Ideal House For Dogs

[sandgrubber]

I'm preparing to build a new house. In my days in the boarding kennel business I often wished I could hose down the floors in the house and squeegee to a, as you do in the kennel. The new house will have concrete floors with radiant heating, and drains, plus splash boards on the walls. Also a couple good places for a whelping box, and of course doggie doors.

If you could build a new place, what would you add to make life with dogs easier and more pleasant? Or, what features of your present house make it good . . . or bad . . . for dogs?

[SkySoaringMagpie]

I'm preparing to build a new house. In my days in the boarding kennel business I often wished I could hose down the floors in the house and squeegee to a, as you do in the kennel. The new house will have concrete floors with radiant heating, and drains, plus splash boards on the walls. Also a couple good places for a whelping box, and of course doggie doors.

If you could build a new place, what would you add to make life with dogs easier and more pleasant? Or, what features of your present house make it good . . . or bad . . . for dogs?

I would make sure that you can split the house down the middle with doors if you want, or a 1/3 - 2/3 mix, with patio doors in the separate areas that open into a separately fenced yards. That's about managing dogs with bitches in season, or other separation that might be necessary.

[Shelby]

I would make sure my laundry is a good size to instal a bigger laundry tub than I have now to be able to bath the dogs in comfort. Sounds like you have a good idea of what you want.

[Cairo1]

Well a month or so back I saw the most amazing dog friendly house ever!!

Sadly it was a new house because these breeders had theirs burnt down in the recent bush fires in Victoria (St Andrews). Anyway, the features that really appealed to me was that the kitchen, which was at one end of the house, had a large granite counter which divided the kitchen/grooming and whelping room. At one end was a 'stable door' ie a half door into grooming room and underneath the counter were three 'bays' where you could put XL soft crates to put dogs in after grooming or just to 'be with you' when you were in the kitchen. The kitchen also had large windows into the grooming room.

The other thing these folk had done was go to second hand sales and bought an enormous mirror so that they could groom in front of it!! It would have been at least 5' x 6'. These people had Airdales and they were really well set up.

So my advice would to think about where you could conceal crates (if you are a crating person) and make them a built in facility.

Cheerio

Cairo1

[Missymoo]

Ah I know the house, awesome!

HUGE undercover patio/veranda geared for youngsters/pups, but also with bbq area for humans ;)

Pool with half devoted to dog therapy, paddling pool/ramp

[Greytmate]

Non slip flooring

Areas for dogs to lie in front of north-facing windows and look out from elevated positions.

Ways to confine the dogs to different areas of the house.

Front door set up with two doors and a space in between to prevent dog escape. (and maybe back gate set up like this) too.

Convenient spots to put water bowls in the house so they wont be kicked over.

Dog kitchen

Don't forget your landscaping. - Large non-slip decks. Ramps instead of stairs. Running areas and sniffing areas.

You had better take this thread to your architect.

[dancinbcs]

No stairs for oldies to have to negotiate to get out to the yard.

[fainty_girl]

No carpet

Haven't used one before, but a ducted vacuum would be handy!

[Marion 01]

I would make 1/3 of the house just for the dogs, a big end room where they could go out into a fenced area off the house. The floors would be all textured tiled or pebbletex to about 1foot up the walls. The room would have a grooming area, bath area etc and just a lounge area, so that when non doggy people come to visit they can be all put in there (the dogs I mean) and still have access to the outside as well. I have already planned a house like this, but haven't got to use it, yet.

[~*Shell*~]

I would love to have crates that don't look like crates under benchtops. i saw a great example of it once where the kitchen benches were wood fronted (hiding metal behind them) with granite tops. I wouldn't want them to be the kitchen benches because I love kitchen stuff too much but maybe a bench next to the door in the entrance hall or something.

[dancinbcs]

No carpet

Haven't used one before, but a ducted vacuum would be handy!

I hated the ducted vacuum we had in one house. Much harder to pull the thick hose around than pushing a normal vacuum.

