DOG HOUSE PLANS – What You Need To Know About DOG HOUSE PLANS

By Pergola Plans On February 25, 2012 Under Dog House Plans

Dog House Plans – Pretty Straightforward Construction

It’s not hard to construct a Kennel or even a Dog House as long as you can get your creative hands on a decent set of Dog House Plans. These plans will be perfect for your next Woodworking Project if you currently own a Dog or plan on bringing one into your family soon. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to possess a wild imagination to create one of these and you can make one within a day or two.

Many of us love Woodworking, and constructing a Kennel with a reliable set of Dog House Plans is an awesome undertaking, especially if you’re currently a neophyte to DIY projects. Another benefit to putting together a Kennel is that you will get great exercise in the process. Your body will be forced to bend, twist and turn which will get your blood pumping and circulating. And not only this, the experience you get putting one of these together will prepare you for large projects in the future like constructing a Greenhouse, Patio Deck or a Shed.

Dog House Plans – Simplicity Is The Key

Don’t try and kill yourself attempting to put together the most complicated Dog House Plans you can’t find. I’m not saying you should use cheap or free plans because you shouldn’t, I’ll talk more about that later. However, you should start off building your Dog’s Kennel with a relatively easy to read set of plans. Also make sure that the plans you do decide to run with match the size of your dog. The problem with building a Dog Kennel that’s too large, is that your dog will encounter problems keeping himself warm during the coolest months of the year. The Kennel you build should be just large enough for them to crawl inside, as well as leave enough room for them to turn around and fall asleep.

You also want to make sure that you build the roof with a slope that is detachable. You need to be able to remove and clean the roof anytime it gets dirty and needs cleaning. Many Kennels are built with steel wires on the floor which will make the floor very easy to clean. Also, get Dog House Plans that include insulation plans that will protect your Dog from severe weather conditions. Make sure that any materials you purchase are pet safe and won’t hurt your Dog.

Dog House Plans – Types Of Tools Required

The good news is that using good Dog House Plans to construct your next Dog House won’t be a rocket science project. All you should need to build one of these are common tools you should have around the house anyway like a Hammer, Nails, Handsaw, Wood Glue, Screws and a Drill. You also need to make sure that the plans you use are easy for you to read and understand. Even the best plans are completely worthless if you can’t personally understand them.

If the illustrations are clear, and the instructions and diagrams are setup properly, and the dimensions and measurements will work for your Dog as mentioned above, then you have a great set of Dog House Plans to run with. If you own a specific Dog Breed, then you will need to find specific plans to match that breed. For example, plans for Big Dogs will vary a lot from plans for medium or small dogs.

If you’ve never done a DIY Woodworking Project before, and you were able to make your Dog a Kennel with a reliable set of Dog House Plans, you can pat yourself on the back. This means you’ve set the foundation for yourself to build a much larger project next like an outdoor shed or perhaps a Pergola.

Dog House Plans – Number Of Dogs Per Kennel

Since Dogs are exceptionally sensitive to climate change, you need to make sure that their sleeping quarters are well insulated. You can use the same Dog House Plans to build two different Kennels, but you can never plan for more than one Dog to stay inside each Kennel you build. Another option is to create two Kennels right next to each other and include a removable wall that separates in the center. The trick here would be leaving it in place in the summer, and removing it in the winter so your two dogs could snuggle together and keep each other warm.

I guess you could consider this another insulation tip. Finally during the winter it won’t hurt to put a blanket at the bottom so they are not forced to sleep on the cold floor or steel wires. The exact breed of Dog you own will dictate how sensitive they are to air temperature as well as any change in climatic conditions, especially during the winter. If you are familiar with exactly how your Dog reacts to these changes in weather, you’ll know exactly what type of Dog House Plans you will need.

Dog House Plans – Climate & Building Materials

Common Dog House Plans will recommend that you construct your Dog House out of wood, metal or brick. In almost every case you will want to construct your Kennel out of wood. You might even be lucky enough to find an old pile of wood in your backyard which would save you substantially on material costs. Wood usually doesn’t rot that easily, so wood you happen to find laying around is generally as good as wood you would purchase brand new at Home Depot or Lowes. The big benefit of constructing your Kennel out of wood, is that you can either staple or glue any type of insulation without any issues. Just make sure that any insulation material you use is safe for your dog.

Brick is okay but isn’t the complete Dog Kennel solution, so you’ll need to supplement this with even more insulation. I generally won’t recommend metal insulation because the Kennel can end up becoming a heatbox inside. If you reside in an area that gets very hot, a Brick Dog House would work very well.

Dog House Plans – Measuring Your Dog

In order to ensure that the Dog House Plans you use to make your Dog Kennel are the best ones, you need to know how tall your Dog is when it is standing up, how long it is as well as how much floor space they take up when they are laying down. You can take your Dogs Measurements by using a flexible, cloth measuring tape. The cool thing is that as long as you have a good set of plans, you can scale them according to the size of your Dog. You just need to make sure each piece of wood that is being used to build your Dog House has been altered appropriately and proportionately.

Let’s say your Dog Benjamin is chilling out in your backyard and the weather outside is starting to get colder. The question to belabor at this point is should you visit a brick and mortar store and purchase a Kennel, or rely on a set of Dog House Plans and do it yourself? The quick answer is that if you buy a Pre-Built Kennel online or locally, the quality will suffer substantially and it will cost you a lot more. Dog Houses you build yourself will be a lot stronger and will last a lot longer than poorly manufactured houses that will more than likely fall apart within 12-18 months anyway.

The positive aspect of buying insulation is that you’ll keep it cool during the summer and warm around the winter season. Burrow Beds and Blankets will help, but insulation is your best bet and there’s nothing that says you can’t use all these methods.

Dog House Plans – Free Or Paid?

The big question that may be going through your mind at this point is should I be using free of paid Dog House Plans. Initially this might sound like a good idea, but I wouldn’t recommend going this route. The biggest problem you will encounter these days with free Dog House Plans is that the quality of these plans are not typically that good. You also need to consider that materials will by far become your largest investment regardless of whether you pay for your Dog House Plans or not. Plus you want to purchase these plans from a website that gives you thousands of different plans you can choose from, so you have the option of sifting through these plans and choosing the exact set of plans that will be perfect for your Dog.

Finally, you will be very proud of a Dog House that took you a little extra time and money to build. As as a final note, I also want to recommend that you stay away from Pre-Built Dog Houses or Dog House Kits, and there are two reasons I say this. The first reason is that the materials are inferior to materials you would go out and buy if you made one yourself. The second reason is that you will end up spending a lot more, and in the end getting a lot less traction than you would by using a set of reliable Dog House Plans.