Dog House Insulation question

Well China is losing her cool weather "dog house". She likes to stay outside while I'm at work. I draw the line at low 40 temps or if rain is forecasted but she still needs somewhere to go out of the wind, or if rain pops up. She absolutely refused to have anything to do with a Igloo type doghouse I bought her shortly after adopting her. But then I noticed she would go under my brother's pontoon boat that he would park next to my garage from fall to spring. During the summer, his snowmobile trailer gets parked there so she uses that for a rain shelter. So every fall for the last 4 years or so, I make a trip to the local landscapers and pick up 5 bales of straw. These get arranged with 4 in a C-shaped box open perpendicular to the pontoons, and the 5th one busted open for a floor about 6" thick.

My brother just sold the pontoon boat so I'll have to get something built by next fall. The current straw setup has been a very good insulator. I crawl in every 3-4 weeks and make sure the floor hasn't gotten wet or the cats haven't treated it as a litter box, and it's very cozy. I seem to recall seeing an episode of one of the home type shows where a house was built with straw insulation in the wall. So I'm wondering about making a dog house with 1/2" something-or-other inner and outer walls and floor with a space in between for 6-8" straw. Anybody done anything like this or have any thoughts on practicality?

Doug -
You could use the straw bales for the walls and build a roof stucture to set on it, although straw would get your dog awful dusty.
I have three big dogs and they have a door that they can get through to get into the warm.(really, my wife lets them stay on the couch most of the time).
If I had to build a D.H. I would go 2x2's with 1 1/2" insulation board sandwiched between 3/8" soffit ply.

I've used and had good success with 2" rigid laminated between plywood siding and 1/4 ply inside. The panels are sufficiently strong themselves that no additional framing is needed. Seemed cozy to me , and the dogs sure took to it.

The box was mitered at the corners, and assembled with foam. The floor and ceiling are let in a rabbet, with just the floor glued in. I fix the roof to the ceiling piece so it can be removed for cleaning.

Jim

Doug, I haven't done anything like you suggest, don't see why it wouldn't work. But I know this one works. Built it for my dog, and she seemed to be quite comfortable in it.

Whole houses are built with just plain stryofoam insulation between pieces of OSB in the form of SIP panels.

Making something similar with pink insulation and OSB or plywood is an easy job and would work well. Either with or without wood studs.

Dogs actually "need" considerably less than we think they do unless the dog is a thin coat version.

Joe

I've always built doghouses using 1" styrofoam in between paneled walls.

Regardless of your design, I think one key critical feature is to minimize the volume of the interior of the house, so that the dog doesn't have to heat a large volume of air to body temperature. My rule of thumb always was, make the interior large enough for the dog to turn around in, but no larger.

The same principle applies to ceiling height: the "ceiling" should be just high enough to accommodate the dog while standing up, but no higher.

Dogs don't like plasticky-smelling things in general, in my experience.

The plan to the one from above looks nice, but I wouldn't use treated plywood; it has poisonous stuff in it. I'd just use regular construction grade plywood and paint it.

I think the key is to make it comfortable & soft. Maybe a doggie pillow instead of straw. (so it doesn't poke)

When my uncle had an outdoor dog, he put a 100W light bulb in addition to a doggie door to keep it warm in there.

Thanks guys. I've got a while to kick some ideas around. I do like the plans that Tom posted - nice and simple. The straw was just one idea. I did a google search this afternoon and it looks like a full 12" thick bale is somewhere around R30-R40 depending on how dense it's baled. I figure China's thick fur is probalbly about an R80.:D

Something else to think about. If the dog is outside often in the winter and will get a full winter coat any heat source will probably add to much heat.

IF she doesn't get a winter coat fully from being indoors a lot then a small light bulb works very well.

My guys that are outside get sawdust from the DC. The guys inside get a couple old pillows from a DOA couch.

Joe

Here are a few photos of the palace I built for my brother-in-law's dogs. You can see the Boxer and the Boston Terrier in the photos. He'd just lost his other boxer the week before we built this. Sadly, even a nice house to live in wasn't going to help her, but at least his two remaining dogs have a house fit for a king. Plus, my bro-in-law can climb in there and sleep with the hounds if his wife should happen to get upset and kick him out of the house. :)

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I used 3/4" thick styrofoam insulation lining the inner walls and then covered them with 1/4" plywood (which isn't shown in any of these photos). The little Boston is crazy and would have torn up the foam if we hadn't covered it up.

Being California, we didn't have to worry too much about keeping it warm, but it does drop down close to freezing on the coldest winter nights, and neither of these dogs are built for a real winter. Oh, one more side benefit...the boxer used to get bad skin sores from sleeping on the concrete patio. After a few months of sleeping in the house on a foam matt over plywood, the sores are gone and she's doing much better.

Andy - Newark, CA

As a Minnesota guy who got married... and who's black lab hunting buddy turned from an inside dog to an outside dog... I had to deal with this same issue.... even with 20 below outside....

Now the Saw Mill Creek connection.... My DH is actually inside the garage, with the entire thing topped with 3/4 MDF to be a VERY sturdy workbench. Half the house is enclosed, half is finished with galvanized wire cloth. His bowl, heated water bowl and a rug sit in here in the winter.

If warmth is your top priority, my advice... don't build the shelter too big. The dog's body heat will have to heat too much space. Besides, they love the coziness... like most of us did when we built forts when we were young...

I built mine out of 2x4's on their side. I cut (on a slight angle) and wedged white styrofoam into the panels.... and faced it on both sides with Luan plywood. The door is JUST large enough for Kirby to fit in. Less drafts. I mount a 3 layer wool flap over the door. Heat is supplied by a low watt heated pad designed for the houses... When he is in there, it is about 20-30 degrees warmer than the garage...

Of couse I put a light in there for him... a 12 volt light designed for outside low voltage landscape lighting... they make mountable for stairways, etc. The bulbs are cheap and go as low as 4 w. Cheap and easy.

The first winter I felt bad about the temps... until on a zero degree morning, I looked out the window into his 10 x 10 kennel pad outside and saw him curled up on his carpet.... He spends most his time curled up on his big padded dog pillow inside the dog house.

I had a Gordon Setter many years ago when we lived in the Rochester, NY suburbs that lived outdoors all year round. Her doghouse was a "box-in-a-box", with 4" of fiberglass insulation in the walls and roof. It had a straw ticking mattress and a 16" square opening with a double flap of wool blanket as a door. A 40 Watt bulb in a 3" x 36" section of stovepipe brought the temperature up to the low 30's. Despite 100+ inches of snow and temperatures down to zero every year, she loved it outdoors and lived to the age of 14.