Best dog houses? for cold and hot days?

No problem! I'd really suggest putting a hinge on the roof. It's a lot easier to clean out that way rather than climbing in the dog entry. The first one dad made didn't have the hinge so us kids climbed in on our hands and knees to clean it out every spring. When we got a little older and a little bigger, lifting up the roof was a lot easier on the back and knees!

Hehe, the things we realize when we are finished with the job. Oh well, you managed. Thanks to you I will know before hand. Where can I get those shavings? I have used hay, are the shavings better?

The shavings are nice b/c they're absorbant and have a nice smell. We usually had a layer of shavings and then a layer of straw. The shaving you can probably find at a feed store or a store that has farming supplies. Walmart may even have smaller bags of them.

I have no idea what an air kennel is....it sounds like a crate though and if that is indeed what it is then no, you will need something a lot more secure than merely a crate. Crates cant keep out rain and snow and sleet, doghouses do. Also crates have no insulation so are terrible for keeping in the heat and the cold out or the cold in and the heat out. If I were you I would deffinately invest in a good quality wooden insulated doghouse.

Cedar has worked very well with us thus far with no bad reactions to it at all, it also comes recommended from a wide variety of different kennels of different breeds.

Also some coat types shouldnt be bathed once a week. It completely strips the coat of its natural oils. I bathe my sibes roughly 1-2 times a year and everyone always comments on how good their coat looks. I do brush regularily.

I get my shavings in bulk at the pet store in the small animals section. I went to a cedar furniture place and asked for shavings from any untreated wood they had but I found that shavings were a bit too fine for my liking. They do put them through a strainer to rid of the dust and really small flakes but I still find that they are a bit fine. I can still use them but will keep getting them from the pet store instead.

Also don;t use hay, straw is MUCH softer and insulates way better. Hay is sharp and pokes and I find it irritates the skin a lot. Straw is easier to make a nest with. I get my straw from local farmers. Again though watch for quality. Some straw is full of dust and small bits that are no good for your dogs respitory system. When you open thebale and start spreading the flakes you shouldnt see much dust falling. Also be sure to smell the flakes before spreading them in the doghouse. You are smelling for any moldy smell. Sometimes the straw gets baled when it is still wet or after it was baled it got rained on and stored in the barn while the middle was still wet which causes mold to grow. This is no good for your dog.

straw is a better insulator and doesn't soak down and rot like hay does. IT does however need to be changed regularly so fleas dont' bed down too. FResh straw needs to be added regularly to keep the insulating effect. FOr small dogs i would put so much in they could burrow a nest into the middle. That way i knew they were warm enough.

Smkie, that''s how much I put even for my big dogs I know of I put too much though because OC will shove it on to the other side of the divider in his doghouse and Ronan will drag it out completely LOL

they do love fresh straw day don't they? My boss always scolded me for using too much but i would rather there be enough for them to make it just right then to think of them not having enough and shivering. I would stick my hand in there when they came out and feel if it was cool or warm. As long as it still felt warm i knew they had the amount they needed. I imagine the heating coils underneath helped too. They didn't have the dense artic coats your dogs have, but short oily coats and Missouri can get quite cold.

I got to look up the link about why cedar can cause respitory problems, i don't want to qoute without the proper facts.

I've heard that cedar can cause skin problems, but I've never had a problem with the 5+ years I've been using it. I never heard of the respritorty problems though. I suppose if you get strong enough stuff, its possible.
Also, try to get oat straw, and not wheat straw. Wheat straw had those little barb thingys that poke into everything, and are almost impossible to get all the way out. Made the mistake of getting a bale of it last year, and wearing a fleece coat to put it in thier houses. I still have pieces of it in my coat.
And, I wouldnt use a hinged roof. Makes it so much easier for wind, rain and snow to get in. The little bit of discomfort I experiance is no problem compared to having a cold, wet house.

We never had a problem with the hinge, the roof was heavy enough to create a good seal. But then again we lived in a very wooded area, so wind probably didn't gust as much as in an open area.

I don't have any outdoor suggestions, but I bathe my pups once a week and use allerpet on their coats afterwards and it has greatly helped my allergies and asthma.

