Creating a Home for Sam

[EddieWalker]

Sam showed up on Christmas. I was at the sink and saw him walk by. That day he kept his distance, but the next day he came up to the kids. Then when we jumped in the truck to fill the feeders, Sam jumped in with us. That's all it took. One truck ride and he's my best friend. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

No collar, but he had one at one time. He wasn't starving, or even very hungry, so he wasn't out for very long. There is a gas station just down the road from me, but other than that, there really isn't anything close by.

I watched the papers for over week every day looking for an something about a lost pointer. Nothing even close. I went to the gas station several times to see if there was any signs up, plus we looked on telephone poles. Nothing.

He does bark at just about everything and he likes to dig when he smells something. He runs for hours at a time and really needs lots of open space.

We think he was dumped. Nothing else really makes any sense. Now he's ours.

Eddie

 

[KentT]

Eddie,

I grew up so far back in the sticks that grass grew up between the car tracks on the gravel road...

We had constant problems with people dumping cats and dogs that would then show up at our barn or house. I often got the unsavory task of "thinning them out." At times, packs of dogs would get agressive and start attacking our cattle -- it then became open season with the ole 30-30...

It's good that this one found a home where he's welcome -- but I can't say a thing good about those who may have helped him get there...

 

[EddieWalker]

Steph went online and looked up everything she could find about Pointers. For this story, the reason for the post, and my latest project, is that Pointers don't handle cold weather well. Not undercoat sort of thing.

She priced plastic dog houses and thought they were too expensive. She did buy him a doggy pillow.

I measured the pillow and looked through my scrap pile. Lots of 2 foot pieces of beed board left over from my ceiling.

It's 3/8 plywood, which is plenty. In my youth, I made dog houses from 3/4 plywood and 2x4's. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Fortunately I had help with this project!!!

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

KentT,

If he'd hung around and wasn't friendly, he'd had a different ending. Fortunately, he got along with the kids great and we really wanted a dog. It just wasn't a priority.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

My helper just loves to be involved in everything. He's five years old and this was his first time using the air stapler.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

I finished off the top with some base board turned upside down to create a sort of crown. The paint is left over from the house for a perfect match.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

In all honesty, our temps don't get so cold that I needed insulation, but it's cheap, easy and makes everyone happy. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

This stuff is rated for R-5.

Another thing I did on this dog house was to not build a bottom for it. It seems that every dog house I've ever tried to clean was always very awkward. No space and impossible to get clean.

There's no good reason for a bottom since it will be sitting on my porch on concrete, plus the doggy pillow is there to keep him comfy!!

Eddie

 

[Bird]

Eddie, not long after we bought our place in the country a chow mix showed up; scared of men, cautious with women, and loved kids. So just as an experiment to see if it would hold together, I built a doghouse with a 4/12 pitch gable roof with scrap plywood and 1 x 2s, all nailed together with nothing but my little 18 gauge brad gun. I did use regular roofing nails to shingle the roof. I was a little surprised that two men could pick it up by the roof to move it around and it never came apart. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif But I'll bet the staples are even stronger. I just got my first air stapler gun for Christmas but haven't had a use for it yet.

 

[EddieWalker]

Steph bought some letters at Walmart to finish it off.

Luckily it fits right where I wanted it to and he's right at home. Another advantage is nobody, human or animals gets anywhere close to the house without him letting us know it.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Hey Bird!!

I forgot to mention that every edge is glued. Even with cleats in the corners, I wasn't trusting it to last very long with just the staples. But in all honesty, those staples really hold things together!!!

I just get such a sense of satisfaction building something from scrap. Especially when it turns out decent.

Eddie