How to make a booth for an alabai with your own hands - detailed instructions

Alabai is a large guard dog breed. At the withers, the dog reaches 70 cm, and weighs up to 50 kg or more. Such a large animal cannot be kept in the house. At their summer cottage, they build an aviary for an alabai with their own hands.

Booth requirements

Alabai live on the street all year round. The dog perfectly tolerates severe cold, especially with long hair - up to 10 cm. It is hardy, moves a lot. It does not differ much in curiosity, however, being a guard dog, it is inclined to observe the territory, which it considers its own.

The shepherd's booth is built the simplest, preferably made of wood, as it protects well from wind and cold. Insulate the structure depending on the type of climate and breed. Alabai with a wool length of 7 cm in the southern regions sleeps in an ordinary plywood booth. In the northern latitudes, an aviary for a shepherd dog is complemented by a winter road.

The choice of insulation should be carefully considered. The Alabai take great pleasure in disassembling objects into their components: they pull and chew the insulation, if it is poorly fixed, tear off the fabric that blocks the hole in the booth.

The dog strives to observe its territory from a certain height. Most often she uses her own booth for this. Therefore, the roof of the structure must be made flat so that the shepherd does not maneuver on a gable roof.

Shape and size

Due to the Alabai's habit of sitting on the roof of his own booth, an aviary for him is built with this feature in mind.

• The roof should not only be flat, but also removable. This allows you to quickly clean the inside without interference.
• It is necessary to lay the roof from soft materials that muffle sound, for example, bituminous tiles. A professional sheet will not work, as the loud sound of rain on the roof will unnerve the dog.
• The kennel can be made one-section or include a vestibule and a sleeping place in it. If Alabai lives on the street all year round, it is better to choose option 2.
• The tambour in the booth is not insulated. But it serves as a protection against wind blowing, so such a kennel will be warmer. In addition, most of the dirt and moisture remains here.

If the dog lives outside only during the warm season, the kennel can be replaced with a canopy with bedding.

How to take measurements from Alabay

The size of the booth for the alabai depends on the size of the animal:

• inner height - Alabai's height plus 5 cm;
• width - the length of the animal without a tail plus 5–10 cm;
• the height of the manhole is equal to the height of the dog at the withers;
• the width of the hole is the width of the chest plus 10 cm.

If the booth is made to "grow" the puppy, they are guided by the average parameters: height 90 cm, width 100 cm, length 130 cm. The dimensions of the manhole are 50 * 35 cm.

Materials and tools

The Alabai aviary is made of wood and mesh or reinforcement. The second option will have to be additionally insulated with boards or plywood. Wood is a much better option: affordable, easy to process, perfectly stores heat.

Booth boards must be carefully sanded so that the dog does not splinter its paws or nose.

For a wooden structure you will need:

• dry timber with a section of 100 * 50 mm, 100 * 100 mm and 40 * 40 mm;
• plywood or chipboard for interior cladding;
• foam or other insulation;
• floor boards 25 mm thick;
• lining for external cladding;
• bituminous tiles, roofing felt;
• waterproofing materials;
• galvanized nails, staples.

The most common tool is needed: a saw or a hacksaw for wood, a hammer, a chisel, perhaps a plane and sandpaper or a grinder. You will also need a tape measure, a plumb line and a square.

Place to install the booth

Finding a place for an aviary at a summer cottage is not so easy. Alabai is a guard dog, so its paddock should be located so that the shepherd dog controls most of the territory. There are other requirements as well:

• the distance to the residential building is not less than 10 m;
• do not put the booth in the sun, otherwise the dog will get heatstroke;
• it is impossible to equip an aviary in a remote dark place, since the Alabai will not be able to fulfill his direct duties;
• you cannot place the booth in a lowland where melt or rainwater will flood it;
• the distance to the chicken coop or barn should be at least 15 m - the Alabai does not like such a neighborhood.

In fact, the kennel is often attached to a blank wall of the house, but next to a quiet room, like a bedroom.

How to build with your own hands

You can make a booth for an alabai of the desired size and according to ready-made drawings with your own hands. The step-by-step instructions are very simple.

1. A frame for the floor is assembled according to the dimensions of the kennel. For the base, take a bar with a section of 40 * 40 mm. From above, the structure is sheathed with boards.
2. From below, the floor is sheathed with glassine and foam is fixed between the logs. Then they are again sewn up with glassine to protect from water. Fastening with staples.
3. Collect the frame. A vertical beam of 100 * 100 mm is fixed at the corners of the floor: 2 at the calculated height of the booth, 2 by 10 cm higher. They put additional bars in the center of each wall and fasten everything with crossbars. The rails limiting the access hole are immediately attached.
4. Sheathed the frame with clapboard. Inside, the booth is sealed with glassine or other waterproofing material, and sheets of foam or mineral wool are laid between the racks. Sewn up again with glassine and trimmed with plywood or chipboard,
5. From the bars of 40 * 40 mm, a frame is assembled according to the size of the booth. From the inside, sheathe it with OSB sheets. Insulation is placed on top between the bars and sheathed with glassine.
6. A larger sheet of plywood is attached to the workpiece: 10 cm from the sides and 20 cm from the front side of the booth. This cornice will protect the manhole and kennel from rain.
7. Put the roof on the door hinges. Roofing material or soft tiles are laid on top.

The nails are sunk into the wood so that the dog does not get hurt on the caps.

The finished kennel is treated with antiseptics. You can paint, although dog breeders do not recommend this: the smell of paint or varnish will irritate the animal for a long time.

Operating tips

Caring for a kennel is easy.

• The litter in the kennel is changed as it gets dirty. Its dampening is not allowed.
• To insulate the floor for the winter, it is allowed to use sawdust. The material needs to be changed, as over time the sawdust is compressed and loses its quality.
• In very severe frosts, the booth is insulated from the outside: bales of pressed hay are placed around it.
• It is not allowed to feed the Alabai in the kennel.

It is not so difficult to build a kennel for a shepherd dog, but at the same time you need to take into account the characteristics of the dog: its size, character, inclinations. Otherwise, the animal will be bored, nervous and sick.