[The Spotted Devil]

I would love to have crates that don't look like crates under benchtops. i saw a great example of it once where the kitchen benches were wood fronted (hiding metal behind them) with granite tops. I wouldn't want them to be the kitchen benches because I love kitchen stuff too much but maybe a bench next to the door in the entrance hall or something.

I love our huge undercover verandah so I can dry the dogs off before they come into the house.

[cmkelpie]

Not quite for the house but I want a pool with a beach style entry i.e. sloping down

[puglvr]

We built our carport in and made it into the dogsroom. It has a kitchen area and a hydrobath, fridge, tv,

microwave, reverse cycle airconditioner and overhead fans. It has a "whelping" area which is used for the GSD to sleep in and has small lock up eating pens for 3 pugs. It also has two steel lock-up areas that the big dogs slept in when they were alive, that is where I seperate dog/bitches during seasons. The whole area is 5 squares. It has two big windows (with security mesh) at the front that match in with the front facade, a window above the kitchen sink and a sliding door out the back that opens into our back yard. The floor is covered in armour lining which extends up the walls- for the problem piddlers.

If I built a house again I would do this again but I think I would also have an internal door into the hallway of the house.

Edited August 6, 2011 by puglvr

[Zug Zug]

We have an outside kitchen area under our big pergola. It is basically a big island bench with a huge laundry trough with a hot and cold mixer tap that converts into a shower hose you hold in your hand (so I can wash my dogs standing up). The bench alongside is the perfect height to blow dry and scissor/clip do nails etc. Two power points located under the bench at that end.

And of course the cupboards provide heaps of storage.

I would definitely do this in my next house. Indispensible - and cheap because we used flat pack kitchen cupboards and a beautiful second hand timber bench.

Best idea my husband ever had!

Edited August 6, 2011 by Zug Zug

[Tilly]

Ages ago I saw a house with a large enclosed sunroom type room with individual pens along one wall ... the gates opened up and then pushed back down the side so they could be left open for individual bedrooms for the dogs or they could be closed in like crates/pens. The whole area was able to be hosed out.

[SmoothieGirl]

I'm in the process of designing, about to start building myself. I've had a room built into the garage that is purpose designed for dog clobber. Its integrated into house, so heating and cooling will be the same as the house, even though it will be under the garage roofline. Three sets of taps for plumbing to accomodate a hydrobath, sink and washing machine (the dogs own). It will also have room for a fridge/freezer and loads of storage, hooks and hangers. Room too for crates if need be.

There will be a dividing door in the house to keep the dogs in the kitchen, meals, family area when I'm out, separating them from my bedroom the lounge and study. Guest rooms are accessed via a separate door from the meals area and will be completely out of bounds to the animals. Oh, also, the only carpet in the house is going into the spare bedrooms. The rest of the house, including my room will be floorboards and easy to clean wool rugs. Tiles in the wet areas and dog room.

While its on a an acre and a half I'm still getting a house yard fenced with three sections to it. These will be able to be left open to allow access all the way around by three gates or sectioned off using the gates. One dog door from the meals area to section 1, one dog door from the dog room to section 2, section 3 is accessed via a gate between section 2 and 3, or closed off completely when I finally end up building a four kennel run.

I think the draftsman thinks I'm nuts, but its my house and I'm paying, so he's learning to just design what I tell him to.

Hope that helps.

ps. Not doing under floor heating, I think my boy would pack his little doggy bag and move house if I did. He likes dog beds, but still likes to lounge on the cool of the floor, even in winter.

Edited August 6, 2011 by SmoothieGirl

[percyk]

id like a kitchen that can be cordoned off

we have an island bench unfortunately and an odd shaped area...nice but odd so difficult to set up barrier gates etc cos there are hardly any walls

[Panto]

Dog free human entrance? Was thinking about all those threads about meter readers and how they should be able to access your meter, or people needing to be able to access the front door to knock without having to encounter a dog. Being able to open the door without having to hold back dogs (if that is the case) - I guess that falls under being able to close off areas of the house.

would love to have seperate laundries too, the 'dog' one would be bigger so I have a sort of internal drying room.