Building your own dog house from scratch is a great way to spend a weekend. It’s also a pretty nice thing to do for your dog.

If you want to build a functional dog house from scratch, that’s pretty easy but also very functional, here’s what you need to do…

Gather Supplies

In order to make your own dog house you’ll need

• ¾ inch Sheets Plywood x2
• Cedar Shingles (1 Pack)
• Pallet Wood
• 2×4 x1
• A Solar light
• Paint
• Liquid Adhesive ( No More Nails)
• Silicone Caulk
• Hinges
• This plan

Step One

Use a straight edge and circular saw to cut out each piece of your dog house from the ¾ inch plywood, referring to the link above for the pattern. 

Step Two

Now you will need to find the right angle for the roof. You can easily do this using a straight edge. Once you’ve found the angle, mark it on the wood and then use a circular saw to cut the wood accordingly.

Step Three

Every dog house needs a door, so use a jigsaw to cut an opening large enough for your dog out of the front doghouse panel.

Step Four

Once you’ve cut out all the pieces in the pattern, take some 2×2 pieces of wood. You can use these as corner braces while you glue all of the parts of the main body together using a liquid adhesive such as No More Nails.

Step Five

Attach a set of hinges to the top of the construction and use those to attach the rood. Once that’s done, you can attach the floor (which you can make by joining the slats of a pallet or two together) using a couple of right-angle brackets in every corner.

Step Six

Anywhere you have connected two board together, apply silicone caulk. This will help to ensure that your doghouse is weatherproof.

Step Seven

Now, it’s time to apply a coat of paint. You can choose any colour you wish and feel free to have fun with interesting patterns- just make sure that you use exterior paint or it won’t last long.

Step Eight

Once that’s done, you can add cladding to the doghouse using the slats from a few wood pallets. This will make your dog house look even better and give it more protection.

Step Nine

Affix your cedar shingles on the roof. This will give it an extra level of protection

Step ten

Once you’ve completed the above steps, you can create a neat awning for your dog to sit under. You can do this by gluing a couple of pieces of 3/4inch plywood together and sawing them down to the desired length. Take a hole saw and make a hole in the awning through which you can attach the solar light.

Step Eleven

Fill the house with your dog’s bed, some yummy Barking Heads wet dog food, a few toys and introduce him to his new pad. He’s sure to love it.

This may seem like a lot of work, but if you have the right tools and DIY skills, you can complete this project in just a few hours.

Robert Spurr