The floor frame is the first thing in constructing a kennel, and it should be made of two by three inch spruce, thirty-four inches long and twenty-two inches wide, with lap joints at the corners as shown in Fig. 13. On this the flooring of tongue and grooved boards is laid and nailed down.
From three matched boards eight inches wide make the front and back to the kennel as shown in Fig. 14. The lower ends of the boards are nailed to the floor frame, and where they are sawed off to form the peak a batten is placed at the inside and made fast with clinch nails driven into it from the outside through the boards.
The nail heads in the front of Fig. 14 will show the location of one batten, and the other can clearly be seen at the inside of the back, where the clinched nail ends are shown.
Beginning at the bottom and working up, the sides are laid on. Always place the tongue up and the groove down when using matched boards in a horizontal position, as otherwise the rain and moisture will work into the groove and cause the wood to decay.
A ridge-pole is nailed between the front and back at the peak, and to this the upper ends of the roof boards are fastened.
In the front a hole large enough for a dog to pass through is cut with a compass saw, and above it, near the peak, one large and three smaller holes are bored, as shown in Fig. 14, and the wood cut away between the holes, as shown in Fig. 12. This is for ventilation, for dogs as well as human beings require plenty of fresh air. Another hole at the top of the back board will allow free circulation of air across the top of the kennel.
Two or three good coats of paint will finish the wood-work, and with the addition of a chain fastened to a staple-plate this dog-kennel will be ready for occupancy.
This dog-hut in Fig 15 is built against the side of a house or barn, and is forty inches long, twenty-four wide, and twenty-eight inches high at the outer side, and thirty-six inches high next the house or barn. The floor frame is thirty-eight inches long, twenty-two inches wide, and made like Fig. 13. Stakes are driven in the ground, one under each corner, and to these the floor frame is spiked fast.
When constructed against a building a strip is fastened to the siding of the building on which to nail the roof boards and to the upper edges of the front, back, and side boards battens are made fast to strengthen the hut.