I had wanted to get a dog for ages, especially now that my son was at the right age to appreciate having a pet of his own.
My wife was willing to have one in the family provided it lived outside, so I had to build a dog kennel.
Well that is how it started.
I went online and found out as much as I could about keeping a dog outside and decided that I would build it the best kennel I could.
You would not believe the number of different dog kennels there are, but I finally made a choice and bought a set of plans.
Let me tell you that was a great decision as I realise that I would not have been able to build a kennel without having those plans to get me through the awkward parts.
It did not take any great carpentry skills to make the kennel, but it sure helped having all the bits laid out for me to put together.
What I had not thought about was the type of wood to use.
The instructions that came with the plans pointed out that the kennel would need to be weatherproof, but the chemicals used to make the wood waterproof could be harmful to a dog especially if he chews on the wood.
The plans said I could use pressure treated wood for areas of the kennel where the dog would not get to chew and cedar wood for the areas he could get access to.
Other things to think about are shelter from the sun on hot days and also making sure that there is plenty of through ventilation.
All these things are covered in the plans, so I ended up with a great kennel for our family dog.
The dog has been living in this kennel for over a year now and it has been well protected from some really bad weather during that time.