Content
- 1 Optimal location for a kennel
- 2 Drawing preparation and calculating the dimensions of the doghouse
- 3 We take into account all the nuances and design features of the dog house
- 4 We prepare materials for construction
- 5 Getting started assembling a house for your pet
- 6 Some useful tips for booth beautification
In private estates, the role of the yard watchman is played by a dog. To protect their territory, dogs are inherent in instinct, and the animal will cope with its work under any conditions. However, on the part of the owner, it is necessary to show respect for the pet, providing him with comfortable housing. Now we will look at how to make a kennel for a dog, what calculations are needed to build a drawing and other nuances.
Optimal location for a kennel
Before you make a kennel for a dog with your own hands, you need to think about where it will stand in the yard. The entire home territory should be viewed by the dog, which means that the kennel will be located in a visible place. The house must be made not only comfortable for the pet, but also beautiful so that it does not spoil the aesthetics of the yard.
To ensure the most positive living conditions for the dog, a booth in the yard is located, adhering to several rules:
- The doghouse is positioned so that the wind does not blow through the hole into the house. Strong gusts, accompanied by dust storms, will prevent the dog from performing its duties. Here you will have to observe where the wind most often blows from, and correctly deploy the booth.
- The place should be partially sunlit and shaded. This will give the dog the opportunity to bask in the sun, and during extreme heat, hide in the shade.
- The place for the kennel is chosen taking into account the landscape of the yard. Lowlands are the worst choice for a kennel. Here melt and rain water constantly accumulates. The dog will often be wet, dirty, and mold and dampness will settle inside the house.
- Usually a dog booth is installed near the entrance to the yard and house. This makes it possible for the dog to control the most important objects, not allowing strangers to approach them.
Having decided on the location of the dog kennel, they begin to think over its design so that the house is as aesthetically pleasing as possible with the interior of the yard.
Drawing preparation and calculating the dimensions of the doghouse
The presented photo of the dog booth shows an example of the developed calculation scheme. After all, you can't just knock down the box, as many people think, and let the animal live there. A cramped kennel will restrict the movement of the dog, prevent it from turning. A house that is too spacious will be cold in winter.
To determine the optimal size of the kennel, it is necessary to measure the length of the lying dog. When the dog stretches its paws forward, it is necessary to have time to measure it with a tape measure from the claws of the paws to the edge of the tail. Add 15 cm to the stock, and the result determines the optimal width and depth of the booth. Why should the width be the same? Because dogs love to sleep not only along, but also across the booth.
The roof of the dog booth with their own hands is most often made single-pitched, since the animal loves to lie on it. You can make a gable structure, but it will make the house heavier. Usually a gable roof is placed on a small kennel to increase the interior space. However, this option is only suitable for a cold booth. A ceiling is made inside the insulated house, so it will not work to expand the space due to the gable roof.
In any case, the height of the dog kennel from floor to ceiling is determined by the height of the dog at the withers, adding 15 cm to the reserve. The size of the hole is made 10 cm larger than the dimensions of the dog so that it can freely pass, and not squeeze through a small hole. It is easier to make a rectangular hole in shape, but you can also cut an oval one with a jigsaw.
In the photo we have presented an approximate drawing of a dog booth, where the dimensions are indicated. Naturally, they will have to be individually calculated for the size of the dog. In addition, such a house with dimensions can be changed in the internal layout. The appearance of the structure will remain unchanged, but its dimensions will increase due to the division of the internal space by a partition into two rooms. This version of the kennel is considered all-season. Another hole is cut out in the partition, through which the dog will climb into the dormitory in winter. In summer, the dog will most often lie in the vestibule, watching through the central hole for everything that happens in the yard.
By physique, the dogs used to guard the yard can be conditionally divided into three types. This will help you calculate the size of the booth if you cannot measure the animal.
So, the approximate size of the house for each type of dog:
- small dogs - 70x55x60 cm;
- medium-sized dogs - 120x75x80 cm;
- large dogs - 140x100x95 cm.
The dimensions of the house are indicated in order: length, width, height.
The video shows drawings of a doghouse for review:
We take into account all the nuances and design features of the dog house
In order for the manufacture of the structure to be successful, do-it-yourself drawings of the dog booth must be correctly displayed on paper. All sizes, nodes, shapes of blanks, parameters of the roof and manhole are indicated in the diagram.
