The pet becomes a member of the family. Therefore, to make him comfortable, you need to take care of his own house. This is a place to relax, where a four-legged pet can take a nap, hide from the bustle. In pet stores there is a wide selection of special loungers and dog houses. Their cost to someone may seem too high. In this case, it is quite possible to make a dog house with your own hands out of the box. Interesting ideas and recommendations will be discussed later.
Cardboard benefits
How to make a dog house? There are many options for such designs. Houses or plank beds are made from a variety of materials. It can be foam rubber, plywood or wood. But one of the most popular options is the cardboard. It has a lot of advantages.
Cardboard boxes often remain after acquiring household appliances. You can buy a finished box at the post office, in specialized stores. It is a cheap material that is easy to process. From it you can build a variety of structures. It can be a simple dog house that has the shape of a cube. But you can also build a whole complex of several elements. The booth can be two-story or consist of several single-story structures. They may vary in shape. But different elements must be made in the same style. For example, they may have round windows or the same decoration.
Processing cardboard is very simple. Even a child can cope with this task. It is an environmentally friendly material that does not emit toxic substances into the environment. This is important because dogs have a strong sense of smell. Even a slight smell of glue, paint or another chemical substance can cause discomfort in a four-legged pet.
If the dog is large, it needs a stable booth. In this case, the cardboard should be tight. For a small dog, a box of thinner material is suitable. A wide selection of varieties of cardboard is also its advantage.
Booth size
It is worth noting that small dog houses are significantly different from designs for a large pet. First of all, such a product is different in size. If you have a puppy that grows strongly over time, do not immediately make a big house. In it, the four-legged pet will be uncomfortable. Therefore, you first need to make a small house. Moreover, it is worth making the design only after measuring the size of the animal.
The Chihuahua dog house will be very tiny. Its design can be either very stylish, modern or vintage. For dogs of large breeds, the design of a large house should be thorough, demonstrating the strength and character of the pet.
To make the dog comfortable, the design should not be too small. The dog should be comfortable to lie down and stretch in full length. It is unacceptable that his paws be bent, rested against the walls of the booth.
To correctly calculate the dimensions of the future design, you need to measure the four-legged pet. The distance from the floor to the roof of the booth should be 10 cm greater than the height of the dog at the withers. The entrance to the house should be several centimeters wider than the width of the pet’s chest. The length of the booth should be greater than the size of the dog lying on its side with outstretched legs.
So, for example, for large four-legged pets (Great Dane, Caucasian Shepherd), the standard dimensions of the booth are 100x135x95 cm (length, width and height, respectively). The house for a small dog out of the box, respectively, will be smaller. The choice of dimensions depends on the size of the animal. Such breeds include pug, dachshund, Pekingese and the like. For them, the dimensions of the house are 70x50x60 cm. If the pet has an average size (boxer, rottweiler, sharpei and others), then for him the house can have dimensions of 115x75x80 cm.
Simple booth
To make a dog house out of a cardboard box, you will first need to develop a design drawing. Of course, the simplest option is a booth of rectangular shape, which has a gable or gable roof. The second option looks prettier. A gable roof transforms the box, turning it into a real house.
Regardless of which configuration is selected for the booth, you must first develop a drawing. Think through the design to the smallest detail. In this case, you need to take into account the size of the dog. Draw the entrance, as well as the windows. You can provide a chimney in the house, small shutters, etc. It should be imagined. The house should reflect the nature of the four-legged pet. It should also be taken into account that a cozy nest is created for a dog-boy or girl.
In addition to cardboard, which is purchased in the form of sheets or boxes, you need a masking or ordinary tape, a pattern (created in accordance with the developed drawing) and a sharp clerical knife. You can use scissors, but they must be of the appropriate size in order to cut the dense material well.
The markup is done with a simple pencil and a ruler. Bond parts best glue. For these purposes, the usual PVA is suitable. But for large houses made of cardboard, it is better to purchase liquid nails (transparent varieties).
It is necessary to think over the design of the product. In accordance with the plan should prepare a sufficient amount of fabric or wallpaper.
Manufacturing process
To make a dog house with your own hands out of the box, you need to use the drawing developed earlier. Each part is transferred to sheets of paper. Then they are cut out and transferred to cardboard.
After that, you need to use a sharp clerical knife. With its help, cut out all the details of the future house. It is necessary to act very carefully so that the edges are even. You can use scissors for these purposes, but only in the case of assembling houses for dogs of small breeds. Thinner cardboard is suitable for them.
All parts are fastened with adhesive tape. If the cardboard is tight, and the house is large, it is better to use special glue. This will make the structure durable. Particular attention should be paid to the corners.
Next, you need to paste over the booth with wallpaper. Washable varieties are best. As they become dirty, they can be cleaned with a damp cloth. The booth covered with a cloth looks spectacular. It can be any fluffy textile. The house will immediately become more comfortable and warmer. You can paint the design with paints.
Some recommendations
The box booth must have additional ventilation. It is best done in the form of small windows. They can have a variety of shapes. It can be circles, rectangles or other types of geometric shapes. You can make windows in the form of bones, a bow, if you plan to make a house for dog girls. The fantasy of the master is not limited by anything. The windows can be covered with a mesh cloth or left open.
