When thinking about the design of building a booth for a dog with your own hands, drawing up drawings and calculating dimensions, you must immediately take into account that this is her house for years, which means that it must correspond to all the features of the tenant, be convenient and attractive for him. The best option for a dog house is a portable one. Over time, the place occupied by a four-legged guard may be needed for construction, planting a tree or laying out a flower bed - then you can simply move the house to another place without causing concern to the animal and without creating construction problems for the owner.
Content:
- Choosing the best place
- Building materials
- The simplest solution and step by step recommendations
- Capital structure of stone, brick, building blocks
- How to build a stone house
- Hunting dogs: walking, booths and cabins
- A dog in an apartment - a comfortable house as a personal territory
- Small but important additions
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Choosing the best place
The location of the booth for our younger friends is an important point
The choice of location must meet a number of criteria:
- The structure should be on a slight elevation relative to the surrounding space, then the pet will never be in a puddle or sleep on a damp floor. This condition is very important to prevent water and snow from entering the dog house.
- If possible, the kennel should be installed near buildings, fences - this will protect the animal from drafts, which are more destructive for dogs than severe frosts.
- The ideal place for the booth is in the shade of a tree, but only partial - the sun is also very important for the health of the dog.
- A hard, natural covering around the booth is a necessary and important condition not only for the animal, but also for the convenience of the owner's approach to it. Asphalt and concrete are not the best surfaces; over time, they can cause paw diseases in a dog.
- Excessively close location of the house to the path with the constant movement of people unnerves the animal, causes its unreasonable anxiety. The owners themselves will also not be pleased with the endless barking of dogs.
- The canine instinct provides for the protection of the territory, and always seeing and hearing everything without getting out of the booth is a condition for its design and choice of location. The possibility of a good overview of the protected area is an important condition for the peace of mind of the animal and the reliability of protection.
Why you shouldn't keep your dog in the barn
The barn is no place for a dog
Often, having outbuildings on the site, the owner of the dog prefers not to build a separate house for it, but keeps it in a barn.
This is strictly contraindicated:
- the darkness of the barn keeps the dog constantly on alert and is very poorly tolerated by the animal
- constant reaction to the sounds made by insects or rodents causes irritation, nervousness, anxiety in animals
- the heat generated by the dog's body will completely heat a small building, but not a barn
- from the barn it is impossible to observe what is happening outside, this causes depression of the dog, lethargy, heart disease
- lighting a barn with electricity does not replace daylight, badly affects vision
- it is absolutely unacceptable to keep dogs together with farm animals and poultry
The size of the animal - the initial data for the construction of the kennel
You should not arbitrarily choose the dimensions of the building for the dog, guided by considerations to save material or use ready-made structures. The main criterion for the construction of the booth is the size of the animal, which sometimes has to live in it all its life.
Average booth sizes for different dogs
The height of the dog at the withers with the addition of 20 cm is the height of the booth. The animal enters the house for rest or sheltering from the weather and usually does not stand in it, but turns around to face the exit and fits comfortably, inspecting the protected area through the hole. Based on this behavior, a sufficient size of the booth in length will be the distance from the tip of the dog's tail to the claws of the paws extended forward with the addition of 15 cm.
If the animal wants to lie across, then the size should be the same, that is, the optimal shape of the base of the building is a square. There is no need to add dimensions, with a margin or “for growth” - in the winter cold, the dog heats his house with his warmth, and an increase in the volume of the room means a greater need for heat.
The size of the entrance or manhole is determined by:
- dog chest width + 10cm = manhole width
- height at the withers + 12 cm = manhole height
- hole shape can be rectangular or oval, round
Kennel sizes for large dogs
Large dog breeds
If a fast-growing puppy is purchased, and you would like to build a booth now, then you should be guided by breed standards and their maximum sizes.
