Enclosure for a German Shepherd: photos with examples, how to choose the right size and how to arrange a place for the dog with your own hands

The German Shepherd is one of the best breeds for guarding an area. Dogs are brave, loyal, smart and active. Their psychological and physical health depends on the conditions of detention. A large breed needs space and freedom of movement. The most convenient option for a German Shepherd is an outdoor enclosure on the territory of a country house and the possibility of walking. Before building housing for a pet on the site, you need to find out where it is best to build it, how to calculate the size and other subtleties that will make the life of your beloved dog comfortable.

Is it possible to keep a shepherd dog outside in winter?

Both short-haired and long-haired German Shepherds have thick fur and a dense undercoat, thanks to which they are not afraid of frost. They can spend the winter outside without any health risks.

Dogs' skin has special glands that produce oil. This fat coats the shepherd's fur, so they can be outside even if the temperature has gone far below zero.

Moreover, this breed really likes to “swim” in the snow. This is how dogs cleanse themselves of impurities.

The temperature at which you should bring a dog into your home depends on the climate. If it is dry, the shepherd can withstand even thirty-degree frost. If the climate is humid, then it is not recommended to keep the dog outside even at fifteen degrees below zero.

IMPORTANT!

Each dog has individual endurance. Pregnant and lactating females should be kept in a warm room; the cold will not benefit them or their puppies.

Do I need to put it on a chain?

It is impossible to put a German Shepherd on a chain, as this causes both physical and psychological discomfort to the animal. A dog put on a chain becomes angry and vindictive and, worst of all, loses trust in people, including its owner . In addition, when kept in chains, the shepherd's appearance deteriorates: the muscles may weaken or the back may sag.

And finally, keeping a pet on a chain is unacceptable for safety reasons: a shepherd dog can become entangled in the chain and injure its paw, or even choke on it.

IMPORTANT! The chain can only be used for short-term isolation of the pet, provided that someone from the family will be watching it at this time, but the animal cannot be kept on it permanently.

Pros and cons of an aviary

An aviary is an ideal option for a private home. But it also has its pros and cons.

The advantages of such a platform:

Large breeds simply need an aviary. He is their "guard post";
in the warm season, for nursing and pregnant bitches, the enclosure is a place where the dog can retire and be safe;
the dog does not sit on a chain, which adds to its comfort;
a dog in an enclosure is a guarantee that the furniture will be intact;
lack of wool in the house.

Flaws:

the dog must go through an adaptation period before starting to live in it;
the enclosure requires cleaning and replacement of equipment;
Finding and building a crate that is perfect for your dog can be challenging.

Generalization on the topic

The dog will feel needed only in a comfortable enclosure. Properly assembled and installed, it will not interfere with it and perform protective functions. Today you don’t have to pay for housing for guard pets yourself. You can easily buy a ready-made design or order the production of your own project from specialized companies. When using such facilities, you need to remember that you will need to walk and play with the dog every day. She needs this as much as she needs food and drink.

How to choose the right place?

The enclosure needs to be placed in a place where the dog will not be disturbed by extraneous noises and odors. The ground under it should be dry, it should not be a runoff when it rains. It also needs to be placed so that one part is always in the shade and the other in the sun. This will bring the dog's positioning closer to natural.

NOTE!

Do not place the dog near cesspools, roads, kitchens, stables and other agricultural buildings.

It is better to choose a place protected from the wind and constant sunlight. Ideally, there would be bushes or trees next to the enclosure.

If you have two dogs, each should have its own enclosure. They must be positioned so that the dogs can see each other.

By the way, if the dogs are of different sexes, the presence of separate enclosures will help to avoid unwanted mating during the bitch’s heat.

