If you live where the winters are cold, or if you have a dog with arthritis or some other condition that is made worse by the cold, you may want to consider making a heated dog house for your canine friend.
Before you get started, there are a few things you should know. First, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) urges dog owners to allow their pets to live indoors with their families. If that isn’t possible, then the next best thing is a properly-constructed heated dog house.
Let’s start with the basics.
Never build a dog house that sits directly on the ground. The floor of the dog house should be several inches above the ground to allow for proper air circulation. It is an excellent idea to build the house on a foundation of concrete blocks.
The roof of your heated dog house should be slanted so that rain and snow will not accumulate.
Your dog’s house needs to be designed with the door facing away from the prevailing winter winds. During the winter the house should be placed where it will receive the most sunlight. During the summer it should be placed in a shaded area.
In the winter a piece of heavy carpet or burlap should be hung from the top of the doorway to keep out drafts. During the summer it may be removed.
You dog’s house should be wide enough for the dog to turn around in, and long enough for your dog to stretch out comfortably in – but not much larger than that. The trick is to make your dog house large enough for your canine pal to be comfortable, but small enough so that your dog’s own body heat can help keep the house warm.
The roof of your dog house needs to be hinged for easy cleaning and spraying of the inside of the house. This is especially important in areas with lots of fleas or ticks.
Build the frame for the dog house from 2 X 4s or 2 X 2s and place a high-grade insulation in the hollow of the wall and the hollow of the roof. A well insulated dog house will not only keep your pet warm in the winter, but it will also help keep the house cooler in the summer.
One of the best designs for a heated dog house includes an interior wind break. This is a short hallway that leads straight in from the door of the dog house. After approximately 18 inches this wall opens to one side, allowing the dog to make a turn into the main portion of the house. This hallway helps keep the wind and drafts from entering the main portion of the house.
The bedding you use in your heated dog house is very important. The easiest way to keep a dog house heated is through the use of heated bedding material. You can place an electrically-heated pad in your dog house, or you can purchase small pads from your pet store which can be heated in a microwave and then placed inside your dog’s bedding. These microwaved pads can stay warm for up to 12 hours.
Remember, too, that a well-insulated dog house will hold in your pet’s own natural body heat except during the coldest of nights.
Straw or cedar chips can also be used in dog bedding. The advantage of cedar chips is that they naturally repel fleas and can be found at most feed stores and many garden stores. Newspaper can be used, but keep in mind that many dogs are allergic to newsprint.
Never use hay in a dog house. Hay quickly absorbs moisture and will become moldy. Most hay contains a fungus called aspergillus which can cause severe respiratory problems for dogs and can lead to potentially dangerous nosebleeds.
Do not move your dogs back and forth between a heated house and the cold outdoors as extreme temperature changes can result in an often fatal respiratory illness.
The three main points to remember about building a cold weather dog house are 1) build your dog house off the ground, 2) build the house large enough for your dog to comfortably turn around and to stretch out but not so large that it’s own body heat can not keep the house warm and 3) insulate your dog’s house with the same type and grade of insulation that you would use to insulate your own house.
