Entire Dog Blog

I personally never really understood the dog houses that people build in their backyards. That's probably because I currently live in a dog house with a mortgage that I pay on behalf of the dogs that own me.

I know dog houses are pretty popular, and some are very extravagant. Something to keep in mind, though, is that unless you're installing a heater for some reason, the dog relies on its body heat to keep warm in the dog house. And for that to work, the house needs to be small enough to store the body heat and insulated with some material that will prevent it from escaping.

KOTA has posted an article (that I crudely coverted from its original all-caps format) to remind us of those factors.

Keeping the dog house out of the wind, elevating it off the cold ground, and giving them extra food, to keep their bodies warm are all important, but if that dog house is too big, your pet might not be able to stay warm.

"you don't want to make the dog house so big that the dog can't stay warm," said Panhandle Humane Society director, Deb Shutte. "the body heat is what heats up the dog house and helps keep it warm, so as long as they can get in, stand up and turnaround, that dog house is plenty big."

PetSmart.com gives some specifics.

• the door height of the house should be at least three quarter of your dog's shoulder height (from the ground to the neck);
• the length and width of the house should be at least equal to but not more than 25 percent larger than the distance between the nose and the root of the tail;
• the height of the house should be at least 25 percent taller and no higher than 50 percent the height of the dog when stood erect.