How do you heat a doghouse?

[stacwase]

Anybody out there have a heated dog house? Any advice on how to make one?

[RockyRoad]

Lady is an indorr dog, and I will search the internet and try and find out anything I can :D .

[Karen]

All the dog-house plans I found doing a quick google search said "Make sure the house is big enough for the dog to turn around in, but not too big, as the dog's body heats the house, and a too big house means a too cold dog.

Is the dog going to be an outdoors-only dog? What breed?

[aly]

I heat my "dog house" by turning on the heater cause my human house is the dog house, ehhe :D

Sorry I can't offer any advice :eek:

[Twisterdog]

Here is the best way to make a heated doghouse:

Build your own doghouse, with double walls and insulation between the walls. Also, build a double floor with insulation so the floor is off the ground and out of drafts. For the door, either install a dog door with a flap, or nail a carpet square over the opening, attached only at the top. This will keep wind and snow out.

I don't know what kind of weather you have, but if you live somewhere where it gets really cold, you can also add a light to the doghouse for heat. You will need a lightbulb on one of those drop extension cords. Make a hole in the roof big enough to pull the cord through and secure it VERY well, so it won't slip and burn the dog or start a fire. It usually doesn't take a very high wattage bulb, maybe about 40-60 watts, to warm the house.

Having said all that .... let me know say that I think the best solution is to bring the dog inside and make it a housedog. Not only will it be warmer, but it will be much, much happier living inside with its family.

I do realize, though, that sometimes this is not always possible. When I was a child, we had two dogs. My parents would not let the dogs in the house. They did not believe in house dogs, no way. I hated it, but I had to live by their rules. This is how I know how to build a warm doghouse - our dogs lived in houses like this. Now that I am grown and have my own house, my dogs live in the house with me!

[stacwase]

I would never make a dog stay outside all the time!

My Sheltie loves to be outdoors - no matter how cold it is outside. It's hard to make him come in sometimes, even when it's cold and wet out - but he can get under a portion of the where it's very warm and dry. So I let him out for at least two hours a day, even in the winter.

I'll be getting a German Shepherd, and he/she won't have access to the area under the house. If this dog likes to be outdoors as much as Jake does, then I want to have somewhere warm and dry where he/she can go also. That way if I don't notice right away that the dog's getting cold it will still be OK.

I don't see the point in having dogs if they're kept outside all the time. I would never make my best friend stay out of the house!

[Aspen and Misty]

Originally posted by stacwase
I don't see the point in having dogs if they're kept outside all the time.

My mothers brother (R.I.P) Had a Blue Tick named Alfie. He stayed outside in the barn all the time because he was huntin dog and no one wants your only huntin dog to be an inside dog. Thats really the only good reson I have ever hear someone say. The barn was always warm and when the weather got really really bad outside Alfie was aloud to stay in the den so he wouldn't get to cold :D .

Ashley

[aly]

Why can't hunting dogs come inside? :confused: :(

[Sudilar]

My GSDs like to be outside ONLY if someone is with them to play!!! When I go in, they want to come in too. They like to be where the family is. I'm with aly, to heat the doghouse, all I have to do is turn up the thermostat!! LOL
BTW, we DID have a doghouse, just in case one wanted to use it, but....it ended up that we used it for storing gardening tools. Later, we just used it for a bon-fire! It looked nice, though. hahaha

[Karen]

I think if it's only gonna be for short periods of time, you don't have to worry about heating it at all. All ourdogs had their way of saying "let me in, I'm done being outside."

My Sheba would come to the kitchen door, sit politely and give the nicest "please" bark. Just a quietish single "bark!"

Freckles, a St. Bernard, would paw at the (metal-framed) screen door, which made enough of a racket so someone would respond instantly.

Gracie would just curl up in a sunny spot and wait (being black and shiny, she was a solar-powered doggie) or if she got tangled with her chain around something, she'd "boof" pitifully from the yard!

I wouldn't worry about it, it's nice that you want to give your future dog a sheltered spot, and with the nice dense coat a GSD has, a doghouse will be plenty warm for a couple hours.

[Aspen and Misty]

Originally posted by aly
Why can't hunting dogs come inside? :confused: :(

Because if you kept a hunting dog inside it would be a pet not a hunter.