Choosing a location for the booth

The booth must be located in the correct area, regardless of what breed will live in it. Among the main requirements that should be observed when choosing a location for a kennel are:

The area should allow the dog to view the entire yard. This will allow the four-legged guard to control any movements on the owner’s territory. The place for the kennel should be 10-14 m away from the owner’s and neighbors’ houses. The kennel should not be placed near farm animals

Noise and unpleasant odors can negatively affect the health of your shepherd. The area for the dog house should be well lit by sunlight, but it is important to shade the dog’s “working” place from the scorching sun in the summer months.

Note! By placing the booth on a hill, you can achieve excellent visibility for the four-legged watchman and free flow of water from the site during heavy rains. Option of a ready-made kennel that can be purchased

Option of a ready-made kennel that can be purchased

What are the requirements?

In order for your dog to feel comfortable inside the enclosure, you will need to follow some recommendations:

cleaning should be carried out at least once a day and should include sweeping away debris and hair;
cleaning the enclosure from excrement, bowls from scraps and wet cleaning should be done at least once every 10 days;
the feeder should be located at a distance of 20-30 cm from the floor;
disinfection of the enclosure should be carried out once a month, less often in winter;
in the winter season, despite the dog’s dense undercoat, the booth inside the enclosure must be insulated;
no matter how large the enclosure, the dog needs communication with the owner, as well as time to run free and throw out pent-up energy.

Video description

The following video will tell you in detail how you can make an enclosure for a shepherd:
In order for the dog to quickly get used to its new housing, it must be fed only inside the enclosure. While the animal is eating, it needs to be locked, and then opened and released outside, but not immediately, but after ten minutes. Every day this period of time will have to be extended. A large bone will help lure your pet inside. Over time, the dog will get used to the fact that during the day it needs to be in the enclosure, and in the evening it is allowed to walk around the yard.

If desired, you can train your dog to relieve itself in a strictly designated place. To do this, they make a toilet out of a basin or foot bath for her. Place it in the farthest corner from the feeder, push the dishes into the floor and fill them to the top with sand. While the dog is being accustomed to the enclosure, the toilet is temporarily covered with plywood, giving the pet the opportunity to relieve itself where it wants. When he gets used to his new home, the dog is released into the wild.

Ready-made standard project Source remstroidomufa.ru

While she is walking, a fresh pile of droppings is buried in the sand of the toilet, and the rest of the area is thoroughly cleaned. Then the dog is released into the enclosure. This method of training works flawlessly: animals always mark the latrine with excrement. Therefore, the pet will defecate where the owner buried its fresh excrement. Sand is needed only to satisfy the instinct to bury droppings. It will need to be changed periodically. This is easier to do than washing the floor of the enclosure every time.

What should the dimensions be?

The size of the area does not need to be made too large - in the cold season the heat will be less retained, but it should not be small either - the dog should feel comfortable.

The minimum dimensions of an enclosure for a German Shepherd can be easily calculated based on the dog’s parameters :

if the height of the dog at the withers is 50 cm and below, then the area should be 6 m2;
if 50-65, then 8 m2;
if the dog is taller than 65 cm, then the area is 10 m2.

The most optimal size for a shepherd is 8 m2.

If you plan to add another pet to your dog, then the area should be increased by one and a half times. Also, if the dog only spends the night behind bars, and during the daytime moves freely around the site, 6 m2 will be enough for it.

Purpose and design features

On the territory of a private house

Using collars and leashes is an unreliable way to isolate an aggressive dog from people. The advantage of an enclosure is that here the four-legged pet has unlimited personal space. Large breeds of dogs do not belong inside the owner’s home, so your four-legged friend will comfortably spend most of his time in the enclosure. It will be well protected from adverse weather conditions (rain, wind, snow, cold and heat).

Dog handlers have established that dogs are disciplined by keeping them in separate residential buildings. The need to build an enclosure may be caused by a number of circumstances:

the appearance of small children in the family;
your pet has grown, and the old booth has become cramped;
there are other animals living on the property that need protection from her attacks;
The dog has puppies.

