A pet becomes a member of the family. Therefore, in order for him to be 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 hustle and bustle. Pet stores have a large selection of special beds and houses for dogs. Their cost may seem too high to someone. In this case, it is quite possible to make a dog house with your own hands from the box. Interesting ideas and recommendations will be discussed further.
Advantages of cardboard
How to make a house for a dog? There are many variants of such structures. Houses or sunbeds are made from a variety of materials. It can be foam rubber, plywood or wood. But one of the most popular options is cardboard. It has a lot of advantages.
Cardboardboxes often remain after the purchase of household appliances. You can buy a finished box at the post office, in specialized stores. This 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 is shaped like a cube. But you can also build a whole complex of several elements. The booth can be two-story or consist of several one-story structures. They may differ in shape. But different elements must be made in the same style. For example, they may have round windows or identical decorations.
Carton handling is very easy. Even a child can cope with this task. It is an environmentally friendly material that does not release toxic substances into the environment. This is important because dogs have a highly developed sense of smell. Even the slightest smell of glue, paint, or other chemical can cause discomfort to a four-legged pet.
If the dog is large, it needs a stable kennel. In this case, the cardboard must be dense. For a small dog, a box made of thinner material is suitable. A large selection of cardboard varieties is also its advantage.
Booth size
It is worth noting that houses for dogs of small breeds are significantly different from designs for a large pet. First of all, such a product differs in dimensions. If you have a puppy that will grow a lot over time, you should not immediately make a big house. In it, the four-legged pet will be uncomfortable. Therefore, first you need to make a small house. And it's worthmake the design only after measuring the size of the animal.
The house for the Chihuahua dog will be very tiny. Its design can be both very stylish, modern, and vintage. For dogs of large breeds, the design of a large house should be solid, 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 to its full length. It is unacceptable that his paws be bent, rest against the walls of the booth.
To correctly calculate the dimensions of the future structure, you need to measure a four-legged pet. The distance from the floor to the roof of the booth should be 10 cm more than the height of the dog at the withers. The entrance to the house should be a few 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 paws.
So, for example, for large four-legged pets (Great Dane, Caucasian Shepherd Dog), 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. These 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, Shar Pei 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 drawingdesigns. Of course, the simplest option is a rectangular booth that has a shed or gable roof. The second option looks prettier. The gable roof transforms the box into a real home.
No matter what configuration you choose for the booth, you first need to develop a blueprint. They think over 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, small shutters, etc. in the house. You should dream up. The house should reflect the character of the four-legged pet. It must also be considered whether a cozy nest is being created for a dog-boy or girl.
In addition to cardboard, which is purchased in the form of sheets or boxes, you need masking or regular tape, a pattern (created in accordance with the developed drawing) and a sharp clerical knife. You can also use scissors, but they must be of the appropriate size to cut through thick material well.
Markup is done with a simple pencil and ruler. It is best to fasten the parts with glue. For these purposes, ordinary PVA is suitable. But for large houses made of thick cardboard, it is better to purchase liquid nails (transparent varieties).
You need to think about the design of the product. In accordance with the planned plan, a sufficient amount of fabric or wallpaper should be prepared.
Production process
To make a do-it-yourself dog house out of the box, you need to use the drawing developed earlier. Each detail is transferred to sheetspaper. Then they are cut out and transferred to cardboard.
After that, you need to use a sharp clerical knife. With it, cut out all the details of the future house. You have to be very careful to keep the edges straight. 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 thick and the house is large, it is better to use special glue. This will make the structure durable. Pay special attention to the corners.
Next, you need to paste over the booth with wallpaper. It is best to choose washable varieties. As they get dirty, you can clean them with a damp cloth. The booth covered with fabric looks impressive. It can be any fluffy textile. The house will immediately become cozier and warmer. You can paint the structure with paints.
A few recommendations
The booth out of the box should 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 a bone, a bow, if you plan to make a house for dog girls. The imagination of the master here is not limited by anything. The windows can be closed with a mesh cloth or left open.
The house should be cozy not only externally, but also inside. To do this, it is necessary to provide soft flooring. The dog bed can be made frompillows. Its shape and size must exactly match the dimensions of the booth. You can sew a pillow yourself from foam rubber and soft (preferably fluffy, fleecy) fabric.
