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Doghouse heating ideas

Jonk67

Jonk67

Well-Known Member
Well I'm almost done building the 2 dogs an outside esccape from the weather when we're not home for hours. Now that it's getting colder in TN I need to add some type of safe heating. I put my 110 space heater in there last week and they did fine with it (has tip shutoff and I put it on low heat) and it kept them warmer than the teens it was outside.
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Thinking of some way to put heating strips on the wood floor and cover but need to make sure they can chew up whatever outdoor carpet, etc. I put down. I have 1" styrofoam insulation as seen and will be covering with panel board so they can chew it either. What are thoughts on safe floor heating or a wall mounted space heater I could mount flush with panelboard? I just need to keep it from freezing - 50* would be fine and there is 110 outlet nearby.

Doghouse is ~5'X5' interior and dogs are 40 lb midsize golden mix and 100 lb. 1yr. old Great Dane:
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Jon
 
A heated dog house? If they are only out for a few hours time they will be more than fine in a shelter out of the wind.
 
A small house but just big enough for his seize , out of the wind orientated , and if it is really cold , you could throw some straw in it for that time.A wooden floor is better then concrete floor.
 
AzPete said:
.........dogs if the opposite sex........
Click to expand...
Both female and they're normally inside in inclement weather. We are gone 8-10 hours sometimes into the evening and we did get down to 0* last year. I usually put their water in opposite corner in doghouse otherwise its a block of ice pretty quick.
I'm thinking a small wall unit up higher so they don't lay against it may be best.
 
So a couple of male dogs should warm things up...lol

Heat will rise so a small blower may be needed also if you go high with the unit. Be careful if using an extension cord vs wired to the circuit. Keeping it high to be away from them is good. Ducting to floor vent would help distribute the heat better too. My small dogs own a vent each in the house....hot or cold. Air conditioning and carpeting would be nice too.
 
I'm the only male in the house and its stayin' that way . I can easily cut a hole in the floor and mount it under with a grate, that might be a good option. Wires will be out of chewing reach any way I go.
Summers aren't as brutal and they have shade.
 
Jon,
Thought about doing this for many years but never have. My dogs have been labs, st bernard's, beagles, chows, even a min pin that stayed out until temps dipped below 40. What dogs like are houses/spaces where they can curl up. That "escape" is nice and heat would be a good touch but I would recommend smaller houses for them to fit in with straw or cedar. I would either put two houses in there or build "sleeping quarters", basically an area not much bigger than the dogs yet allowing them to turn around in. Fill the area with cedar or straw. Dogs like both but cedar keeps bugs away. Read up on dog hair and how they hold heat. Pretty interesting stuff. My dogs stay outside in their houses but when temps get teens and below I put heating discs in their houses under the cedar. You can pick em up at pet stores. Just a round disc the size of a small plate you drop in the microwave for a couple minutes and the suckers stay warm for up to 12 hours.


Or you could just mount a wall heater with the cord running through the wall. Or install a fireplace. Or bring 'em inside. Or accept the facts they are dogs.
 
Thanks Duane, yeah its the below 30* down to 0* that bother me, some times I might be the first home at 8p and its cold and dark for hours by then and their waters frozen. Think I'm going to figure out a floor vent like Pete suggested. The smaller dog is >11 and I don't want arthritis to be an issue, cold makes it worse.
Dog house is covered with raw cedar boards from sawmill to keep bugs out but may also get a cedar filled bed and look for those discs. Nice thing about space heater is it only kicks on if low temp is reached.

I did intend to put a wall in at the door but have to see if the big dog can still turn around to get out, that's how I ended up with a 25 sq/ft doghouse...
 
No dog house here. They have a pet door. This way they can drink cool water from the toilet and lounge on our bed as much as they want.

Mel

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2
 
Mel the GD gets herself in too much trouble left inside alone.
Thanks Ryan, I'll see if they have those locally. As long as I cover it with a carpet so they can't get to it that may work well too.
 
That's why they make metal crates! A crate to a dog is just like a safe house.


Mark

Sent from my semi-smart phone
 
Jon, those heating mats used to come in different sizes. We had one years ago and it was a hard plastic with a well shielded cord. One for each dog with a dog bed on top ought to do the trick.
 
Thanks Ryan, I'll look at the sizes/prices. The dog house is 2 ft. off the ground built into the side of my deck so I can easily get under to run cords out of bottom and away from chewing or mount a space heater to blow upwards. I'll price out each option.

Mark, i can't leave 2 dogs caged for 10 - 12 hours, they need exercise and potty time. Doesn't happen every week but when it does I need the ability to leave them out if the wifes out of town for 3 - 7 days and I'm at work. They have shelter from sun and rain just not from freezing temps, a crate outside will get colder than the insulated house I built.

Thanks for all the input guys, I couldn't think of as many options.
 
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