Dividing the rocks into two groups, large and large, we can recommend the following maximum sizes of booths and manholes for them:
- Caucasian Shepherd Dog, St. Bernard, English Mastiff, Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, Bullmastiff are large dogs. The largest booth size for them: 210 x 140 x 90 cm, manhole 75 x 40
- Large dogs: Alabai, Akita Inu, Bobtail, Mountain Dog, Leonberger, Moscow Guard, Newfoundland, Labrador, Shorthaired Pointer, Giant Schnauzer, German and Bulgarian Shepherds, Samoyed, Husky, Russian Terrier, Cane Corso, Darthaar. Maximum dimensions for this group: 180x130x90, manhole 60x40
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The owner, having decided on the place of construction and the type of structure, first calculates the need for materials. It happens the other way around - the farm has unused building materials that are suitable for use in dog housing.
Modern dog house architecture
But first you need to figure out which materials can be suitable, and which are undesirable and contraindicated.
- Any plastic that emits odors when heated in the sun can cause allergic reactions in animals and rejection of their home. The same can be said about varnishes and paints: the decorativeness of a dog's home is good for the owner, but not needed and even harmful to the dog.
- A booth sheathed in metal without an insulating layer does not warm up in winter and is too hot in summer. It is only possible to manufacture a strong welded metal frame in the construction of a dwelling for large and strong dogs, but the strength of a properly arranged structure made of wood is quite enough
- Asbestos-cement sheets (flat and corrugated slate) are harmful to human health, and therefore not suitable for dogs
- Insulations in the form of various kinds of pressed wadding or based on foamed polystyrene and polyurethane are not needed for two reasons: dogs easily tolerate significant cold and can easily do without insulation in the design of the kennel; all foreign odors cause a decrease in the sense of smell and allergies in dogs
- There is no need to replace wood with particle board furniture panels. From dampness, they quickly swell and lose strength.
Warm booth
It is not recommended to install additional devices for heating the booth
The installation of a heated floor or the installation of a heating radiator in a kennel is not only unnecessary, but also harmful to the yard guard. The dog perfectly tolerates sub-zero winter temperatures, warming itself on its own in a dry kennel, securely sheltered from drafts.
If the animal's house is heated, but the guard constantly jumps out of it, then a sharp change in temperature will adversely affect the growth of the undercoat, can lead to hair loss, untimely molting, and colds. For the same reason, it is harmful and not necessary to transfer the dog to the house in winter, even for a short time.
Wooden structures: the best material and ease of construction
Timeless classic - wooden booth
The most common material for making a booth is boards of any breed, planed and untreated, edged and slab. Log cabins made of thin logs and undercarriages look very good and are comfortable for animals. The building can be solid and without decorative excesses become a decoration of the yard.
In arranging a home for a true friend, heaters and special bedding can be used, curtains over the entrance from snow and rain, awnings to create shade, sunbeds for relaxing not far from the house.
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The simplest solution and step by step recommendations
A novice home master first needs to visualize the structure that he wants to create. Excessive fantasies for a novice builder usually end when he starts drawing up a drawing, drawing or sketch.
The product, especially if it is the first one, should be planned simple, understandable in execution, simple rectangular in shape, with a central entrance, single-sided. First you need to understand that the shape of the booth is an ordinary closed box with a lid.
Drawing booth for a dog with dimensions
The floor is made first
- This is a shield with internal dimensions of the length and width of the booth, but with the addition of 12 cm to the length and width. On a flat table, four beams are laid in the form of a frame. You can connect them to each other on metal corners.
- On the one hand, waterproofing is attached to the frame - roofing material, roofing felt, glassine. There are a dozen or two brand names, but you can choose the cheapest option. You can use a stapler for fastening, you can nail thin slats so that the roofing material does not sag.
- Immediately after filing the insulation, two or three beams are nailed along or across the frame. It is better to paint them or cover them with bituminous mastic - they will stand on the ground, and the coating will save them from rapid decay.
- The frame is turned over, a heater is placed inside it. You can cover the insulation, if it is glass wool or other dusty material, with any insulating film. Further, a continuous boardwalk is made of grooved boards with a thickness of 30-40 mm.
