Material
The variety of houses for four-legged friends on the Internet is fascinating. Colorful and vibrant creations inspire you to create a masterpiece. Don't be afraid to improvise and combine different house models. Before work, clearly think about what materials should be used specifically for your dog. Consider the animal's personality traits.
Cardboard houses look very impressive, are easy to create and do not require any special expenses. Such houses are suitable for dogs of small and medium breeds. The only drawback of such a shelter is its fragility. Don't rule out the possibility that your pet might want to chew on your efforts.
Foam rubber “huts” are a universal thing: such a house can be washed, folded and taken with you to nature/on a visit, so that your tailed companion feels more comfortable, and can be easily moved around the apartment. However, some owners note loss of shape after washing and the lack of a rigid frame as shortcomings of this product.
REFERENCE! Most dogs are diggers. When sewing a soft house, decorate the inside with durable fabrics.
Wooden kennels are the most durable and reliable structures, serving for hundreds of years to provide comfort for dogs. For an apartment this option is more than acceptable. The inconvenience of such “furniture” lies in its bulkiness and heaviness: it will be difficult to move around the living space.
The best option is to try to combine different materials when working, complement the houses with pillows, beds with canopies, which will increase the level of comfort for your pet.
It is not necessary to strictly adhere to the schemes. Try experimenting with the shapes of the house and upholstery yourself. To invent something unique, you don’t need to run to the store for materials. Take a closer look at old things: cabinets, cribs, old TVs. And such things can be breathed into new life, while providing a cozy nest for your dog.
Photo gallery
To make your baby feel comfortable, she definitely needs her own space. To do this, make a cozy home for your animal so that your pet can sleep in it or simply hide while playing. In the photographs below we have selected several options for houses.
Size
The first thing you should pay attention to is the breed of your dog.
ATTENTION ! If you have a puppy in your home, make inquiries about the breed. What approximate parameters will a dog have at an older age?
The house should be of such a size that the dog can freely go inside, turn around, sit upright (without bending his head) and lie stretched out. The following parameters must be taken into account:
- Height at withers.
- Distance from the withers to the tip of the front paws.
- Width at chest.
- Length from nose to tail.
For an approximate calculation, refer to the approximate table for some dog breeds.
Measuring is an important part when creating a future house or lounger. By neglecting this procedure, you increase the chance of creating an uncomfortable product.
Based on the size of the breed, it is easier to determine what the future house will be like:
- From cardboard.
- Fabric (made of foam rubber).
- Made of wood or plywood.
By creating a “cozy nest” for your pet with your own hands, you get a huge scope for flight of imagination:
- You can design the model yourself.
- Use fabrics at your discretion (density, pattern, etc.).
- Add decor to your taste.
Remember, all diagrams are provided for illustrative purposes. The dimensions shown in the drawings may not be suitable for your pet.
Advantages of a self-made isolated place
The main advantages of a home made by yourself:
- sizes can be made as suitable as possible;
- when choosing the material for manufacturing yourself, you will prefer high-quality natural fabric that does not accumulate static electricity;
- the model and design will absolutely correspond to the characteristics and habits of your dog;
- the house will be harmoniously integrated into the interior in terms of model, color, shape;
- You can make it quickly enough and still save money.
For small breeds with your own hands
For small dogs of small breeds (Chihuahua, Dachshund, Maltese, Pomeranian and other breeds), you can use cardboard boxes, fabrics and foam rubber.
Small dogs for home
From cardboard or plywood
Original and exclusive
Houses using geodesic dome technology have become widely known on the Internet. Such houses are made of slats and fabric or cardboard. Such houses are used both for children and for pets, including dogs.
The advantage of such home kennels is that they are suitable for small dogs and are easy to make with your own hands. Plus, you can involve your child in doing them!
So, instructions on how to make a booth for an apartment out of cardboard with your own hands:
Step 1. Constructing patterns and cutting out parts. For this you will need:
- Cardboard.
- Scissors/construction (stationery) knife.
- Ruler.
- Pencil pen
Let us conventionally designate a triangle with red edges as “Triangle A” and with blue edges as “Triangle B”. You will also need squares for the bottom of your structure or rectangles. You can choose the sizes of the triangles yourself based on the proportions: use small triangles for a smoother dome shape and large ones for a rougher one; the side of a square or rectangle is slightly smaller than the height of the entrance.
From the edge of the triangles and squares, a 2-5 cm margin is counted, which will later serve as a place for fastening the parts.