Pets love fully padded kennels. To do this, you need to take a pattern from paper, which was transferred to cardboard. It is applied to a fabric that imitates fur or wool. Cut out individual parts for finishing cardboard. Allowances for seams should be made in the size of 1.5-2 cm. If it is planned to lay foam rubber between cardboard and fabric on the inside, the allowance is made even larger. In this case, the thickness of the foam rubber is taken into account. If, for example, it is 3 cm, the allowance for such a part must be made 4.5-5 cm.
Materials are glued using the appropriate composition. Particular attention is paid to seams and corners.
Two-story "mansion"
Do-it-yourself dog house out of the box can be made two-story. This option is especially attractive if a dog and a cat coexist peacefully in the apartment. To do this, prepare two cardboard boxes. You should also purchase masking or regular tape, a stationery knife and materials to decorate the structure.
In the first and second box you need to cut holes for entry. Next, they make windows. The top box should have a roof, preferably gable. In the lower box, the sashes are qualitatively glued with tape on both sides. A roof is made in the top box.
Both boxes are firmly fastened together with glue. Pay special attention to corners andseams.
When the glue dries, you can start decorating the house. It can be made completely soft, but you can get by with just fluffy beds for dogs and cats. The outer part is covered with wallpaper or fabric. The windows can be distinguished by trimming with bright braid. Roof - paste over with other material, highlighting it in the structure.
You can also make a soft version of this house. To do this, even at the stage of preparation, the inner space of the blanks is pasted over with foam rubber. A soft cloth with a long pile is applied to it. After that, all parts of the structure are assembled together.
Teepee Booth
When creating a house out of a box for a small dog with your own hands, you can pay attention to this option. The wigwam booth has the shape of a pyramid. 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 out of it. It is necessary to correlate the dimensions of the structure with the size of the animal. Triangles must have a base equal to the length of the side of the square. In one of them you need to make an entrance. It is best if it is round.
Next, triangles and a square are cut out of the padding polyester. They correspond in size to cardboard blanks. Details with seam allowances are cut out of the fabric. In this case, the thickness of the insulation is taken into account. With the help of glue, a synthetic winterizer is fixed on the cardboard. Glue fabric on top. Further, all parts of the house are assembled into a single structure. In this case, glue is also used.
Original design
The house in the form of a geodesic dome looks original and is suitable for a dogmedium or large size. The design consists of triangles and squares. They are connected to each other with masking tape. Joints will be made on the outside. They are curled edges.
To make the structure, you will need to cut 6-7 squares out of cardboard. Each side should have curved edges. Their width is 5-8 cm. Then two types of triangles are cut out. The first category of blanks will have a smaller height, while the other will have a larger one. 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 is made up of triangles. To make its bending angle smoother, small triangles are used. Where a sharp turn of the dome is required, large triangles are needed.
Fasten the parts starting from the top of the dome. Five smaller triangles form a pentagon. Large triangles are glued to each of them. The distance between them is filled with small figures. So move down until the dome is formed. Squares are attached to it, leaving room for entry.
Another option
The bottom of the booth can be oval or rectangular. Both options look interesting. For a small dog, you can make a house consisting of sloping walls on both sides. They will also 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 finished with foam rubber or padding polyester, 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 carry 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 from two rectangular sheets. They are bent, making an arc, and then they are crossed at the top point. The length of the rectangular sheets must correspond to the required height of the booth. The remaining gaps are made 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 ruffled house would be out of place for a Rottweiler or a Doberman, and for a fashionable Chihuahua dog girl, a simple house would look boring.
Fabric, wallpaper, paints are suitable for wall and roof decoration. It is better to give preference to washable materials. If the finish will be 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 cardboard structure. Textiles can be chosen very different.
Big booth better painted. To do this, you can use a composition on a water or latex basis, which is applied with a brush or sprayed from a can.
Wallpaper for walls and roofs can be themed. They will match the style, character of the dog.
Small details will decorate the overall exposure. So, the details in the form of bones, traces of dogpaws. You can make bows out of fabric if the house belongs to a girl. Figures of dogs made of paper, fabric will also decorate the booth.