The next step will be the manufacture of side shields
- They are made in the same way as the floor shield, but 20 mm thick boards are nailed to the frame, and the insulation and insulation are not yet inserted.
- The length of both side shields is equal to the length of the floor, and the width is equal to the inner height of the kennel.
- The sidewalls are installed on the floor flush with its edges and fastened together with self-tapping screws or corners.
- To perform fastening, it is better to lay the structure on its side.
- The side walls are installed strictly vertically in level and temporarily fixed from above with slats or boards between themselves.
Next up is the back wall.
- The manufacturing procedure is the same as for the side ones, and the dimensions should be removed from the already prepared place under the end shield.
- The assembled end wall is inserted into the overall product and attached to the side walls.
front part
- The front face has only one additional complication: the device of the manhole. The manhole frame is made separately, taking into account the possibility of inserting it into the front wall and fastening it with it.
- In the future, the front of the booth is sheathed with boards, taking into account the manhole and installed between the side shields with the part sheathed with boards inside, like the previous parts.
Roof
- The cover is made last - an exact analogue of the floor without insulation.
- It is installed with the sheathed part down and fastened to the side and end walls with self-tapping screws and flat furniture corners.
- On such a structure, the roof slope is arranged from the roofing materials used. It is allowed without bias at all.
side walls
- They can be insulated according to the principle of the roof and ceiling, and then sheathed with plywood or other materials.
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If the booth is built in one place forever, and this often happens in a small yard, then a capital structure is most suitable. The main advantage of such structures is not in strength and durability. Stone, including artificial in the form of monolithic concrete, is a natural material.
Shelter or shelter made of stone is similar to a burrow or cave in natural conditions. If such an artificial burrow is kept dry and clean, then there is no need for a better home for a yard guard. Below in the photo is the principle of the booth-burrow: such options are easier to perform in stone or monolithic concrete.
Monumental stone booth
Recommendations for the sanitation of a dog kennel are in principle correct and justified, but it is extremely rare for owners to carry out general cleaning and disinfection in a dog kennel once a week, as sanitary rules recommend. In essence, these requirements and recommendations are written for keeping animals in a kennel or for a dog breeding business. It is quite realistic and sufficient to carry out preventive sanitization of the booth two or three times a year.
But the conversation is about the design of the booth: is it necessary to provide for a hinged lid or collapsible walls in it for cleaning and putting things in order inside. Serious practical breeders of dogs of large economic breeds arrange capital constructions without additional conditions: it is quite possible to carry out disinfection several times a year through a manhole.
An all-stone or concrete structure in the form of a cozy hole is much more comfortable for a home watchman, and dogs can also perceive their home as a fortress.
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How to build a stone house
The construction of such a structure does not require high professionalism and great building skills, and the cost savings are significant.
Stone pug kennel
Markup, preparation, zero cycle
Construction steps based on kennel sizes for large breed dogs:
- For a typical internal size of a dog house, a length of 210 cm, a width of 140 cm, a height of 90 cm, a manhole 75 cm high and a width of 40 cm are taken
- The breakdown of the site for the structure is carried out using a square and pegs
- Along the outer perimeter of the marking, the vegetable soil is removed with a bayonet shovel to a depth of up to 15 cm, 25 cm wide
- The resulting trench is covered with a layer of sand 5 cm thick, poured abundantly with water for shrinkage and natural tamping.
- A concrete layer 5 cm thick is poured around the perimeter with alignment at one mark using the building level. Concrete is enough M100-150. You can independently make a concrete mix in the ratio cement M500: sand: fine crushed stone = 1: 3: 4
- After the concrete preparation has set, a brick is laid with a poke (along the width) around the entire perimeter on a cement mortar with a layer of up to 1 cm.
- Further, laying is carried out in an ordinary way to a level of 7-10 cm from the ground. At this mark, waterproofing is performed: along the perimeter, roofing material is laid on the brick on bituminous mastic with an overlap of 5-10 cm on both sides of the masonry
- Inside the perimeter, a sand and gravel bedding is arranged with moisture and a dense rammer to the level of waterproofing of the walls. It is advisable to lay a layer of roofing material with a solid carpet over the compacted inner platform
A beam of 50 x 50 mm is laid along the walls along the length, then two more bars are laid in parallel at a distance of 45 cm from them - these are logs under the floors.
