Shana's new "house"

Jim DeLaney

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Since Vaughn recently posted his “doggie gate” project, I thought I’d show some pictures of the dog crate/bed/den that I just completed. The pictures show the build progress.

It’s made from plain old #1 Common pine, except for the half inch plywood top and bottom. Sized to fit my Standard Schnauzer, Shana (see my avatar, above), it’s 25½” wide, 37½” long, and 26´high. The inside dimensions are about the same as a wire crate I already had, so that I can use the plastic ‘drip tray’ from it to protect the wooden floor.

The finish is several coats of garnet shellac.

Commercial wire cages only seem to be available with a door on one end, but to allow more versatility in placement within the room, I decided to put a door in one side as well.

To allow for moving it around easily (portability), I used ‘knock-down’ fasteners to put the panels together, and the lid just drops on, held in place by the decorative lip around it. The whole thing just breaks down, in about two minutes, into four panels, the floor, and the lid – all easily stacked, stored, or transported.

It was a fun project to build. I worked on it off and on for about a week.
 

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That's a wonderful idea Jim, turned out very nice indeed. I suspect she's no longer teething. We had one dog that the kids left out while my wife and I ran errands. He got bored and proceeded to chew on every spindle (birch) on my stairway. Even took the entire corner off the newel post. :rolleyes:

If she's still teething, someone mentioned to me about spraying stuff like that with 'Bitter Apple' which work very well for us.
 
Nice work Jim. I reckon your dog is very priveledged to have such a nice place. When do you close him up. We dont have dogs and when I was younger and had one, we never had any of these items around. At best the dog lived in a bed basket but nothing that every restrained the dog.

Would you lock im in there when visitors come round or what?:huh:

Like the idea of being able to disassemble the whole thing so easily makes it very versatile.
 
That looks great, Jim. :thumb: The knock-down feature is a wise choice, too. You got yours done before I got mine done. :p (Although I did shoot the finish on mine yesterday, and with my newly-found free time, I should be able to get it hung pretty soon.)

Rob, if a dog is "crate trained", the crate becomes their "safe place" and they become very comfortable hanging out in it. It's more of a den than a jail cell to them. I've never had a crate trained dog, but know several people who swear by it.
 
...When do you close him up. We don't have dogs and when I was younger and had one, we never had any of these items around. At best the dog lived in a bed basket but nothing that every restrained the dog.

Would you lock im in there when visitors come round or what?...

Rob, as Vaughn said, the crate is more of a 'den' than a 'cage.' Shana is very comfortable going into it, and happily spends the night in there. She often goes to her crate during the day to take a nap, and it's never closed or locked then - only at night.

She's really quite well behaved, and very social. Unless a visitor in uncomfortable around her, she's just let to run loose. Sometimes, she'll get bored with the people around her, and will go to her crate for peace, quiet, and a nap.

Darren,
We went through a pretty intense 'chew stage,' but she's pretty much over that now (at least we hope so). At her worst, we lost a chair leg, and the cloth fringe & skirting on the couch, but she hasn't destroyed anything during the past several months. Hopefully, we're good...

FWIW, the bitter spray never did work with her. She actually seemed to enjoy the taste of it.
 
Very nice!

Having just dropped $900 or so at the vet, does the garnet shellac finish you used need time to outgas before being deployed as a canine living space? I've never used shellac before. :dunno:
 
Mark, shellac is a fast drying and very safe finish. It's what keeps M&Ms from melting in your hands. Probably done off gassing in an hour or less. I hope your dog is ok.
 
Very nice!

Having just dropped $900 or so at the vet, does the garnet shellac finish you used need time to outgas before being deployed as a canine living space? I've never used shellac before. :dunno:

As Ken said, shellac is a very 'safe' finish. The only outgassing that takes place is the evaporation of the alcohol that's used to mix it. That's gone in minutes. Shellac, at room temperature, will 'dry' in about fifteen minutes and has no noticeable odor after that.

FWIW, the 'den' sat in the shop for three days before coming into the house for Shana to use - just to be safe.
 
I had a dog who had "hot spots" on her legs that she would lick until they were raw. I tried the bitter apple spray, but it was like candy to her. :)

For hot spots, I got a spray called Genotin, or Genavet (different brands, same med) from my Vet. It's alcohol and acetone based, and dries up the wound very quickly.
 
Jim,
Really nice piece. Making it knock down is really a great idea. Our dog is crate trained as well. Petey will go to his "room" when he needs a break from us. His room is nothing like Shana's though!

Wes
 
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