For those of us who love our dogs and consider them members of our families, there really is no limit to what we’ll do for them to make them happy and comfortable. What Lola’s family did for Jack, their two-year-old Wheaten Terrier, is brilliant.
Lola told Reshareworthy.com that she came up with a creative idea to make use of wasted space under the stairs in their home. Her idea was to transform the unused space into a special little house for Jack. So smart! All dogs love having a cozy den!
Lola told us that her parents, and pretty much everyone who meets Jack, adore him. Take one look at the cutie below, and you can understand why!
Lola shared the following photos with Reshareworthy.com of how her dad built Jack’s house:
“We cut the initial hole as large as possible between two studs and without letting the stringers show.”
“Here’s the intended occupant. This is our dog Jack. Right now he sleeps under anything, but we hope to give him a secure and comfy den. Instinctively dogs like small warm spaces, they feel secure.”
“It’s important to make the door large enough for your pet to fit through comfortably, typically the height of your dog’s haunches. The roof however should be high enough for your dog to stand up comfortably at his/her full height.”
“As a personal preference we used pine tongue-and-groove boards for the interior and exterior of the house.”
“It’s a good to use the mat from your pet’s crate as a size guideline. It may also be good to put the mat in the house for a little while, as an easy transition for your pet.”
“He’s still in there.”
“Facade time. Again, we used pine for the facade, be sure to secure it with glue/ nails and screws.”
“I’m never coming out!”
“I think he likes it 🙂 ‘Dis ma house'”
“Discussing shingles, but not the itchy kind. We decided to use wooden shims because they are cheap and didn’t need to be cut.”
“Attaching shingles. Used a nail gun for this one, but a hammer could have worked too.”
“It’s important to space them properly, that way they don’t pile up too weird. Does that make sense?”
“Where we meet in the middle. If we were doing this again, probably would have brought the roof line to a point rather than flat on top. That was difficult.”
“He likes to watch.”
“Trim time. We used white L-shaped trim (layman’s term, sorry) because we have an abundance of white trim elsewhere and wanted to tie it all in.”
“Adjacent wine cellar. We decided to put in the dog house before we finished the cellar.”
“Inside of the house. It was hard to get him out for this picture.”
“The finished outside. Basement stairs are useful!”
What a great idea and an excellent use of wasted space! Clearly, Jack loves his special den and it looks really good too!
All photos were published with permission from Lola on Reshareworthy.com.
Share this thoughtful construction project with your dog-loving friends! They’ll love this!
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