Before further construction of the walls, it is desirable to lay the floors. They can be made two-layer: two perpendicular layers of boards 25 mm thick. The single-layer coating is made of 40 mm grooved board.
Further, the laying of the walls continues up to a mark of 90 cm from the level of the wooden floor. All internal masonry seams should be carefully rubbed and smoothed down.
The wooden jumper is quite durable, later it will be possible to simply and securely attach a curtain to it to protect against the cold.
The outer perimeter of the wall is measured, a frame is made according to its size. After secure fastening with corners from the outside, it should be tried on - as if put on a brick frame. It should be freely worn on the wall with a tolerance for possible swelling of the wood.
The frame on the ground is sheathed with two perpendicularly laid layers of 25 mm boards with a layer of roofing material on bitumen laid between them. Then the finished roof is put on a frame of brick walls.
It is possible to fasten the roof and walls with the help of a knitting wire, previously launched into the masonry. If you still plan to open the booth from above, then you don’t need to fasten it: the roof structure is quite heavy and will not be blown away by the wind. The door frame in the manhole is not needed, but the threshold at the entrance can come in handy.
Consumption of materials for the building:
- board 40mm - 0.1 m3
- board 25 mm 0.12 m3
- timber 50x50 mm - 35p.m
- brick - 400 pcs
- roofing felt - 1 roll (15 m)
- cement 200 kg
Monolithic dog house
Pouring the foundation for the construction of a concrete booth
The brick structure can be replaced by a concrete, monolithic one.
The approximate progress of the concrete work is as follows:
- Tightly, without cracks, shields knocked down from boards and bars according to the size of the booth are installed with a flat side inside the future house
- They are fastened tightly to each other and supported from the inside by spacers - this will be an internal fixed formwork
- Outside, at a distance of the future wall thickness of 15-25 cm, the same shields are installed with the smooth side inward
- The walls are temporarily fastened together with trimmings of boards and reinforced from the outside with wooden props - this is done from the possible spreading of the shields when the space between them is filled with concrete mix
- Concrete is poured into the resulting formwork, after setting, the outer panels are removed
- Laying another shield with a flat surface down on top of the structure, we get a formwork for pouring concrete over the kennel
- The thickness of the floor will be equal to the height of the additional formwork along the perimeter of the already finished walls
Such a bunker also has its own design features: it is possible to increase the strength of the walls with reinforcement, the shields on the concrete side must be glued with waterproofing, for the manhole it is necessary to make a door frame in size and cut it into the formwork shield.
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A hunting dog must always be in shape, so it is not advisable to keep it on a leash.. It is better to keep the animal in an aviary or in a fenced area. In order for the dog to be active, to be able to move a lot, to maintain its working qualities, it needs at least 8 square meters of walking area or fence, without taking into account the booth installed in the walking area.
This is the minimum requirement for a dog: if the territorial capabilities of the owner allow, then it is better to increase the area.
Booth for a hunting dog
A booth for a hunting dog, in principle, is no different from a house for other breeds of the same size., but very often breeders-hunters keep two or three dogs and even small packs of hounds. It is allowed to install a separate booth for each dog. Sometimes booths increase in area by one and a half to two times and contain dogs in pairs.
When keeping several dogs - to the area of 8 sq.m, you must add 4 sq.m for each additional animal.
But the best option for keeping 3 or more animals is the arrangement of a common room - a cabin. Usually it is a shed building made of boards or other material 2 m high along the facade, with an entrance door in the center of the front. Manholes are arranged on the sides of the door.
The cabin is built based on the floor area of 1.5 - 2 m2 per head. Inside the cabin, along the walls for resting dogs, beds are arranged at a height of 40-50 cm from the floor in the form of a continuous boardwalk. The width of the beds is 70 cm, sides are nailed to the side with a height of 10 cm so that grass or reed bedding does not slip off the bed.