The house should be comfortable not only externally, but also inside. To do this, you must provide a soft flooring. Dog bed can be made of pillows. Its shape and size must exactly match the dimensions of the booth. You can sew a pillow yourself from foam and soft (preferably fluffy, fleecy) fabric.
Pets really like completely soft booths. To do this, you need to take a pattern of paper, which was transferred to cardboard. It is applied to a fabric that mimics fur or wool. Cut out individual parts for finishing cardboard. Seam allowances should be made in the size of 1.5-2 cm. If it is planned to put foam rubber between the cardboard and the fabric on the inside, the allowance is even larger. While taking into account the thickness of the foam. If it, for example, is 3 cm, an allowance for such a part should be made 4.5-5 cm.
The materials are glued using an appropriate composition. Particular attention is paid to the seams and corners.
A two-storey "house"
A dog house out of the box with your own hands can be made two-story. This option is especially attractive if a dog and a cat coexist peacefully in the apartment. To do this, you need to prepare two cardboard boxes. You should also purchase a masking or ordinary tape, a stationery knife and materials for decorating the structure.
In the first and second box you need to cut openings for entry. Then they make the windows. The top box should have a roof, best gable. In the lower box, the sashes are glued with adhesive tape on both sides. In the upper box they make a roof.
Both boxes are firmly fastened together with glue. Particular attention is also paid to corners and joints.
When the glue dries, you can proceed to decorate the house. It can be made completely soft, but you can do just fluffy beds for dogs and cats. The outer part is papered with wallpaper or cloth. Windows can be distinguished by finishing with bright braid. Cover the roof with another material, highlighting it in the structure.
You can also make a soft version of this house. For this, even at the preparation stage, the inner space of the workpieces is pasted with foam rubber. A soft cloth with a long pile is applied to it. After that, all parts of the structure are assembled together.
Wigwam Booth
Creating your own house out of the box for a small dog, you can pay attention to this option. The wigwam booth has a pyramid shape. Its base will be square or rectangular (depending on the shape of the box).
If the cardboard is sheet, 1 square and 4 triangles are cut from it. It is necessary to correlate the dimensions of the structure with the size of the animal. Triangles should have the same base as the length of the side of the square. In one of them you need to make an entrance. Best if it is round.
Further from the synthetic winterizer cut triangles and a square. They correspond to the size of the blanks from cardboard. Parts with allowances for seams are cut from the fabric. In this case, take into account the thickness of the insulation. Using glue, a synthetic winterizer is fixed on cardboard. Top bonded fabric. Further, all parts of the house are assembled in a single design. In this case, glue is also used.
Original design
A house in the form of a geodesic dome looks original and is suitable for a medium or large dog. The design consists of triangles and squares. They are connected together by masking tape. The joints are made on the outside. They are curved edges.
For the manufacture of the structure, it will be necessary to cut 6-7 squares from cardboard. Each side should have curved edges. Their width is 5-8 cm. Next, triangles of two types are cut. The first category of blanks will have a lower height, and the other more. In this case, the base of the triangles should be the same. It corresponds to the length of the side of the square.
The dome consists of triangles. To make its bend angle smoother, use small triangles. Where a sharp turn of the dome is required, large triangles are needed.
Fasten the parts from the top of the dome. A pentagon is formed from 5 smaller triangles. Large triangles are glued to each of them. The distance between them is filled with small figures. So advance down until a dome is formed. Squares are attached to it, leaving room for entry.
Another option
The bottom in the booth can be oval or rectangular. Both options look interesting. For a small dog, you can make a house consisting of inclined walls on both sides. They will serve as a roof. The partition with the front door and the opposite wall with a window will be vertical. Such a house will look better if it is trimmed with foam rubber or synthetic winterizer, as well as fabric.
If you are creating a house for a small pet, you can provide a handle in it at the top of the structure. So it will be convenient to transfer it from place to place. The handle can be finished with the same material as the roof. So it will look more harmonious.
If the booth will have an oval base, its upper part can be made of two sheets of rectangular shape. They are bent, making an arc, and then they are crossed at the top point. The length of the rectangular sheets should correspond to the required height of the booth. The remaining gaps are made out in the form of windows.
Design options
There are many options for decorating a dog house. It is necessary to take into account the nature of the pet. A house with ruffles will be inappropriate for a Rottweiler or Doberman, and for a fashionable dog-girl of the Chihuahua breed, a simple house will look boring.
For decoration of walls and roofs, fabric, wallpaper, paints are suitable. It is better to give preference to washable materials. If the finish is made of fabric (which is preferable for small houses), it is best to make it in the form of a removable cover. It is sewn according to the same patterns that were used to create the construction of cardboard. Textiles can be chosen very different.
It’s better to paint a large booth. To do this, you can apply the composition on a water or latex basis, which is applied by brush or sprayed from a spray can.
Wall and roof wallpapers can be selected themed. They will correspond to the style and character of the dog.
Small details adorn the overall exposure. So, the details in the form of bones, traces of dog paws look interesting. You can make bows out of fabric if the house belongs to a girl. Figures of dogs made of paper, fabrics will also decorate the booth.