[Cookiebaker]

BTW, we DID have a doghouse, just in case one wanted to use it, but....it ended up that we used it for storing gardening tools. Later, we just used it for a bon-fire! It looked nice, though. hahaha

My hubby spent a LOT of time, energy, and $ on building a doghouse. He wanted one that had windows on all sides, extra insulation...the whole 9 yards. And now?? We came home one night last week, and that is exactly where the cat was curled up. :D We never would have guessed that what we really were building was a...you guessed it...a CAThouse! :D

[wolf_Q]

Because if you kept a hunting dog inside it would be a pet not a hunter

I don't agree. My best friends dad has two "hunting" dogs. Bear the lab, and Trusty the german shorthair. When Bear was a puppy her dad wouldn't even let us play with him at all because "it would ruin his hunting." Well, now because of no social interaction other then hunting.......those dogs don't even know how to walk on a leash, they are wild, and they don't listen at all. Poor dogs are kept outside in cages all day, all the time. Sorry I'm not saying that's how the dog you were talking about was kept.....I'm not saying that dog had a bad life or anything.....just what you said reminds me of how her dad thinks of dogs. They are just property, not part of the family. Now Melissa's dog, Lady, also lives outside.......her parents are NOT pet people. But Lady is not a hunting dog at all, and she gets tons of attention and is very spoiled. :) If it were Melissa's choice, Lady would definitely live inside....but if you knew her parents, you'd understand.

Nebo is an inside dog, but he also really enjoys going outside. I leave him in a large dog run when I go to work, but he's inside other than that. It's really not much of worry, as he is a husky and has a very high cold tolerance. But, the dog house that I chose is a dog igloo. They are built small, so they conserve heat.....and just the way they are designed also conserves heat. And for the summer, there is a vent on top. We had a wooden dog house, but he chewed on it, and when it was wet it really smelled musty. If you have a Costco near you they have extra large igloos for a very nice price right now! :) I think if you are getting a GSD, they have thick enough coats that you don't really need to get a heated dog house.

[Twisterdog]

I agree with Wolf Q. A hunting dog can certainly be a pet, also. Being a pet does not ruin a dog's instincts to hunt! Just ask my dogs, who sleep in our bed with us ... and hunt MUCH more than we would like them to!

Any dog that has a job to do - just like any human that has a job to do - does it better if they are happy.

[Aspen and Misty]

Originally posted by wolf_Q
I don't agree. My best friends dad has two "hunting" dogs. Bear the lab, and Trusty the german shorthair. When Bear was a puppy her dad wouldn't even let us play with him at all because "it would ruin his hunting." Well, now because of no social interaction other then hunting.......those dogs don't even know how to walk on a leash, they are wild, and they don't listen at all. Poor dogs are kept outside in cages all day, all the time. Sorry I'm not saying that's how the dog you were talking about was kept.....I'm not saying that dog had a bad life or anything.....just what you said reminds me of how her dad thinks of dogs. They are just property, not part of the family.

I see your point of View. But my mom, her mother, her father and brother were not that way at all. My mom used to walk Alfie when he wasn't hunting so he was good on a leash. They enrolled him in obedience till he was 2 and he was then trained for hunting. Alfie got table scraps because as my grandmother always said "There is no need to throw that away! Feed it to the dog!". LOL :rolleyes: . Alfie had toys, a dog house, water, food and was very well takeing care of. The bottom of the barn was half carpeted because my mothers Brother insited it. I acctually recently went in the barn. When we went looking in the field for Milweed and Teddy got stuck on barb wire? Member? Well we went in there and the dog house was there and the dish and toys. I asked why it was still all there and she said because her brother lost Alfie and then died himself so her parents never had the strength to clean the mess up. The toys were just pieces of rop. My mom said that her brother used to go out in the middle of thunder storms and sleep with Alfie because Alfie might of gotten scared. Althought she said he was the most fearless dog she ever met. I think it brought her brother comfort to be near him. When he got mad at his parents she said he took Alfie into a field on top the moutan on a really long rop and let him roam around till he got tierd which was hours. Alfie was aloud to run in the cow field when the cows were not in there and he never once treid to slip under or go throw the barb wire. Alfie had a room that was huge. Bigger then my room ::Jelouse::. LOL from what I have heard he was a great dog. I saw alot of pictures of him but my fav picture was of the whole family and him standing in the front yard near a bush they all looked so happy together. So to them Alfie was not just a piece of Property he was part of the family. I think they treated him as a house dog althouh they will never admit it. "That dog was used for hunting not for love!" my grandfatehr constantly told me when I brought it up. But after that sentence a big smile always came across his face and he would always say, " He was a great dog, none better" then blink furiously trying to get ride of the tears at the thought of his son and dog who were both taken away to soon.

Ash

PS: I don't know alot about Alfie cause it was touchy subject being linked to her brother. It was hard for my mom to talk about it but she got offended when you said she treated him like property. I told her thats not what you ment but she is like yes it is you tell her this LOL. My mother loved that dog, you could see it in her eyes when she talked about him. She will even tell you "He was a great dog, none better, nor will there ever be"

[Aspen and Misty]

Originally posted by Twisterdog
I agree with Wolf Q. A hunting dog can certainly be a pet, also. Being a pet does not ruin a dog's instincts to hunt! Just ask my dogs, who sleep in our bed with us ... and hunt MUCH more than we would like them to!