Thank you for explaining. I know some dog breeds like huskies a lot of times very much love being outside, and I understand the need for working dogs, sledding dogs etc, as long as the facilities are effecient, but I do have a few problems with trying to justify keeping them outside.

Many dogs have a prey drive, but can be trained to live in peace with cats when you are there, and crated/left in a different room when you are not home. I am sure there are many people here who do this. Otherwise, quite frankly, if I had a cat I would not be getting dog breeds that had a high prey drive when I would not be willing to work with this situation.(or I would not have gotten cats, depends on who came first) I don't agree with that excuse at all.

I am not going to comment on the 6 dead cats.

In regards to a dog eating the poop, once again this is both a training issue and an access issue. Its extremely hard to train, so I do not give access in any way to the cat box to my dog.

If you get a dog breed that sheds, you live with the hair. You do not require the dogs to stay outside.

In regards to "I have a small dog". How come it always "treat all dogs like dogs", but then it comes down to "you have a small dog". Small dogs do have attachements to there people, but many of them can take the same temperatures of the bigger dogs. We just seem to be more accepting of bigger dogs outside, but not small ones.

The dogs wanting to go back outside can have a lot to do with them being used to being outside, and also being used to going to the bathroom whenever they want outside. Why have a dog to leave it outside all the time? (I know some people do this for working breeds and when they are at work, but that is not what I am talking about)

I am not bashing you. You stated why you are doing it and I am telling you why I don't understand it.

I dont think they could ever be trained to live peacefully with cats. I can get her to live semi-peacefully with the other dogs, but anything smaller then her, its food. Trust me. Unless if you would like me to keep her on a 1 foot leash, with a choke chain and muzzle so she could live inside?
As for the 6 dead cats, Aurora got loose one day, and headed straight for the neighbors house. Cat after cat, grabed it, snapped its neck, flung it, and moved to the next one. A very horrible thing to experiance. I do not wish to have that happen again.
As for the cat boxes, we really dont have anyway of making it no dog access. Cant put it up high, they can jump up there, and we have a cat that wont jump up anything higher then 2 feet. Dont have a spare space big enough for the 4 boxes.
As for the dog hair, that is really, quite minor. Its more of my moms problem then mine. I dont mind the dog hair, she does. I'm use to breathing it, eating it, having it constantly on me, getting it my eyes, heck, I probably have it in places I dont even know about.
Then whats really the problem? The dogs are provided with a excellent house, food 2x a day, water, more exersize then you can imagine, and lots of love and care. They all recieve the best vet care possible, since I keep them outside, I'm under extra stress to make sure everyone is happy and heathy. You have no idea how much pressure I put myself to make sure everyone stays in 100% perfect health. You might not understand it, but it works for me.

Yep sure do, Igloo means house.

I see a difference between trying to keep a whole sled team inside, how many dogs is that? 6-10? and just having 1-3 dogs to keep inside. There is a difference because many people have them for working dogs for there lively hood. If I could not fit one dog into my house, and they where not a working dog, then I definatly would not be getting any others.

Right now I have 10 huskies, 6 of which are currently in training, 4 are 4.5 mo. old pups, who will start training most likely in Dec. (Just working with them on foot right now)
Even though I dont depend on my dogs for survival, they are working dogs 100%. All but one of them, (Dakota) them have very strong working backgrounds, and were bred to be a good athlete, not a good inside dog. (Infact, the first people to own Aurora tried making her a house dog. They gave her back a few months later.)

This is one of the reasons why I no longer have any interest in racing - I'd like my dogs to be house pets.

All eight of my dogs are now house dogs, including my two retirees with hardcore race dog pedigrees. You can see the temperamental difference between the ones bred for work and the rescues who were pet bred, but all of them appreciate being inside. I currently have five crates set up, dog beds on the floors, and a spare single mattress in my bedroom for the dogs. Arthur has decided that the corner of the couch is his and sleeps there every night.

I keep the cats outside or in another part of the house when the dogs are in (they have free run of my living room, bedroom and hallway). During the day when the dogs are in the yard, the kitties come in.

It requires a bit of extra work, but it can be done, and I enjoy the added bonuses of having my crew inside.