Do-it-yourself outdoor dog enclosure: materials, sizes, schemes

Recommendation points

• Arrangement of a site for an aviary
• Aviary fencing
• Installation of a wicket
• Kennel, insulation
• Roof device

We invite you to discuss the construction of housing for a domestic guard dog. We will tell you in which aviary it is better to keep your pet, from what materials to build a house and how to organize the internal space so that the defender of the house can spend time with comfort.

Arrangement of a site for an aviary

Purely structurally, the aviary can be either a free-standing block structure or a covered terrace area with a fence. We propose to consider the latter option for several reasons:

1. It is easier to attach such an aviary to a building where a feeder and a sleeping place will be organized..
2. The design is less prone to subsidence and distortion.
3. Paved area is easier to clean.
4. Objectively, the need to move the enclosure is extremely small, and there are much more troubles with the assembly of the frame base..

Before preparing the site, marking is carried out. The aviary can have any wall contour and size, but keep in mind that a large adult dog requires a lot of space. An adult German shepherd, for example, should be provided with a walking space of at least 5–8 m², for a Caucasian or Mastiff, you need about 10 m².

At the marked area, you need to remove the soil on the bayonet of the shovel, fill the formed space with equal layers of fine gravel and sand. The height of the backfill should be such that, after laying the material used, the site rises above the adjacent soil by about 30–50 mm. The surface must be tightly tamped and leveled with a rail, the pad must be poured without additional compaction.

It is recommended to enclose the base of the aviary along the perimeter with some kind of curb stones, for example, with a brick on the edge, the upper edge of which will come out flush with the common plane. It is also possible to form a slope of about 2: 100 for easier wet cleaning.

The material for the paved surface can be chosen relatively freely. Concrete slabs, paving slabs, substandard bricks are suitable. The smaller the elements, the better: this way the surface will absorb moisture faster. After laying the coating, the gaps must be thoroughly sand-washed.

Aviary fencing

The aviary is a fairly lightweight structure, it can be based on just a few vertical posts. For a frame with a side up to 4 meters, only corner supports will be enough. If more – you should add intermediate racks, you can even a smaller section.

Steel pipes of round or rectangular cross-section are well suited as supports, you can also use angle steel or channels. It is not recommended to use the tree for the reason that the pet can gnaw it, violating the appearance and structural strength.

It is necessary to dig in the supports on the outside of the site so that they closely adjoin the curb stones. It is enough to drill holes with a garden drill with a diameter slightly larger than the width of the racks. You need to bury it to a depth of about 1/3 of the total length. The height of the racks and, accordingly, the ceiling of the enclosure should not be less than 1.5 meters, ideally it is 1.8–2 meters.

The front pillars should be slightly higher than the rear ones to form a roof slope of about 1:10. To prevent subsidence, it is recommended to weld several struts at different heights to the underground parts of the supports. After the racks are adjusted to the level of gravel to the bottom of the holes, they must be densely covered with soil. Concreting is also possible, but not necessary, it is easier to mix the soil with large gravel and fill the pillars with this mixture. As the filling progresses, the vertical position must be corrected in the forward and transverse directions; water can be added to compact.

1 – gravel pad; 2 – soil with rubble; 3 – spacers; 4 – shaped pipe

When the supports are installed, they need to be tied at the top and bottom. On the top, from the front and back sides, shoulder straps of corner steel are laid, which will serve as the basis for the roof sheathing. At the bottom, the pillars need to be pulled purely nominally, in order to anticipate the divergence of the supports, ordinary reinforcement will do. The side walls of the enclosure must also be pulled together with inclined beams, which will serve as the upper support for the fence and will not interfere with the roofing.

The choice of the fence depends on the massiveness and aggressiveness of the pet. Reinforcement mesh or chain-link is quite suitable for calm, well-mannered dogs, but for high-quality tension you will have to add several vertical reinforcing rods every 100-140 cm. For large aggressive dogs, it is better to make the hedge entirely from vertical reinforcing rods. The distance between them should be such that the dog cannot fully stick its head in, otherwise at a certain moment it may simply get stuck in the fence. To prevent the rods from being pushed apart, it is recommended to pull them together with one or two horizontal reinforcement lines.