Any dog that has a job to do - just like any human that has a job to do - does it better if they are happy.

Your dogs may hunt when they see something or smell something close by. but to pick up a scent a couple miles away and then lead you to it by his barking is not the same as your dogs chaseing sometime. Alfie was trained to stay at teh tree or bush till they got there. Most dogs who "hunt" will get to the tree look up it and thne get bored. Its like a huskie. It will pull you if you tie it to a leash but if you shout out comands to it won't know them. You ahev to train them and sometimes teachign them other comands will mess up there train of thought. Also, most house dogs will bark at the tree then return to you who has not yet made it to the tree, he wants to be with you, not catch racoons. Your dogs hunting and Alfie's hunting are diffrent.

Ashley

PS: I would have to agree, a happy dog does do his job much better but to Alfie his happiness was his job. So doing his job he was happy.

[wolf_Q]

PS: I don't know alot about Alfie cause it was touchy subject being linked to her brother. It was hard for my mom to talk about it but she got offended when you said she treated him like property. I told her thats not what you ment but she is like yes it is you tell her this LOL. My mother loved that dog, you could see it in her eyes when she talked about him. She will even tell you "He was a great dog, none better, nor will there ever be"[/

Sorry, that's not what I meant at all. When I posted that the only thing you had said about Alfie was that he had to live outside because he was a "hunting dog." When I said the dogs were treated as property, I was referring to Bear and Trusty, not Alfie.

It sounds like Alfie was really a very much loved dog. I enjoyed your stories about him. :) I'm really sorry if I offended your mom.

It kind of annoys me when people assume that if a dog lives outside the dog isn't loved. Some people, like Melissa with Lady, don't have a choice of where their dog is kept. She loves her dog as much as I love my dogs. :) She gets plenty of treats, toys, and is taken everywhere that I take my dogs. She even paid to have her groomed at Petco last friday. (I had fun playing with her too, hehe, but she didn't much enjoy the bath!)

[Aspen and Misty]

Well I only said he lived outside because someone said they don't understand why a dog would kept dogs outside so I was just saying this is one reson then you all jumped on me for sayin it. ;) :p . I tried to convince my mom you didn't mean to offend her but you know siblings you have to defend them to the end and I would defend my brother Teddy till the end.

Ash

[Aspen and Misty]

It kind of annoys me when people assume that if a dog lives outside the dog isn't loved. Some people, like Melissa with Lady, don't have a choice of where their dog is kept. She loves her dog as much as I love my dogs. :) She gets plenty of treats, toys, and is taken everywhere that I take my dogs. She even paid to have her groomed at Petco last friday. (I had fun playing with her too, hehe, but she didn't much enjoy the bath!) [/B][/QUOTE]

I would haev to agree with what people assume about outside dogs i know plenty of outside dogs that are just as loved as my chewy or teddy soudns liek your firend loves her dog does any dog enjoy a bath? i bet bathing nebo is a lot of fun!! btw i bet nebo is glad to have the cone off of his head!! lol

Ashley

[ramanth]

WELCOME TO PET TALK!! I see you live up in the U.P. :D I know how cold it gets up there. My family went to Mackinac City in April and we could walk out onto Lake Michigan. (not recommended, but I was young and foolish. ;) :D )

Sorry I don't have any suggestions, but it looks like you've got some great ones from others here. :)

Love to see pics of your fur kids. :)

[lovemymaltese]

sorry that I have no advice, I have never owned an outside dog. best of luck to you though! :)

[mruffruff]

If you build a doghouse yourself, it should be just the right size and insulated. Most of the commercial dog houses are easier to keep clean and last forever. They are lighter weight and well insulated. Be sure the door doesn't face the wind.

I wouldn't use a light bulb to heat a doghouse. I've heard a couple of horror stories.

They make a plate-shaped warmer that you can heat in the microwave. It's called a Snuggle Safe Microdisc. It costs $19.99 at Drsfostersmith.com. After you heat them for about 5 minutes, they will stay warm for up to 12 hours.

I used one in a heavy box on my porch for my stray cats last winter. Worked well and safely.

Mary

[Desert Arabian]

My dad's best friend has three redbone coonhounds and three labradors (yellow, black, & chocolate). He bulit two big huge kennels for them, and built two big dog houses for them. He used a heating lamp, like the ones used for baby chickens/ducks. I sat in it once just for the heck of it, and it was really really warm. Not baking the dogs to death, but really nice compared to the 20 degree winter air outside the dog house. So the dogs wouldn't chew on the wire- he cable tied thick chicken wire around the chord. They never touched it anyhow. I think that is a really neat idea.