During the development of the drawing, it is important to take into account the climate of the region where the animal will live. For northern regions with severe winter frosts, even a two-room booth will not be enough. Walls, floor and ceiling will have to be insulated. To do this, when drawing up the scheme, double sheathing of the frame of the dog house is provided so that a void is formed between the walls. This space is filled with foam or mineral wool.
It is important to note that many large dog breeds are not designed to be chained. You cannot leave an animal constantly walking around the yard. It is not known how the dog will behave with children or guests who have come. For large dogs, an open-air cage is arranged in the yard, and a booth is placed inside it.
We prepare materials for construction
Manufactured dog kennel do it yourself from brick, metal or wood. The first two materials do not retain heat well, do not make it possible to transfer the constructed kennel to another place and, in general, it is difficult to work with them. Wood is considered the best choice. You will need boards with a thickness of 20-30 mm, and a bar with a section of 50x50 mm. It is better to give preference to pine. Hardwoods will last longer, but without a powerful power tool, oak or larch is very difficult to process.
When you have an accurate drawing of a doghouse at hand, boards and beams can be cut into pieces according to the calculated dimensions. Further, there is a difficult job of sanding the wood. It is necessary to clean the workpieces as much as possible from protruding knots, splinters and other flaws.
When making an insulated booth for a dog, it is immediately necessary to prepare thermal insulation. After all, it will have to be laid immediately during the frame sheathing. The insulation must be protected from moisture by waterproofing. In this regard, a piece of roofing material, film or other material that does not allow moisture to pass through will help.
Getting started assembling a house for your pet
The photo shows an option of how to build a doghouse from individual elements with a gable roof. Naturally, a self-drawn drawing will differ from the proposed scheme, but the basic essence of the assembly of the structure is the same for any kennel.
So, holding the diagram at hand, they start assembling the house:
- The structure is based on the frame. It is made from timber. The rectangular bottom frame is assembled first. It is important to consider the dog's weight at this stage. Floors can bend under large animals. To strengthen the bottom, additional jumpers are placed on the frame.
- Four vertical posts are installed at the corners of the frame. Additional supports that form the base of the manhole are fixed in place where the front wall of the booth will be. On top of the rack of the kennel around the perimeter, they are fastened with a strapping from a bar.
- The frame sheathing starts from the bottom. The floor is laid from the board, after which the booth is turned upside down. From the bottom of the frame, a cell turned out. If the bottom of the kennel is made insulated, then a sheet of waterproofing is placed in this cell, the space is filled with any insulation, and, closing it again with waterproofing, the second bottom is filled from the board. Legs for a doghouse can be cut from a bar or any round timber about 100 mm long. At a cold booth, the bottom from under the bottom is only covered with waterproofing.
- Outside, the frame of the kennel is upholstered with a board. Inside, similar cells are formed on the walls, as well as on the bottom. By the same method, insulation can be laid here. The inner lining is easier to make from the OSB board. If the booth is designed for two rooms, a partition is placed inside, and a hole is immediately cut through.
- The made main part of the booth is put on the legs, after which they begin to fix the ceiling. In the cold version of the kennel, it is enough to nail the plywood to the upper strapping of the racks. To make an insulated ceiling, two pieces of plywood are nailed from the bottom and top of the frame bars. Then a void is formed between them, which is filled with waterproofing and insulation.
- For a pitched roof, a slight slope is made towards the rear wall of the house. If the option of a gable roof is chosen, triangular rafters are knocked down from the rails and fixed to the upper frame of the kennel. A board is sewn on top, after which the roofing material is nailed. The dog will sit on a flat roof. Here it is better to make the roof of a hard material so that he does not break it with his claws. Even roofing material is suitable for a gable roof. The gables are easier to sew up with plywood.
On this, the do-it-yourself dog booth is practically completed. Now it remains to paint and install it in its place. With the onset of cold weather, a curtain made of durable tarpaulin or rubberized fabric is nailed over the manhole.
Some useful tips for booth beautification
Not all dog breeds can tolerate cold weather. Sometimes insulating a booth is not enough. To prevent the dog from freezing in winter, caring owners install electric panel heaters inside the kennel. They are produced in small sizes especially for dog houses. Alternatively, even at the construction stage of the booth, an infrared film is laid under the cladding, which is used for underfloor heating systems. Such heating consumes little electricity, and the pet feels comfortable even in severe frosts.
Making a kennel must be taken seriously. If the dog is comfortable in the house, he will thank the owner with faithful service.
