At this time of year I am really glad for the kennel decks I have. The dogs are clean, dry and comfortable, when everything around them is a soupy mess. We’ve had a pretty good snow year this year and now everything is melting off. The ground is still frozen about 8 inches down, so the water just sits on the top and the yard is like a soppy sponge. 

We have seen some really poor housing facilities for dogs, and they become much worse during the spring because of wet muddy conditions; dogs chained up in a mud bog, on muddy, poopy ground, and other such. If you’re in this situation, know that your dog deserves better, and there is a better way for a lot cheaper than pouring concrete.

 

I absolute love my Dog Den dog houses, but if you would like to build one of your own rather than buy one, I ran across some plans on the Resha Sled Dog website. They look fairly simple and straight forward; made with one sheet of plywood. The only thing I would suggest adding is metal corner bead (for finishing drywall corners) around the door to keep dogs from chewing on the edges.

To go right to their website, click on their name above. I have also copied the information below.

 

ONE SHEET (4′ X 8′) PLYWOOD DOG HOUSE

Measurements are for ½” plywood.  Exterior grade is recommended.  Nailing strips should be used for reinforcing the contact points.  When using ¾” material nailing strips are not necessary, however, note that the floor should then measure 33 ½” in length.  When nailing together – the sides overlap the bottom, front and back panels.  The front and back panels also overlap the bottom.  By nailing blocks to the  inside of the roof it can simply sit on top of the house without sliding and be conveniently lifted off when cleaning out the house.  The box should be painted and placed on blocks of 2 by 4’s to keep it off the ground.

Make sure the dog’s line is long enough to allow jumping up onto the roof.

from http://www.reshaequip.com/ 

 This is not an advertisement for K-9 Kondos, since I’m not getting anything out of this blog. But I have to say, I love their dog houses; I have 5 of them. I got the barrel house (K-9 Kondo) about 15 years ago and it still looks great. A couple of years ago I replaced the plywood platform on the top, otherwise it is still as good as the day I got it. More recently I have purchased 4 of their Dog Dens. They are aesthetically appealing, well insulated, weather resistant and totally chew proof. The dogs love to lie on top and hang their paws over the edge. (This is an advantage over other manufactured dog houses.) Previously, I spent a ton of time planning and building a wooden dog house which was insulated, but the dogs proceeded to chew it to chips and in no time it looked terrible. The K-9 dog houses are well priced. They keep the dogs warm in the winter, cool in the summer and always look great.