A spacious enclosure will become a comfortable home for your pet.

There is a misconception among some owners that by evicting their four-legged friend from their home, they will harm him.

By building an aviary on the territory of your household, you will achieve several goals at once:

Create comfortable conditions for your pet.
It will be safe for guests, neighbors and children to be in your yard.
The animal is under constant supervision.
It is more convenient to clean and care for your dog in an enclosure.

Before you start creating an enclosure, you need to determine its size, installation location and material of manufacture. When creating an enclosure design, the following (minimum) requirements must be met:

the person who will clean the enclosure must have the necessary conditions for this;
there must be a booth in the enclosure;
the enclosure must be equipped with protection from rain, snow, falling leaves and branches;
the length of one side of the enclosure must be at least two meters;
In accordance with the height of the dog’s withers, the enclosure must have an appropriate area.

The ratio of the height of the dog’s withers and the area of the enclosure

An enclosure option for keeping one medium-sized dog

The indicated minimum sizes are intended for those dogs that, for example, are released at night to guard the territory of the entire household and do not spend most of their time in an enclosure.

Dog enclosures are divided into the following types:

Open (enclosures that do not have a top covering).
With partial insulation (enclosures with lattice sides).
With an insulated block (the entire surface of the enclosure is closed).

The enclosures specified in the first two options are equipped with a booth. The third option is used for short-haired dog breeds, and in it the kennel is optional.

The roof of the enclosure is usually made of slate, soft roofing or metal profiles.

In apartment conditions

Enclosures for keeping dogs in apartment conditions are expensive. Their sizes are individual and selected in accordance with the dimensions of the pet. In order not to spend extra money, you can make this design on your own. For a small puppy, a height of 40–45 cm and an area of up to 100 square cm is sufficient. For small breeds of dogs, you can make an indoor house about 80 cm high, with an area of at least one and a half meters (if the area of the apartment allows, you can make more). There is no need to make the enclosure smaller, since your four-legged pet needs space for sleeping, playing, a toilet, and a bowl of food and water.

Enclosures for placement in apartment conditions are a structure of several metal bars or wooden fences. Such sections are connected to each other using grooves and screws. Indoor kennels are ideal for isolating a sick dog or for puppies. They have found wide application in raising aggressive dogs that damage furniture or are untrained and relieve themselves in inappropriate places.

Home enclosures made from metal sections are very popular due to their ease of assembly and cleaning. They are durable and easily fit into the interior. This design is convenient because it can be assembled in the form of a fence (for example, to block the exit from a room).

This design easily turns into a fence

An enclosure made of sections can be used as a temporary home for a dog while the owners are relaxing in the country. To do this, you need to install a booth inside the enclosure.

For small dogs there is an aviary-tent. It is convenient when you need to leave your pet at home alone without fear that he will harm himself or ruin something in the apartment. When guests arrive, small dogs are placed in such an enclosure so that they do not get in the way and no one steps on them.

Very convenient in apartment conditions

Types and photos of enclosures

There are a large number of dog parks. They all vary in quality and price.

Depending on the differences in material, they are:

wooden;
metal;
mixed (both wooden and metal).

They also differ in design:

open – the fence is made of metal lattice;
semi-open - two walls are made of lattice, and two are made of another material;
closed.

IMPORTANT!

To choose the right enclosure for a German Shepherd, you need to decide what time of year the dog will live in it, how often it will be there, and what the climate is like in the place where you live.

For a dry climate, an open one made of wood is suitable - a lot of air will penetrate into it, and wooden structures will not heat up, but on the contrary, they will provide moisture and coolness.

For normal or humid climates, a semi-open mixed design is suitable.

Closed ones are very rare. They are needed only for temporary keeping of a dog and are not suitable for long-term.

The photo below shows the most popular enclosure options.

If you need a kennel for several dogs

A structure for several German Shepherds is as easy to build as for one. The only thing you need to remember is that introducing a new animal increases the area of the enclosure by 1.5 times.

