Dog Houses Climate Controlled

Forget the light bulb under the roof it doesn't help the dog on the floor, heat rises, the bulb only heats the roof.

Hot Weather

Dogs and Cats do not have built-in climate controls like Humans, they cannot perspire to cool their bodies down when it is hot. The wind from a regular fan cools the human body by evaporating the moisture of our perspiration. That does not help a dog stay cool like it does us, it only circulates hot air.

Dogs also suffer sunburn wherever their skin is exposed or their coat is very thin.

Cold Weather

Dogs and cats are especially at risk when the weather is first changing and their coats are still thin.

Cold in mild temperate climate

Rain, Snow and Ice leave dogs and cats wet all the way down to their skin when they have to bed down in it even when they have a Dog Igloo with a blanket. The blankets get wet from their fur and they have no way to get dry, their body's natural heat is leeched out by the wet and their cold bodies become vulnerable to viruses and bacterial infections.

Often they die from exposure while their owners sit in a warm house over a warm meal.

Of course the best for your dog is to live with you inside your house with a dog door that gives him access to his fenced yard at all times. This doesn't only keep him safe from bad weather, it also makes him feel secure and part of the family (pack), he will bond much closer to you.

But if you can't let him in when you are not home then the next best thing is a small properly climate controlled dog house. This sounds very fancy and expensive but doesn't have to be. Below are some of the commercial examples. Doing it yourself is cheap and easy and the electric bill is negligible, if the dog house is properly insulated and has a good dog door.

Wood is the best insulator known to man. Unlike plastic dog houses, wood dog houses are significantly cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Dog igloos or similar plastic boxes, pretty as some may be to look at, should be avoided, they are hot in summer and cold in winter and often wet inside . Wooden houses can easily be insulated. Make sure they are high enough off the ground that the wood doesn't rot and water can't flow in during very heavy rains, then double the floor by layering 1" styrofoam between two peaces of plywood and insulate the walls and roof with regular wall insulation that gets covered also with plywood. This insulation is important, it saves on electric bills and also preserves your heater and air-conditioner because they don't have to work so hard. We have found the smallest air window units that are being sold at hardware stores very cost effective and efficient and they are only around $100.00. We use the ones with remote controls so the dogs can't chew off the knobs on the controls. As heaters we use small space heaters that we set behind a grill inside the dog house on the floor (heat rises) close to the door so they blow to the inside. As grills we use the white wire baskets for closet organizers, they come in all kinds of sizes.

Make sure all wires go into the walls, so they can't be chewed on and that neither unit blows directly onto the dogs bed which should be in the back of the house. The diagram above shows an example that we find more comfortable for the dogs than the commercial configurations.

Insulated Dog House