You have a house. Shouldn’t your dog have one too? Acquiring a dog house may not be as silly as it sounds, because keeping your dog snug and warm in its house will prevent it from dragging dirt, rain, and hair into yours. That’s the selfish reason. The unselfish one is that because your dog is man’s best friend, your dog deserves an excessive amount of pampering and special attention.

Whatever your reasons for getting a dog house for your pooch, it’s good to know what some of the basic requirements are before getting your credit card out. A dog house will typically be outside, even though it may not be far from your own house. It will therefore need to be adapted to protect your faithful companion from the elements.

Dogs can suffer from heat even more than humans. They don’t have the same body temperature regulators and can at best lose heat by hanging their tongue out for an evaporative effect. So, the doghouse must take this into account, if you live in a place where the thermometer can rise and rise. Insulation against the heat of the sun is a must. Putting the dog house in the shade is a basic necessity here. You may also want to consider installing a small air-conditioning unit in the doghouse as well.

If on the other hand it gets very cold, then insulation, above all from the ground, becomes important. Dogs maybe better protected in this sense, but it is still imperative to insulate the floor of the doghouse. There are two possibilities for this and it is wise to avail yourself of both of them. Firstly, raise the floor of the dog house off of the ground. Do this by acquiring a dog house on short, solid legs, or by raising the dog house by putting a brick at each corner. Just make sure it’s stable and solid afterwards. The second thing to do is to line the floor of the doghouse with a dog mattress or rug. Check that there are no unwanted draughts to bother your dog. It’s a good idea to make sure that sudden gusts of wind will not overturn the dog house either.

A doghouse also needs to make your dog feel comfortable and safe. Paradoxically, too much room in a dog house will tend to lessen the feeling of security that is important to your dog. Estimate the optimal area with respect to the size of your dog and its basic requirements of having enough room to lie down and sleep, to stand up and stretch and to turn around.

If you love your mutt so much that you absolutely must buy it the biggest doghouse ever, then consider the possibility of subdividing the inner space. That way, if you happen to have a Fox Terrier rather than a Great Dane, your canine pal will be able to find a space that’s better adapted to its size and curl up for some great dog dreams in a perfect dog house.