Step 2. The triangles are fixed with hot glue or Moment glue along the released strips. You should start working from top to bottom. Form a pentagon from five triangles, then attach the remaining parts to each triangle using the diagram. For a beautiful entrance, you can remove one of the triangles of the last tier. The bottom is glued together from squares, leaving space for the entrance.
Step 3. Proceed with registration. The shelter can be painted using spray paint.
REFERENCE ! This work can be supplemented with a wooden plywood floor, a personalized wooden sign above the entrance or any other decorative elements. The house is painted or covered, and a blanket or sleeping place is placed inside.
Cheap
There is also a simple way to make a dog house with your own hands. To do this, you will need a box of such size that your pet can comfortably turn around inside and sit upright.
How to make it out of the box:
We cut the top part of the box and glue it together as follows:
Use extra sheets of cardboard to create a roof. Cut out the doorway completely.
The final part is decoration (painting, possibly adding curtains for the entrance, etc.). We present to your attention one of the options for such a house:
The work is made of cardboard, covered on both sides with fabric and decorated with bows, ruffles and a decorative teddy bear. Making a booth out of cardboard is quite simple. This option is affordable and allows you to fully express yourself when creating.
Soft foam
The most beautiful and warm options for houses for small dogs are fabric dog beds made of foam rubber. Experienced needlewomen make patterns for houses of the most diverse and amazing shapes.
To create such a house you will need:
- Textile . The best choice would be linen, chintz, velor, fleece, faux fur jeans. When synthetic fabrics come into contact with fur, they will become electrified and give an electric shock to the dog. Your pet will not live in such a house.
- Foam rubber, synthetic winterizer, satin or down.
- Scissors.
- Sewing machine (can be done manually, but the quality of work will be significantly lower).
How to make a house from foam rubber:
- The first stage of your work will be choosing the shape and pattern of the bed-house, cutting.
- The “Foam House” pattern is quite simple and does not require any special drawing skills. Based on the diagram provided above, cut out the parts: 2 pieces for each side of the house and roof, and one piece of foam rubber. For each fabric part, leave allowances equal to 1.5-2 cm on each side; do not allow allowances for foam rubber.
- The second stage - how to sew a house from foam rubber? The fabric parts of the walls are folded with the front side inward and stitched on three sides, leaving a pocket for foam rubber (it is more convenient to leave the lower part unstitched). The base and roof are stitched in the same way.
- At the third stage distribute the foam over the corresponding parts and sew along the front side.
Fold and sew the walls of the house together (the seams go inside the house). We carry out a similar procedure with the lid base. - The final stage - decoration. You can sew ruffles or lace along the edge of the roof, make an embroidered nameplate above the entrance, or anything of your choice. Here's a glamorous and beautiful option you can make:
You can use another pattern.
In the diagram, the unshaded parts indicate the primary building, from which the roof and bottom will be formed during the work.
How to sew:
According to the principle of a “house” pattern, the parts are cut out and sheathed on both sides with material. In the place where the roof and wall are sewn, the seams can be hidden under lace, ribbon or braid. The finished work looks like this.
Both options in one photo. The pink house is made according to the first scheme. The slight differences are the rounded front and rear walls, and the rounded roof due to a different sewing method.
Beds
Handicrafts also did not ignore the production of beds: they make beds from fabric, from tires, mixed compositions (fabric + wood). The most economical and easiest way to create a bed is to alter an old sweater or jacket: imagine, you don’t even need a pattern for a bed!
For work you will need:
- Sweater or textile jacket.
- Pencil/felt-tip pen.
- Filling, padding polyester or foam rubber.
- Scissors.
- Needle and thread/sewing machine.
Lay out the sweater on a work surface. The neckline is sewn up, a stitch is made from one sleeve to the other at the chest level of the jacket. Fill the future side with foam rubber through the sleeve and place one sleeve into the other.
The sleeves are then sewn together. At this stage, you can adjust the shape of the side: make it rectangular (stitch the corners) or round. The bottom is stuffed soft and also sewn; for a rounded shape, the bottom is folded and hemmed to the shape of the side. The final touch is to sew the sleeves to the base.
Comfort and beauty cheap: a dog house on the street
Lounger-pillow with ties
They look like designer ones and will be very suitable for decorative dogs:
Step 1. Constructing a pattern.
To do this, based on the parameters of the dog, draw a rectangle - the base. From the base, make allowances of 1-1.5 cm on all sides for lifting. From each edge, draw more rectangles of the desired height with allowances of 2.5-3 cm upwards. This way you will get a pattern that vaguely resembles a cross. Cut an opening from the side that will be the front.