In reality, a multi-sectional enclosure looks like a single partitioned space, where one wall is common for 2 shepherd dogs (solid or half-boarded in the lower part). The top part can be left slatted, as the closed bottom will prevent the dogs from fighting. Each section is equipped with an autonomous entrance, a kennel and, if necessary, a winter road.

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What material is best to make it from?

The best option is to combine wood and metal. The supporting structures should be metal - this way the place for the dog will last longer. Also, the side of the enclosure on which the gate will be located and the viewing side can be made metal.

The booth, winter road, floor and other sides can be made of wood - this material is most suitable.

If a winter road is not needed in your climate, you can equip the walls entirely from metal - mesh or lattice. You can leave the floor and the booth wooden if you plan to put it inside.

What materials are needed for construction?

For construction you will need:

metal gratings, pipes and frames;
cement for making the floor;
boards;
slate, corrugated sheeting or ondulin for the roof;
self-tapping screws

NOTE!

Ondulin has additional sound insulation, and the boards can be used to make the lining of an enclosure.

How to make a foundation?

The foundation is the first thing to do when erecting a structure.

Its depth should be 1-1.5 m. The length and width should be calculated from the size of the dog.

You need to lay a layer of large stones on the bottom. After this, the stones must be fixed with cement mortar 1: 1: 2: 3 - cement, water, sand and crushed stone, respectively. After this, leave for 2-3 days until the foundation is completely dry.

If the ground is soft, then do it before pouring the formwork - lay boards along the edges of the hole and fasten them with self-tapping screws.

Aviary for a medium breed dog (Akita Inu, Laika, Husky, etc.): drawings and dimensions

Medium breed dogs can be outside all day and all night. If it is not possible to keep your pet at home, it’s okay. For the dog’s convenience, it is enough to equip a spacious and comfortable enclosure. It must have a kennel that meets all the requirements and ideas about comfortable housing for dogs.

It is important to provide three zones in the enclosure: sleeping, eating and active pastime. In this case, the size of the booth should not exceed 65 centimeters in height and 80 cm in width

Only in this case will the four-legged friend inside be as comfortable as possible.

What should an enclosure be like for an average dog:

pen area - from 6 to 10 square meters (less is not possible, the dog will be cramped inside, more is also not allowed - the dog will feel unsafe);
the floor should be made of concrete and insulated with wooden boards. Only in this case can the enclosure be used in winter;
three walls should be open, one should be closed. The last part of the building protects the four-legged friend from bad weather and wind;
The height of the walls is from 2 to 2.5 meters, so that the dog cannot jump over them.

An adequate pen size is 3x3 or 2x4 meters. A sample drawing of the enclosure is presented below.

This is what a drawing of an enclosure for an average dog looks like. Length of the sides of the structure: 2 and 4 meters

The booth can be purchased at a specialized store or made independently.

Material selection and calculation

To make an enclosure for an average dog, you will need the following materials:

bricks;
welded mesh;
metal pipes;
cement;
wooden boards;
nails and screws;
wood varnish;
slate (metal tiles are also suitable);
metal door frame with hinges;
insulation material (expanded polystyrene, mineral wool, foam)
pebbles, fine sand.

If you intend to create an enclosure with sides 4x2 meters and a wall height of 2.5 meters, you will need the following amount of material:

400 bricks (250 x 120 x 65 mm);
8 meters of welded mesh (mesh height - 2.5 meters);
3 twenty-five kilogram bags of dry cement;
4 metal pipes (each height is 3 meters, diameter is 20 centimeters);
1 can of varnish;
8 square meters of slate;
8 square meters of waterproofing material (roofing felt);
16 square meters of wooden board.

Required Tools

You don’t need any special tools when making an enclosure for an average dog. However, to attach the mesh to metal pipes, a welding machine is required. To carry out this work, it is likely that you will need the help of a professional.