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In fact, this is a variant of a dog house in an apartment design.
In urban areas, dog lovers often keep them in their apartments. There are many positive things in living together with a smart faithful animal on the same square, but often the owners forget that their pets must have their own territory, their protected and inviolable personal space.
Of course, boards, bricks and iron for building a shelter for a dog are not applicable in an apartment: fabrics and shelters from them are more appropriate. Sometimes it is enough to highlight a nook separated by furniture or a screen.
Even indoors, in a small space, the dog needs to observe everything that happens around, to be aware of all events and always ready to fight back: these qualities are instinctive and must be taken into account to create a home for a faithful guard. The size of the dog, its characteristics as a guard and protector, its purpose in the house do not play a special role here.
The best option for a pet living in an apartment
In any case, the animal needs a sense of at least equality with family members and its own importance among people.
The best solution for an apartment is a device for a pet bed with a roof and walls. Such a dwelling can look like a kennel, a hole or a cradle. Such shelter houses are more necessary for dwarf dogs, for whom the opportunity to hide is extremely important, and comfort and care are necessary no less than for a child.
Primary requirements
As well as with street maintenance, the main requirement for housing is compliance with the size of the tenant. The dog in the house should be able to take any position. Many animals rest, lying on their side and stretching out their paws - this is the minimum size of their home.
Comfortable kennel for an apartment dog
- If the pet has a thick and shaggy coat, then the house should be with a removable lid or a folding top in case the temperature in the house is too high for the dog
- A kennel in an apartment for a medium-sized dog can be oval or triangular in shape - they are optimal for pets who prefer to sleep curled up
- The base or floors of the apartment kennel can be any hard material: plywood, plastic, furniture boards made of chipboard, OSB.The hard bottom is necessarily covered with a soft but durable material
- Do not use foam rubber or expanded polystyrene (styrofoam) in the decoration - they will be torn by sharp teeth in the very first days and can harm the health of animals
- The mattress on the bedding must be made of strong material with a necessarily removable cover. Any fabric for sheltering a room kennel should be easily removable and replaceable for washing.
- The temperature in the apartment, which is optimal for people, will be good for the smallest dog, but there should be no drafts in the shelter for it. Therefore, equip the house should be away from the entrance doors or opening windows. It is even better if the bed for the animal is raised a few centimeters above the floor.
- If there are small children in the house, then the frame of the dog house must be strong enough so that a child sitting or leaning on it cannot injure the animal
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Even a booth made of snow is better for a dog than the heat
There are subtleties in every case, including in keeping a dog:
- in the house near the bitch ready to bring the puppies along the walls, at a height of 7-10 cm from the floor, it is necessary to nail the rails 50 mm thick over the entire length - this is a guarantee that the mother will not crush her offspring, clinging to the wall
- if there are several dogs on the farm, and they are kept in enclosures with separate booths, then in neighboring kennels there should be dogs of different sex and age - otherwise there will be no peace
- even when hunting for an overnight stay, a pet needs a small house - a hut made of grass or branches, so he will spend the night more calmly and will be quite active in the morning
- keeping a dog on a chain, especially a heavy and long one, often leads to the complete destruction of the booth if there are places in its design that a metal leash can catch on
- the dog can live in a booth made of snow or ice, but always does not tolerate extreme heat
- in many cases, the dog howls not foreshadowing misfortune in the house, but only because her stomach is wet - it's time to change the bedding in the booth; hay is not suitable as bedding: the animal instantly turns it into dust, and the best option is barley straw
- if in severe frost a dog is brought into a warm house for several days, then soon it will begin to shed and its undercoat will stop growing.
These nuances are not entirely on topic at first glance, but when building a home for your faithful guard, you must follow not only the drawings and building recommendations - you need to show care and attention to detail.
DIY Dog House
How to make a booth for a dog with your own hands: building a home in the yard and in the apartment. Drawings, dimensions and original ideas (55+ Photos & Videos) + Reviews
