Some years ago, one of our near neighbours bought a dog, and soon afterwards it became clear to me that it lived outside all year round. I could hear it barking.


At the time I thought the idea of having a pet dog live outdoors was a little unfair on the dog.

It is a debatable point with dog owners, I know, whether to house them outside. Dogs can do a lot of damage inside your house, so that is a good enough reason to set up a dog house outdoors.

Carpets, curtains, painted wooden doors, sofas and chairs can be permanently damaged. Then there is the smell of dog urine on your expensive lounge carpet. That will linger for a long time, and if there is a thick underlay which is non porous underneath the carpet, the smell will remain there until the carpet is lifted. I know that for a fact.

Regarding our own situation, after a lot of debate, we decided to build a large dog house for our lab.

If you know the breed, you will recognize that, as youngsters, they can be quite a handful. They have lots of energy. If you have got a chewer, you might definitely want him to live outside.

We did a few searches on the internet for free large dog house plans, and the results gave us a few ideas about the design and construction we wanted. We did not realize there are so many different designs for dog houses, so we had plenty of ideas to work with. I think our final choice was influenced by the personality of our dog. They all have their own characteristics, so I felt it was important to allow for that in our choice of dog house design.

We chose a closed construction, with wooden walls. As he would be outdoors all year round, we did not want him to be wet or cold at any time, so we had the structure insulated against the weather. At the same time, it is important to have adequate ventilation, to prevent the dog house from over heating.

Cleanliness and hygiene were important to us as well, so we chose a design that would allow us to remove part of the roof, enabling the dog house to be cleaned when necessary.

You can have a two room dog house if you want. An outer room and an inner one. The are many different designs to choose from. You need to avoid materials or constructions that might harm your dog in any way. And when you have made your choice, personalize it, with your pets favourite bedding and toys.

If you decide on a bigger dog house, be sure to get a good set of free large dog house plans to go with it.