Step-by-step instructions for making an aviary

So, let's start building the enclosure itself:

Mark the area where the enclosure will be located and dig a trench around the perimeter. Fill it with stones and sand. This is the basis for the foundation.
Place metal pipes in the corners. Each of them should rise 2.5 meters above the ground.
Make formwork for the foundation and fill the trench with cement mortar.
After 24 hours, the cement will dry and the floor can be poured. After the procedure, give it a day to dry. Be sure to make the floor with a slight slope.
Cover the floor with insulation and wooden boards on top. Treat the floor with varnish for beauty and durability.
Next, start laying out a blank brick wall. Its length is 4 meters. There are 16 bricks in one row. The height of the building is 2.5 meters. The bricks are connected to each other using cement mortar.
Next, weld the mesh to the posts. On one of the small walls, install an iron frame for a human-sized door. The door itself is a metal frame with a welded mesh.
Hang the door on hinges and provide a barn lock on the outside so that the dog cannot leave the enclosure without the owner’s knowledge.
Start creating the roof. First, lay it out with wooden boards, lay roofing felt on top, then metal tiles. Such a roof will not leak and will withstand loads in the form of snow masses.

How to build an aviary with your own hands?

After you have poured the foundation and it has dried, start building the frame. It will require 12 beams of 2 m each and 4 beams of 5 m each.

Two beams of 2 m each need to be shortened by 10 cm to give the roof of the enclosure a slope - this way water will not accumulate on it. These same bars form the basis of the rear wall.

Connect two 5 m beams and two 2 m beams with self-tapping screws so that they form a rectangle. You have made the base of the enclosure. Install shortened beams on the long side - two in the corners and one in the middle. This will be the back part of the enclosure, on the opposite side there will be the front - attach three 2 m beams to it.

To make the top, you need to screw the remaining 5 m beams parallel to the bottom ones. Do the same with three 2-meter beams. Two at the edges connect five-meter beams, and one in the middle will be a support for the roof.

Attach the remaining two-meter beam to the left. If necessary, shorten it so that it fits between adjacent beams. This will be the border of the door.

To make the floor, lay the bottom beams and boards and secure them with self-tapping screws. Before this, they need to be treated with sandpaper and a special solution against insects and rot.

Press the boards as close together as possible. Also choose a tree without knots to prevent your dog from chasing a splinter.

It is better to make the back and side walls blank - fill them completely with boards. Hammer the other side to the border with the door, then leave the arch. Finish the front part with a metal grill. Attach it to the bars. Install the door.

IMPORTANT!

The door should open inward so that the dog cannot break the lock and escape.

Install the chosen covering – slate or boards – on the upper supports.

If necessary, we place a booth inside the enclosure.

Requirements for arranging an enclosure

To build an aviary with your own hands, perform the following steps:

First of all, choose a place to build a dog’s home. The correct choice of cage location is very important. The place should be dry, away from any residential and commercial buildings. It is advisable to build the enclosure on a hill for a better view of the surroundings, but not in an open space where there may be drafts. The area of the enclosure should be well lit. Lack of light can damage your dog's vision. You cannot build a cage next to the road; passing people and other animals will irritate the dog.
Next, you should create a drawing of the future building. It should include all the details of the cell.
The site chosen for the construction of the enclosure must be prepared. To do this, it should be concreted or asphalted. If it is not possible to do this, you can simply level the area and line it with roofing felt. Fence the perimeter with a low border for decking. Next, lay out the floor. It is best to make it wooden. The boards must be tightly adjusted to each other so that the pet does not subsequently injure its paw due to the gaps.
It is not recommended to use nails to assemble the structure. It's better to use self-tapping screws. There should be no more than 10 cm between the bars of the lattice. The door to the enclosure must open inward. The rear wall of the roof is made 15 cm higher than the rest to ensure water flow. It is also recommended to make the floor with a slope to make it easier to clean the enclosure using a hose with water.
A booth is placed in the finished enclosure, and a drinking bowl and feeder are placed in another corner.
For the door, you need to choose a powerful latch and securely fix it. The entire structure must be very strong so that the shepherd cannot get out.

