel care

To maintain the appearance and health of the pet, attention should be paid to hygiene issues. The booth will have to be subjected to periodic cleaning and drying, checking its condition from time to time. A dirty rug needs to be thrown away or washed - which is why the option of temporary fixing with adhesive tape is preferable.

Drying and washing the dog house should be done every year in the summer, when the wood dries quickly. Of the detergents, it is recommended to use only drugs purchased at a veterinary store.

Painting the booth should be carried out to reduce the cracking of the tree and the influence of microorganisms and woodworms on it. Paint is selected from the least toxic varieties. Painting is also worth doing in the summer. The frequency of restoration depends on the rate of destruction of the coloring layer and is about 2-3 years. Every year, the stability of the structure and the presence of play at the joints of the supporting elements should be checked.

The booth can be varnished and coated with special antiseptic impregnations for wood. When caring for a wooden kennel, you should not save money on the safety of materials, since the pet's health depends on them. A booth made of high-quality wood will last 7-8 years without losing its properties, and caring for the structure will extend the operating time and activity of the pet.

Making an ordinary wooden kennel with your own hands is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. Even in a self-assembled dwelling, the dog will feel more confident and safer, hiding from the cold and bad weather. The wooden booth is environmentally friendly, it always maintains the optimum temperature and humidity.

The kennel can perform not only a practical function, but also a decorative one. These are unusual booths, look at the photo:

Before getting a dog, the owner should decide where the dog will live. In the city, most pets live in apartments, and in country houses an animal (especially if the breed is of medium or large size) is assigned a corner in the yard, where they put a finished booth or build it from improvised materials.

The construction of the booth does not require special skills and takes no more than one day with the availability of materials and knowledge of some features.

Design and dimensions

To build a kennel, you need to know its future dimensions, the material for the booth itself and insulation, the location and size of the entrance.

First of all, you should decide on the dimensions of the dog's home. They depend on the size of your dog. The height of the kennel to the ceiling is equal to the height of an adult dog, to which 10 cm is added. The width is determined by measuring the width of the dog’s chest and adding 10 cm to it, the depth is adding 10-20 cm to the body length without a tail.

In general, the kennel should be spacious enough so that the dog can turn around in it and stretch out its paws, but not too bulky, otherwise it will be difficult for the dog to heat it.

If you are making a dog house for a small puppy, then you have to use reference materials. For different breeds, there is a table of recommended kennel dimensions (in width / length / height):

• For large breeds (dogs, mastiffs) - 120*100*100 cm
• For medium breeds (likes, setters, Labradors) - 100 * 80 * 100 cm.
• For small breeds (dachshunds) - 80 * 60 * 80 cm.

Please note that here are the dimensions from the inside, if you plan to do the inner lining, then add the wall thickness to all measurements.

As for the device, they use two options: one room, or they divide it into a "tambour" and the main one. But dogs like to follow what is happening around, and the tambour only gets in the way.

The booth is placed on a wooden platform raised above the ground. Part of the flooring can go beyond the booth, forming a couch, over which it is good to make a canopy - dogs love to spend time outside.

To make it convenient to disinfect and clean, in small booths they make a removable roof or put a folding one. Over time, organic particles, wool and fleas accumulate in the booth, so regular cleaning is necessary.

Many dogs like to lie on the roof, so it is better to make it single-pitched, with a slight slope back to drain water.

The gable roof only increases the internal volume of the booth, which makes heating difficult, without bringing any benefit to the animal.

If you still want to make the roof a "house", then first you should build a flat ceiling so that the dog does not freeze. The roof can be upholstered with bituminous tiles, roofing material, metal tiles.

Material for the booth itself and insulation

The booth can be built from almost any material at hand, traditionally wood or chipboards are used. The best craftsman is coniferous wood, it keeps heat better in the cold season.

Brick and concrete get very hot in hot weather and cool quickly in cold weather, plywood and plastic are short-lived.

Usually a frame is built from a bar, which is then sheathed with the selected material. The main condition for the construction of the roof and walls is that there are no gaps; drafts are dangerous for dogs. The floor, walls and ceiling must be smooth, without protruding knots, screws and nails.

Note!

Any booth should be insulated. As a heater suitable materials such as:

• Felt
• Foam rubber
• Expanded clay
• Penoplex (polystyrene)
• Mineral wool

In the latter case, steam and waterproofing are laid to completely exclude the possibility of fiber particles entering the booth - they cause allergies in dogs. Any insulation should not stick out over the inner lining.

In frosts, they put straw on the floor (namely straw, since the hay is dusty, and the sawdust cakes and quickly dampens), the dog will make a “nest” in it, and throw out the excess.

During the winter, the litter should be replaced two or three times; in warm weather, it is removed.

Laz

Here, too, has its own characteristics. The height of the opening is determined by adding 5 cm to the height of the animal, the width depends on the width of the dog's chest - measure and also add 5-6 cm. Make it wider - it will be cold, narrower - it is inconvenient for the dog to climb.

Note!

The opening is not cut in the center of the wall, but shifted to one of the corners. Your dog will be able to hide from rain and wind behind the wall. For a small puppy, a small opening is made, which expands as it grows.

The entrance to the kennel is hung with two panels of coarse cloth, cut into wide strips. The fabric is fixed in the opening, shifting the cuts, so the dog can freely enter, and the wind will not blow inside.

A threshold 10-15 cm high is nailed to the bottom of the opening so that snow does not get inside and so that the dog does not throw out the litter.

The booth is located on an elevated place, well closed from the sun and wind, but giving a good overview of the site from the entrance.

Insulated kennel option

In this case, a doghouse was built from improvised means, with a small canopy on the side and two blank walls.

Note!

In size, they knocked together two wide wooden shields on four supports made of timber. Floor boards were laid on this platform. Feet are needed to protect the floor from moisture.

Bars were attached to the corners of the structure. There were six pieces in total: four bars for the booth itself and two for the outer windproof walls.

Then they built the inner lining, attached 7 cm of foam plastic to it and sheathed it with boards from the outside. To prevent water from leaking between the skins, a bar was nailed on top.

Whole boards were used for the outer wall cladding adjacent to the windproof wall. So the whole structure becomes more rigid.

The construction of the roof took the most time. They didn’t want to make it completely flat, so they first built an insulated shield, to which they nailed a rounded cover from typesetting rails.

The roof turned out to be not sloping, but due to the shape, the water will still drain. To protect against moisture, a film was placed under the boards.

The scheme of the booth for a large breed of dogs (Caucasian)

The photo booth shown below was built for a medium-sized dog, but according to the drawings of the booth intended for a Caucasian.

The kennel was going to be placed near the bathhouse and they wanted to make it appropriate in style. For the booth, the remaining materials from the construction of the bath itself were used.

Adjustments were made to the original design: a cleaning door was made at the back, and a viewing window was cut in the side wall.

First, a wooden platform was built and painted from logs, which were previously planed and hammered together. Then we proceeded to the actual assembly of the booth. The structure was completely assembled in the workshop and then taken out and installed in the right place near the bathhouse.

The lower crown was laid whole - it is the support of the structure and forms the threshold. Then, according to the planned scheme, a beam was cut.

Since the owners planned to build the roof in the form of a “house”, like in a bathhouse, they built a flat ceiling from a thick sheet of plywood. He was laid on a dowel cut in a beam. Then they installed and fixed the shields on top.

They were assembled without a rafter mesh, as the roof is decorative. They simply nailed the shields together, upholstered the soft tiles left over from the bath and sheathed the pediments with boards.

The booth is ready. Construction and installation took half a day.

DIY photo booth for a dog