Modern Pre-Fab Dog House Concept
June 8th, 2008
I have been toying with the idea of creating a pre-fab dog house for about a month now and landed on this design. There are three concepts I am playing with here. The first has a platform on the bottom of the dog house. The second has the platform cut-out in the front for the insertion of an outdoor dog bed. The Third has the platform removed and is a more simple version. The exterior is made from IPE hardwood and painted cement board. The dog is Betty. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks, Jason.
Assembly instructions below!
Modern Dog House Assembly Guide from Jason V on Vimeo.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Pre-fab Doghouse…
Who says modern pre-fab is just for people? Jason Valalik is working on a pre-fab doghouse with an exterior bed….
September 9th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
This is a very interesting dog house. Great for a dog plus very pleasing to the eye. I normally do not utilize dog houses (our dogs live in the house) but being in NY state I have been informed I have to have a few in all 4 of our yards on 28 acres. Your design really caught my eye. I will continue to check your website for further information and upgrades.
Thanks
Ruth
September 11th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Jason,
Hello, I just received my monthly issue of Bark. I have a suggestion. I see that the dog house has a metal roof, what about the dogs who love to sit on top of their homes? Wouldn’t it be better to have a roof made of something….well, that wouldn’t burn their feet or rear-ends?
RESPONSE: Because the roof is light in color it should mitigate some of the heat issues.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Hi, also checked out your little section in Bark. I actually made a very similar dog house for my Chihuahua (albeit on a smaller scale) for indoor use based on the plans of dog house made by another architect. You two should talk, he sells the plans for his on Etsy.com and you don’t need tools because Home Depot will actually cut all the necessary pieces for you! The link for his plan and pictures is http://doghousedesigner.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/modern-dog-house/
There’s the link!
RESPONSE: Thanks for the link. It sounds like it could be a partnership worth exploring.
September 13th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
You might want to consider putting 2 inches of EPS foam on the base (under the plywood) to insulate it in cold weather. That way the dog will have a more comfortable platform on which to lay in the winter.
RESPONSE: Thanks,that’s a good idea. There are endless ways to customize and weatherproof the structure depending on climate just like a house. -Jason Valalik
September 19th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Hi, I also saw the article in Bark. Ipe does have benefits over pressure treated lumber in that it resists decay without chemical treatment. But it may be a stretch to call it environmentally sustainable without certification of how the wood was harvested. It is also really hard to work. There are lots of Pacific NW woods that would also do well outside that might be good alternatives, like Western Red Cedar.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Hey-Couple of thoughts, it might be handy if the back or side would open. Maybe a hinged door that would open to clean it out. It looks like a pain in the booty to bend down and reach in the front door to retrieve anything Sparky might have taken in or if you just needed to vacuum it out. Maybe the flooring could be something like a stall mat. So as the dogs elbows wont get that thick patch of hairless skin that dogs get from sleeping on hard surfaces. Locking wheels? make it easier to move around a patio, not grass of course. And last but not least, maybe a heavy duty bolt with a loop thingy to attach a tie down to.
Good luck
Michelle
RESPONSE: Thanks for your insights Michelle. Currently the roof isn’t nailed down. So it would be pretty easy to just add some hinges to the back of that and lift it.
September 29th, 2008 at 5:08 am
As a previous individual noted I would use something else for the roof. Not only the metal get too hot for the dog to sit on it will really heat up the inside of the house as I learned while staying in concrete block house with a corrugated metal roof in Africa.
You might want to look for construction examples from the dog houses that mushers and others use in Alaska for their dog teams. They are designed for the dogs to sit/lay out on top of the roof as well.
Good luck. . .
RESPONSE: This construction is different than a Quonset hut that you may have encountered in Africa, as this construction has wood underneath the metal, like any good roof. I also hope that the dog isn’t outside in heat of African magnitude. Again, this construction is open to be changed, modified,etc.. to suit the needs of the dog and owner. Just as there is no one size fits all for real home construction the same applies here.
December 4th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
All these post are older, but what the heck. I saw this in Bark when I was killing time at the vet over on Stoneway here in Seattle. I really do like the looks of this. It seems very like the houses of my architect friends. Similar in style. Yea, I’d totally agree with someone else up there - hinge the top & sides so you can open the whole thing up to the sun & air & hose it down. Also I’d suggest putting little catch on the roof so on hot days, you could open it a couple of inches (another reason for hinges) & prop it there to vent heat. I’ve seen heat activated gears that do this on small greenhouses, so it could be automatic. Burners, those resourceful denizens of Burning Man, have found all sorts of clever & high tech coverings for their desert homes. You might look into some of the durable & heat reflective fabrics. Perhaps something like that could be bonded to a roof. That combined with insulation inside could make it more usable for varied climates. Good luck - Susan