To build a booth, you need to prepare a wooden base, and frames for each wall. Next, the frames are attached to the base and sheathed with plywood on all sides. A hole is cut out on the front side with a hacksaw. The roof can be laid from any roofing material, but it is preferable to use soft tiles. So that the booth can be freely inspected and cleaned, the roof should be removable. If possible, the booth should be insulated. A comfortable and spacious enclosure with a booth helps maintain the health and high performance of the shepherd dog.

There should be at least 500 m from the cage to the garage, garbage disposal, barn, chicken coop and other premises from which strong odors may emanate. The constant smell of gasoline and other substances can spoil the dog’s sense of smell.

Materials

To build an enclosure, depending on preferences and possibilities, various materials are used:

The roof can be made of slate or tiles, they are laid on a wooden sheathing made of slats. Experienced German Shepherd breeders recommend using soft tiles, as they better absorb the noise of hail and rain.
To build an enclosure, a frame is constructed from corrugated steel pipe.
Walls are usually made of brick or wood. If they are wooden, it is recommended to use coniferous wood, they have disinfecting properties.
A feeder is installed in one of the walls, which closes securely.
The viewing wall is made of forged or welded lattice. A chain-link mesh is not suitable for building an enclosure; an animal can injure its paws or teeth on such a mesh. The dog can also knock it out.
Metal parts should be thoroughly cleaned and coated with primer and enamel. It is better not to use galvanized metal.
It is better to make the floor wooden. It is warm and easier to care for. If the floor is made of concrete, the pet may develop rheumatism. The boards need to be treated with special impregnations to prevent rot. For the floor, boards that are free of cracks and knots and 2 cm thick are selected. To prevent it from sagging, it is laid on a frame made of metal pipes.

To keep the enclosure warm in winter, it can be insulated using a special material for insulating doors.

How to insulate?

To prevent your dog from freezing outside in winter, you must follow the recommendations:

place a booth made of wood or plywood in the enclosure;
the walls of the enclosure need to be insulated with mineral wool or polystyrene foam;
lay sawdust or straw on the floor;
in winter, it is strictly forbidden to bathe a shepherd dog - it can catch a cold;
if you see that the dog is feeling unwell and is freezing, it is better not to risk it and move it to a warm room.

Kennel in an aviary

The doghouse should be so spacious that the shepherd can sleep peacefully there with its paws outstretched. The kennel for a German Shepherd, placed inside the enclosure, has the following dimensions:

height – 0.95 m;
width – 1.35 m;
depth – 1 m.

The hole is a wide hole 0.6 by 0.4 m. For a semi-open enclosure, the kennel is well insulated and placed in the corner at the junction of two blank walls . In an enclosure with a winter road, it is placed in a winter room.

The kennel is a wooden box (painted only on the outside) with a manhole and a flat roof, from where the German Shepherd likes to watch the area. It would be great if the roof is removable: this will make cleaning the kennel easier. The entrance hole is often located on the south side so that the inside is dry and snow does not accumulate. Closer to winter, the entrance to the kennel is covered with thick waterproof fabric.

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How to arrange it?

If the enclosure is the main location of the dog, it must be equipped with a booth . The dog should be positioned in it so that its paws are stretched out.

It should also have bowls for food and water—the water should always be fresh and the other free of leftovers. It is better to secure the dishes on a frame that can be opened without going inside.

In the open part you can provide a place for a toilet. It can be a section of lawn or a metal sheet with crushed stone. If you decide on such a design, provide a filler that can be easily removed. But the best option is to take your dog for a walk at least 2 times a day.

