How to Build a Large Dog House
We usually keep our dogs indoors for the night but at times our pets want to spend some time outside. That is also true for large dogs that love to run around and have some sort of private space for themselves. Here are a few tips you can follow when you build a large dog house.
Assessing the Location
There are some dog owners who construct dog houses in their garage. This is not an ideal place for these animals and may become quite dangerous to them as well. The ideal location is usually outside in your yard as long as your fence is quite secure. The idea is to be able to let your dog loose in the yard and let him go in and out of his dog house whenever he pleases. Since large dog houses are usually placed outdoors, you should consider adding insulation.
Required Materials
Never use pressure treated wood since they are known to be toxic to dogs. Remember that dogs will usually have a tendency to chew on things and a large dog house is no exception. You’ll need a bunch of 2×4s and some 3/4 inch plywood that are exterior grade. You’ll need some plastic sheeting, get the heavy duty ones.
You’ll also need Styrofoam in shipping peanut or block form, aluminum drip edge, carpentry nails, roofing shingles, concrete pads or bricks, enamel paint, and at least four pieces of nuts and bolts. In terms of equipment, you’ll need a circular saw, craft knife, hammer, power drill, staple gun with staples, and measuring tape.
Measuring Your Dog
Whether you use an actual pre-made diagram or not, you will still need to adjust your measurements according to the actual size of your dog. As your dog is standing up measure its height from the head to the ground. This measurement will be the height of the large dog house’s ceiling.
You might want to add a few more inches to your measurements if your dog is young and will still grow taller. The length of the dog house will about twice the dog’s height while its width is 3/5 the length. Adjust the measurements you made in case you expect puppies to come along in the months and years to come.
Making the Diagram
Having made all the measurements you can now proceed to make the diagram. Be sure to add an interior wall for insulation. The space in between the interior walls and the exterior walls will be filled with Styrofoam. You will also need to calculate your desired slope for the roof. The front of the roof is usually higher than the back. A five or six inch slope will usually be enough.
Constructing the Large Dog House
Following your diagram design you can now commence building the dog house. You can use redwood or cedar for the floor frame and plywood for the actual floor. Staple the plastic sheeting on the inside of the exterior wall. Affix the plywood sheets on the inside and outside of the dog house using nails. The cutout of the door should be enough to accommodate your dog.
Assemble the roof frame and affix them on the dog house making an overhang. You’ll be using the 1/2 inch sheet of plywood and some 2×4s to construct the roof. Nail the aluminum drip edge around the roof. Make sure to nail a couple of layers of plastic sheeting on the roof as well. Now you can staple or nail the shingles or tar paper.
Finally, you can now paint the dog house using non-toxic paint. In case an end wobbles you can use wood wedges to fix the wobbly end. You can position the large dog house in different sections of your yard depending on weather conditions.
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