To eliminate airflow, it is recommended to sheathe the inside of the enclosure with sheets of OSB class 1–2, slate or board shields. Ideally, three walls should be blank, usually the north and east walls are sewn up, or the sides with prevailing winds. It is also reasonable to build a parapet about 30-40 cm on open walls so that snow does not sweep into the enclosure in winter. And do not forget about the security factor, because in certain directions visibility must be preserved for the watchman.

Installation of a wicket

The door to the aviary should allow the owner to freely enter for cleaning and caring for the pet. The simplest option is to pre-install two posts at a distance of about 80–100 cm, thereby forming the opening of the wicket. In order not to pore over the manufacture of a transom, the gate can be made in the full height of the enclosure. Naturally, this option is possible only from the front or rear wall, on the side walls you will have to compensate for the slope of the roof.

A wicket door can be made in the form of an angle steel frame filled with reinforcing bars. The dimensions of the wicket should be 15–20 mm smaller than the opening on each side, otherwise there is a great risk that the door will jam over time. It is advisable to hang it on two point canopies or on 3-4 door hinges.

Pay particular attention to the door lock. It is better to make it by hand: two small 1/2 inch pipe sleeves serve as a latch frame, the third acts as a strike plate. It is better to make the handle with a heavy knob and weld a small pin to the base of the lock as a stop that limits the reverse shift of the handle. Quite often it happens that the dog, jumping on the gate, opens the constipation and is free. Therefore, options without a stop and factory latches or hooks are better not to be considered..

One of the most convenient feeder designs is related to the wicket theme. At a height of 30–45 cm, depending on the height of the dog, an end-to-end rectangular frame with dimensions of about 20×40 cm should be fixed in the fence. One of the vertical sides of the frame should be made with a round smooth rod, on which a sleeve from a pipe segment is put on during assembly. A straight rail is attached to the sleeve, on one side of which there are bowls with water and food, the other side serves as a lever that allows you to turn the feeder out and replenish food and water supplies.

Kennel, insulation

Each breed of dog has its own specifics of making a kennel, therefore, it is better to build a lodging place for your pet according to the recommendations from the guidelines for service dog breeding. We will describe the main points.

The booth must necessarily have double walls and a bottom, while the gaps between the outer boards must be carefully caulked. If you wish, you can lay a heater (mineral wool) in the cavity at least to the middle of the manhole height. It is advisable to place the kennel so that the entrance faces a blank wall.

To prevent the pet from freezing in cold weather on the concrete floor, you need to knock down the boardwalk. A kennel should fit on it, plus it is advisable to leave 1-1.5 meters of space on each side. In case of severe frosts, it is better to knock down the shelf located a meter above the ground. Any tricks with the general insulation of the area under the aviary are, in fact, useless: the coating will still be at the outside temperature, so a small boardwalk will be enough. The only thing is that it needs to be knocked down on high enough bars to isolate it from moisture on the floor and leave air for ventilation..

Roof device

Most dog breeds require enclosure cover, even if the booth is sheltered from the rain. With the described construction of the fence, it will not be difficult to lay the roof. Along the slope with a step of 60–80 cm, you need to fasten several beams of 40×40 or 50×50 mm, resting them on the upper horizontal ties of the front and rear walls. On top of the beams, a crate is laid according to the type of roof, usually an unedged board up to an inch thick.

The most budgetary option for the roof is corrugated board or slate. Usually, for this purpose, leftovers from the construction of a house are used. The only requirement is to provide a wide enough roof outreach in the front part to prevent slanting rain from entering the enclosure. It is recommended to fix the gutter at the back so that the drain from the roof does not wet the sheathing of the blank wall, this is especially important if the soil behind the aviary is in constant shade.