Cleaning Features

General disinfection of the enclosure is carried out every quarter in winter and every month in the warm season. Use formalin (3% solution) or creolin.

It is recommended to sweep the floor twice a day. Wet cleaning – once a month. In spring and until late autumn, you need to spray an insecticidal spray that removes and prevents the penetration of ixodid ticks.

If dry grass is placed, the kennel is also treated against ticks in the winter. This can be explained by the fact that parasites wake up from body heat.

Aviary care

It is necessary to clean and wash the floor as it gets dirty. Standard cleaning should take place at least once a week. Also, you need to make sure that the tree does not rot and insects do not grow in it. Change if necessary. There should be no rust on the metal.

Make sure that the screws do not unscrew. No knots should form on the floor. The dog's fur should not become dirty from being in its “home”.

Remove uneaten food and change the water frequently. Take out damaged toys and replace them with new ones.

Also, in spring and summer, spray tick repellents in the enclosure. If you use hay as insulation, such treatments must be carried out in winter.

Aviary for two shepherd dogs

The design for several dogs is no more complicated than an ordinary room for a German shepherd. Usually, the drawing of the enclosure is made so that two dogs have one wall in common. This wall should be blank or half covered with boards. The closed lower part of the partition will not allow animals to fight among themselves. The top of the wall can be lattice.

aviary for two shepherd dogs

Each room must be equipped with a separate entrance, a booth and, if necessary, a winter road. In fact, enclosures for shepherd dogs are one partitioned room.

How much does it cost for ready-made and self-made?

The price of a seat depends on the material from which it is made, as well as its size.

For a German Shepherd it will be quite expensive. The price will vary from 30 thousand rubles to 60 thousand rubles.

If you want to build a place for the dog with your own hands, you will save quite a bit. The purchase of materials and insulation will cost 20 thousand rubles on average.

Necessary tools and materials for manufacturing

Make an enclosure for a shepherd dog with your own hands according to the drawing. For each individual part of the enclosure it is necessary to use different materials. The walls are built insulated or, conversely, summer. It all depends on the operation. You need to think through all the details of the structure in advance, draw a drawing, prepare materials and tools. It is important to consider the dog's comfort.

Walls

Various materials are used to make walls. Some of them are cheap, others are more expensive and of better quality. Most often, enclosures are built from the following bases:

chain-link mesh;
galvanized pipes;
iron rods;
forged elements.

Important! The most reliable option for walls is iron rods.

Enclosures are also made from brick and wood. These options are suitable for keeping a shepherd dog outdoors all the time. This process takes much longer than the construction of an open enclosure. The inside of the frame is insulated with different materials. Sheathed with boards, foam plastic, glass wool.

Floors

In enclosures, the occupied territory is divided into 2 halves. One part is covered with something, the other is left open. When a shepherd is constantly kept in an enclosure, she needs a place for physiological needs. It is cleaned every day as the excrement accumulates and begins to emit an unpleasant odor. Suitable covering materials are:

tree;
concrete screed;
asphalt;
priming.

Expert opinion
Anna Abramenko

An avid dog lover. Experience in veterinary medicine since 2009.

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The best option for a dog is a tree. It allows air to pass through and maintains optimal temperature during heat and cold. However, it is not as durable as asphalt or concrete.

Roof

Cover the enclosure if it is intended for long-term housing of the dog. If you use it temporarily, then this is not necessary. Any material can be used for the roof, the main thing is that it protects the pet from adverse weather conditions. The most popular are:

awning fabric (used as temporary covering);
slate;
corrugated sheeting;
metal tiles;
soft tiles.

Before covering the roof, a wooden frame is made. Then the remaining parts are attached to it.

Tools

To build an enclosure with your own hands, you will need certain devices. Work without them is impossible. You should prepare in advance:

drill;
self-tapping screws of different sizes;
welding machine (for metal rods);
hammer;
screwdriver;
saw;
perforator;
shovel.