Step 2. Cut out 2 pieces from the fabric according to the pattern.
Step 3 . Sew the pieces along the top sides of the sides. Turn the product out through the side holes.
Step 4. Stuff the lounger with padding polyester and carefully sew from one side through the center to the opposite. Thus, by sewing all the edges in the center you will get a pillow.
Step 5: Add ribbon or lace ties. Add decorative elements (buttons, bows, embroidery, etc.). You can complement the lounger with a canopy or pillows.
The best enclosures for dogs and puppies in an apartment: how to make them yourself cheaply and with high quality?
How to build a dog house for the winter
There are different opinions about insulating a dog kennel for the winter. Some pet owners believe that only smooth-haired dogs need a warm kennel. It is worth remembering that a harsh winter involves severe frosts and an animal even with long hair will be cold. Therefore, for the comfort of the pet, the booth is insulated.
The winter dog house is insulated inside and out. The floor is insulated and curtains are used for the crawl space. To make the pet's housing warmer, it is installed on logs. For internal insulation of walls and floors, felt or batting is used. For external insulation, foam is used. The curtain for the manhole is made of dense and durable fabric or silicone.
The manhole is the main source of cold air entering the dog’s house; it must be protected with a curtain.
If you decide to make a doghouse for your husky with your own hands, it is better to make it larger. The animal loves space and enjoys spending time in the snow in winter; it will be too hot for him in a cramped kennel. No bedding is used on the floor or very thin bedding is laid. A not very dense fabric that allows air to pass through is hung on the hole.
Just like huskies, husky dogs prefer coolness. To make a doghouse for a husky with your own hands, you can use the same drawings and dimensions as for a husky. Straw bedding in a kennel is quite suitable for this breed. It is better to choose insulation for the booth that allows air to pass through; pets of this breed cannot tolerate stuffiness.
Malamutes also enjoy fresh, cool air during the winter. The dimensions of the box for Malamute are the same as for the box for Husky and Husky; all three breeds belong to the middle group.
A booth for a heat-loving Labrador should be well insulated. The animal will not refuse warm bedding either. The dimensions of the booth for a Labrador retriever must be selected optimally. In a kennel that is too large, the dog will freeze; in a small kennel it will be cramped and uncomfortable. For heat-loving breeds such as the Golden Retriever, Dalmatian, Beagle and Drahthaar, the size of the kennel is also very important.
Pets for large and medium breeds
Made of wood
For dogs of large breeds, it is safer to create a large wooden house even for the apartment.
The first option is to create it from wood (bars). To do this you need:
- Wooden blocks or boards.
- Roulette.
- Jigsaw or saw.
- Nails/screws for fastening.
- Hammer/screwdriver.
- Paint for decoration.
- Grinder for grinding.
How to build:
- The initial stage of building a wooden booth is frame building.
To do this, cut the boards to the required size and fasten them with nails or screws. This creates a box. - The next step will be cutting and sanding the boards for the floor, walls and roof . Attach the sanded boards tightly to the frame, starting from the base and ending with the roof. If such a kennel will be permanently located in the apartment, the roof can be decorated with small sheaves of straw.
- Carefully mark the entrance with a pencil and cut out with a jigsaw.
- The final stage will be finishing, decorating or painting the house.
A simplified option for creating a wooden house is to work with plywood. The principle of operation is similar to the first option, the only difference is in the sheathing (a sheet of plywood is nailed instead of boards).
Care
Caring for their appearance involves regular bathing, for which you need to use a special shampoo that does not cause skin irritation and itching.
Eyes and ears should be wiped with a moistened cotton pad several times a week. You should also trim your pet’s nails regularly and brush your teeth monthly using a special paste.
Due to the characteristics of the breed, Toy Terrier puppies are very sensitive to malnutrition. If their diet lacks all the nutrients, they develop ear defects.
Important! The menu should include meat products, cereals, boiled eggs, boiled vegetables and dairy products.
Photo
Examples of beautiful and original houses in the photo: recycling old furniture and household appliances into a bed, wicker beds, bed beds, bunk beds.
Feeder house
Very stylish!
Real retro: the smallest doghouse for an apartment
Two-story cottage
Wicker
The perfect soft home for a little dog!
Cool idea: a super lounger made from a wine barrel!
Plastic egg house for small breeds such as Yorkies and Spitz
Mink
Hut for doggies: a real wigwam!
