How to Build an Entrance in a Dog House

If you're in the process of building a dog house, the final step includes creating its entrance. The style you choose for your dog's entrance depends on the size of the dog, your personal taste and the materials you used to build the rest of the house.

Things You'll Need

  • Dog house
  • Pencil
  • Tape measure
  • Hand saw
  • Fine sandpaper
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Instructions

  1. Creating a Dog House Entrance

    • 1

      Choose the location of your entrance on the dog house. Find a spot on the dog house that will be convenient for your dog to access, provide the best structural support, and that will have few drafts.

    • 2

      Measure your dog's height with a tape measure, by standing it next to a wall, and make a small mark with a pencil, at the height of the tallest point on its back. Next, measure your dog's width by swinging an interior door almost shut, then tell your dog to walk through slowly. Hold the door so that it opens gently, and measure the width of that opening as it walks through.

    • 3

      Mark the width and height on your doghouse. Extend a tape measure from the first mark until you reach your dog's width measurement. Make a mark on the front side of the house, at the corner that meets the ground, with a pencil. Add a few inches, and make a second mark there. Draw a line from the first to second mark.

    • 4

      Extend the tape measure upwards from your first mark until you reach your dog's height measurement. Draw a line from your first mark to your third. Draw parallel lines to match the width and height measurements to complete the outline of the entrance.

    • 5

      Make your first cut with a hand saw at the location of your first mark, following the line that you drew to your second. Cut rapidly enough so that you find it easy to cut, but slowly enough, so that you remain cutting along the lines. Continue cutting out the shape of the entrance. Sand the edges of your entrance with fine sand paper--120 to 180-grit--which is best in finishing bare wood.