There are many ways to show how much you care for your dog, and building a small wooden doghouse is surely one of them. A small doghouse in a corner of your garden or backyard is ideal to keep your dog cool on hot summer days, as well as warm and dry on cold, wet winter nights.
With the right carpentry tools and materials, you can easily build man's best friend a home in no time and see his tail wag happily.
Instructions
1. Prepare a drawing based on a simple, workable design for your doghouse. This will help you work out the precise dimension and help determine the amount of material you'll need.
A traditional, wooden doghouse design usually consists of four panels--front, back and sides--and a sloping roof, either overhanging the two sides, or (as in this article) sloping forward toward the front. If desired, the roof and/or one or more sides may include a small window for ventilation.
A wooden doghouse is built on a base with a floor board fitted above and slightly elevated off the ground. The front side may be fitted with a door (opening out) although in some cases, an adequately-sized arc is cut into it to act as an entrance for the pet (as described later in this article).
2. Select a corner of your backyard or garden for your doghouse. Then use a level to determine whether the ground for the base of the doghouse is perfectly flat to support and balance the base/doghouse.
3. Construct the base for your doghouse. Lay down the 2-foot by 4-foot boards edge to edge, alongside each other. This will act as the base and help to raise the wooden floor board (to be fitted atop this base) at least 4 inches off the ground, while providing enough air-flow space below.
4. Place a sheet of ½-inch plywood cut to required size over the wooden base. This will act as the floor of your doghouse. Drill suitably spaced holes in the plywood, penetrating the 2-foot by 4-foot boards as you do so. Then attach the plywood (floor board) to the 2-foot by 4-foot base below it, using a power drill with a screwdriver bit and screws of suitable length.
5. Build the frame/pillar structure for your doghouse. You may use either 2-foot by 4-foot boards or 2-foot by 2-foot boards for this. Place the boards at the outer four ends of the base. Then attach each frame to the base using screws of suitable length.
In order to have a sloping roof, make sure to cut the plywood sheet for the front panel, and the two vertical 2-foot by 4-foot front frames, in a way that makes them approximately 4-inches shorter than the ones you'll be using for the back panel. The gradient angle thus created will be ideal to prevent rain water accumulation or snow buildup.
6. Cut three ½-inch plywood sheets to size. These will be for the back and two side panels of your doghouse. Drill spaced-out holes in the plywood sheets where they overlap/meet the vertical 2-foot by 4-foot frames. Then start attaching each plywood sheet to the vertical frames using screws of suitable length.
7. Create an entry point for your dog. Cut out a suitably sized arc from the middle and bottom part of the ½-inch front plywood panel. Then attach this panel to the two front vertical frames using screws of suitable length.
8. Fix the roof. Use the ½-inch sheet of plywood cut to size earlier (see Step 2). If you intend to use screws, drill spaced out holes all around it. Place this sheet over the tops of the four vertical frames (pillars) around the base. Then you may either nail down the sheet or use screws of suitable length to secure the sheet to the tops of the four vertical frames.
9. Paint your doghouse in the desired color or colors using all-weather, paint. For added all-weather protection, attach a piece of tar paper to the roof. The tar paper needs to be cut to fit the size of the roof.
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