natura Classic Dog House, Small

I just needed something quick, simple, and high quality for my pup and this actually delivered. The instructions were a bit hard to parse and the advice they give for assembly didn't work for me. What worked best was to just put the house upside down on top of the roof (without the floor), mark all the screw holes, and then assemble the hinge that way instead of doing it the strange way the instructions tell you to. Then put the floor in last, since the roof opens and you can just drop the floor in. Once we figured out how to put it together the easiest way, it was smooth sailing. It took maybe an hour to throw it together and my dog seems to like it. It's very sturdy and it's got a nice pine smell that should deter bugs. It comes stained and with a proper shingle roof. It looks nice on the porch and seems like it'll last for quite a few years, plus the top is only slightly angled and can be used as a table if you have a small space and need your furniture to multi-task. The 40.75x26.75x28.25 is the perfect size for my 60lb Blue Heeler mix and her favorite Ikea outdoor mat. She'll get a lot of use out of it in the fall and I'll get her a heated outdoor mat. (We don't make her stay outside, she just wants to.)

I purchased this dog house to convert into a duck house. I did make some improvements, however for the price i got a really good start.*Upon unboxing, i noticed the piece with hinges was broken in half. The box it shipped in was in great condition so unsure how it happened but i used some wood glue to fix it. Problem solved.*Assembly took me less than an hour. It was very straightforward, all my holes lined up evenly enough. I assembled it alone. The wood had several gaps throughout ( Sides,bottom,corners) I used paintable white caulking meant for exterior windows to plug all gaps. I caulked each board on the bottom both top and bottom and also the sides. This made it extremely sturdy, at this point i was able to use a hand truck to move it around*I wanted to make it completely waterproof so i used some black truck bed liner on the inside. i did several coats*i needed to make ventilation so i added a 2" round plastic vent on each side and caulked it in, then painted the entire outside roof includedi have had it outside for four months at this point, it is holding up extremely well. I added a small piece of wood to trap the bedding inside because they kept spilling out the bedding and that seemed to fix the problem. one of the hinges broke almost immediately, i removed it and have been using just the right side , it still functions the same. i do anticipate having to replace the hinges at some point but thats a very menial taskI would recommend this dog house, however you just need to add a little tlc to improve it. Our ducks and geese use it every night (we have three cayuga ducks and three brown chinese geese and they fit very snugly with the male geese at the entrance protecting the others)

It's not bad, nicely designed, easy to put together, comes with all the hardware you need, and has pre-drilled holes to make it simple. The materials seem decent, bolts, screws, hinges. The top is covered in some sort of gravel where some small bits may shake loose initially. The wood itself leaves a lot to be desired as it's quite thin and brittle. One of the side edges has slight damage from where the lid scraped against it. The sides need to be squared up a bit so the lid sits properly once closed. One of the plastic feet broke off when wood splintered apart where it was screwed in because I dragged it rather than picking it up. It easily screwed back in a different position where the wood wasn't split. It gets a star knocked off for the material, but honestly, I'm not sure I could do better for cheaper.While it's supposed to be weatherproof out of the box, I added another coat of Rust-Oleum 207008 Marine Spar Varnish 1-Quart to every piece before I put it together since it will be exposed to rain. If you decide to do this, make sure you do it in a well ventilated area and give yourself extra time for it to dry and air out before letting your pets use it. I didn't get the TRIXIE Pet Products Plastic Door for Flat Roof Dog House, Large either but we'll see after the rainy season starts.As a dog house, I'd be a little skeptical about using this for a 50lb+ dog. I think it best to heed the other reviews if you have a bigger dog or one that likes to destroy things.As a litter box enclosure, it works great for this. It can fit a Nature's Miracle High Sided Litter Box and Litter Genie Plus Cat Litter Disposal System with Odor Free Pail System, Silver with room to spare. The hinges seem to be okay with frequent lifting, locks in place with a soft click (both hinges lock), and unlocks easily with a gentle tug. For those of you with big (or lots) of cats, the plastic mortar tub from Home Depot (similar to Maccourt At2606 26"x20"x6" Plastic Utility Tub) will fit inside but there wouldn't be room for much else.

I’m using this Den as a duck house for my duckies, got two Indian runners and one Cayuga. Somewhat of an easy build, instructions came in four steps but differentiated each piece with letters. Wood smells really good but it reminds me of plywood just a bit stronger. Have to be careful while tightening the screws, don’t overdue it or else you will see a crack or two. I got the large size and let’s just say I could probably fit 5 more ducks! Very spacious and clean design!