Tips to Insulating a Dog's House

Maintaining a warm dog house for your dog in cold weather can keep your pet healthy. Dogs have special needs when it comes to insulation. Dogs do not have pores in their skin, and they retain and lose heat through their mouths. In short, they feel cold differently than humans do. You dog itself will be the source of heat, so your job is to find ways to hold in that heat.

  1. Raise the Floor

    • Make sure your doghouse does not have a floor that sits directly on the ground. If the house is directly on the ground, it can soak up moisture and your dog will be damp and colder. Raise the floor 2 to 3 inches off the ground. An easy way to do this is to place the dog house on a wooden pallet. You can find a pallet at a major home improvement store.

    Insulate the Floor

    • Place cedar chips on the inside floor of the dog house. You can also add straw and newspaper. Your dog will use this as bedding. Avoid foam beds because they will become dirty and unusable. Dogs like to make their own beds by turning in circles and gathering the bedding material under them. Cedar chips, straw, and newspaper allow them to do this. You should change the floor material every two weeks as it becomes soiled.

    Door

    • Tack a canvas square over the door. Tack it at the top and leave the sides and bottom open so it works like a flap. This will keep out wind, rain and snow and help hold in your dog's body heat. You can use burlap instead of canvas, but you should double it because burlap is a mesh that can allow wind through if you use only a single layer.

    Walls

    • Glue polystyrene foam insulation panels to the inside walls. Make sure that is 2 to 3 inches thick. Cover the foam panels with plywood. This will prevent your dog from chewing on the foam and destroying the heat-saving effect it offers. Caulk all the edges of the plywood so cold air cannot come in through the gaps.

    Roof

    • Cover the roof with tar paper, then put shingles over the tar paper. This will keep out moisture as well as cold air. It will also hold in your dog's body heat. Glue polystyrene foam board insulation to the inside ceiling and cover it with plywood. Caulk around the edges of the plywood to provide extra protection.