Your pet deserves the best things in life, but that doesn’t mean he can climb on furniture, rummage through the trash, or chew on your shoes. Yes, sometimes that dog just needs to get out. But that doesn’t mean it has to be some kind of punishment. The dog houses, including wooden and plastic models, can be a comfortable home away from home for your furry friend. Wooden dog houses are a traditional and classic option, but plastic dog houses have grown enormously in popularity in recent decades as an alternative building material. So whether you need an upgrade or are shopping for a dog house for the first time, here are some things to know about the most popular materials.
What do wood and plastic offer?
Wood is a natural building material that offers unique characteristics not seen in other materials such as plastic, stone, or metal. For example, some woods, such as cedar and cypress, give off naturally fragrant aromas. Most importantly for dog houses, some woods, such as cedar and teak, produce natural resins that act to repel all nature of insects, including a dog’s worst enemy, also known as fleas.
Plastics are a unique material because of how manageable and moldable they are. Plastic can be manipulated in any number of shapes, designs, sizes, colors, and textures. Consider plastic the chameleon of the construction world, which in turn makes for some of the most creative dog houses. Wooden houses just don’t have this ability to transform so dramatically.
What will keep your dog warmer? And cooler?
The insulating properties of wood and plastic will keep dogs warmer in the winter and cooler in the warmer months. However, plastic may have a slight advantage in this category. Although wood has a certain amount of natural insulation, in extreme temperatures additional padding may be necessary to complement it. Plastic dog houses are created so that small air bubbles are placed along the plastic walls. Air bubbles trap hot and cold air as needed and create a protective airtight seal throughout the doghouse. It can be argued in reverse that this means that plastic dog houses don’t breathe as well as wooden dog houses.
Which shows better dexterity?
To compare the real work and attention to detail that goes into building these dog houses, the wooden ones always win. That is due to the nature of the materials. The wood is natural, cultivated, harvested and, often, worked by hand. Plastic is synthetic, made from chemical compounds, and built impersonally in factories.
Where can you put them?
Both wood and plastic are fine to use as outdoor doghouses; Wood frames are made from the same hardwoods found in other types of patio furniture, while plastics are naturally waterproof. Specific polyethylene blends used in things like outdoor furniture and dog houses are also more durable than other types of plastic.
What is easier to put together?
For ease of assembly this goes to the plastic dog kennels. Wooden dog houses often come unassembled (which is consequently cheaper to ship as it can be packaged in smaller units). Plastic dog houses generally come prefabricated because they are not assembled the same way. That said, it’s generally pretty easy to put together wooden dog houses, and companies make their instructions easy to use for anyone to do. There is also the benefit of working with the materials yourself, that you have a better idea of how things are put together, so if something needs to be repaired or replaced, you will have a better idea of how to do it. At the same time, you know exactly how strong a structure really is, because you are looking at and working with those materials that hold it together.
Okay, but which one costs less?
This question is often the most pressing, and especially now in our tough economy. When it comes to the real price, the winner is the plastic dog houses. Wooden houses use a slightly more expensive material, which must also be shipped from the forests in which it is harvested. All of this requires hours of manpower, plus the manpower required of handcrafted pieces. Plastics in general provide a cheaper alternative to other materials, especially natural materials. Just remember that plastics aren’t as durable as wood, so you’ll likely need to buy a new doghouse every few years, so the costs balance out a bit over time.