best material for dog kennel floor image
trey
do you know the best way for me to do this? I don't have much knowledge or experience in terms of building... I am used to being in the office more than construction...
I would appreciate any non-judgemental input!
If the environment impacts the effectiveness or suitability, I live in temperate Southeast U.S.
Answer
Hi Trey,
First, get out of the office and look. Check out every building site, every home, even every barn or garage.
Check out the areas that you might like to build. Which suburb, which state? What are the necessities of the building. Is it freezing cold for 9 months of the year, or is it in the middle of the desert with 50 deg C days and 2 deg C nights?
Start making lists of what you require in a small home. 1 bedroom, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom. List all of your requirements. Also keep a check on what you actually like. From designs and floorplans to building materials, to wall and window styles. EVERYTHING!!!
How much maintenance do you want to do in the future? Minimal maintenance is usually brick whereas mudbrick or strawbale require a reasonable amount of maintenance to keep them up to scratch.
If you want to owner build, start getting some experience. Every time you see someone building ANYTHING ask if you can help. This will also allow you to evaluate your skills that would help you decide if you can or actually want to build it yourself.
Go to your local library and borrow every book you can on architecture, building, self-sufficency, environmentally friendly building.
As you read more and evaluate your own skills you may well find your tastes change.
Surf the net. There is an absolutly incredible amount of info there. More than enough to get you started. If you live in an area (I am in Australia and there isnt anywhere the building code doesnt cover) where your building code doesnt need to be followed or you dont need approval there is enough info on the net to get you started and well and truly finished.
If you want to use recycled materials, find somewhere to start storing them. Be really critical of what you buy. There really isnt any point in collecting 30 beautiful doors if you only need 3.
Build something small. Start with a dog kennel - give it away if you dont have a dog. If you enjoy it great, if you hate it and dont finish then maybe owner building isnt for you.
I should clarify that here, owner building doesnt have to mean doing everything yourself. You can still contract out all of the work, it just means that you are not paying for someone else to organise the work being done.
Check out some of the kit home web sites. There is some fantastic small homes available. You dont have to order one, but its great to be able to see what the floor plan actually looks like in reality. There is some big difference in what is called small.
Given you lack of experience in building I would imagine the task is daunting, but there is a load of help out there, there is also many places that offer hands on training. Many books and websites offer a wealth of practical information. Much is written in basic terms.
Check out secondhand book shops, you may find some really helpful stuff.
Start saving money. You will need it in bucketloads. Small homes dont have to cost a lot, but they still cost.
Dont let your inexperience put you off. There is no reason why enthusiasm, ingenuity and self belief can not see you thru.
Good Luck
Jo
Hi Trey,
First, get out of the office and look. Check out every building site, every home, even every barn or garage.
Check out the areas that you might like to build. Which suburb, which state? What are the necessities of the building. Is it freezing cold for 9 months of the year, or is it in the middle of the desert with 50 deg C days and 2 deg C nights?
Start making lists of what you require in a small home. 1 bedroom, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom. List all of your requirements. Also keep a check on what you actually like. From designs and floorplans to building materials, to wall and window styles. EVERYTHING!!!
How much maintenance do you want to do in the future? Minimal maintenance is usually brick whereas mudbrick or strawbale require a reasonable amount of maintenance to keep them up to scratch.
If you want to owner build, start getting some experience. Every time you see someone building ANYTHING ask if you can help. This will also allow you to evaluate your skills that would help you decide if you can or actually want to build it yourself.
Go to your local library and borrow every book you can on architecture, building, self-sufficency, environmentally friendly building.
As you read more and evaluate your own skills you may well find your tastes change.
Surf the net. There is an absolutly incredible amount of info there. More than enough to get you started. If you live in an area (I am in Australia and there isnt anywhere the building code doesnt cover) where your building code doesnt need to be followed or you dont need approval there is enough info on the net to get you started and well and truly finished.
If you want to use recycled materials, find somewhere to start storing them. Be really critical of what you buy. There really isnt any point in collecting 30 beautiful doors if you only need 3.
Build something small. Start with a dog kennel - give it away if you dont have a dog. If you enjoy it great, if you hate it and dont finish then maybe owner building isnt for you.
I should clarify that here, owner building doesnt have to mean doing everything yourself. You can still contract out all of the work, it just means that you are not paying for someone else to organise the work being done.
Check out some of the kit home web sites. There is some fantastic small homes available. You dont have to order one, but its great to be able to see what the floor plan actually looks like in reality. There is some big difference in what is called small.
Given you lack of experience in building I would imagine the task is daunting, but there is a load of help out there, there is also many places that offer hands on training. Many books and websites offer a wealth of practical information. Much is written in basic terms.
Check out secondhand book shops, you may find some really helpful stuff.
Start saving money. You will need it in bucketloads. Small homes dont have to cost a lot, but they still cost.
Dont let your inexperience put you off. There is no reason why enthusiasm, ingenuity and self belief can not see you thru.
Good Luck
Jo
New German Shepherd owner, what can I expect?
Metallichi
I've recently acquired a beautiful female, 10 months old, but she needs work. I've read that I need to be very stern with my girl because of the nature of her breed. I've been walking her and slowly trying to get her to not chase my 2 old cats. She has free reign in the backyard, lots of toys, but she needs to learn to settle down in the house.
What should I expect from her in the next year or so?
Answer
10 months is not the ideal age for a newbie to take on a pup - that is traditionally when under-trained pooches perform in much the same obnoxious ways as do rebellious human teenagers. If she & you ARE under-trained you might get a week before she starts testing out your "boundaries" - both territory boundaries and behaviour boundaries.
But if she has been well-bred and well-reared and YOU do your bit re sensible & consistent training you should have 11 to 14 happy, fun-filled years ahead of you.
I am, of course, assuming that you have been sensible enough to get your bit.ch from a breeder who uses only hip-&-elbow certificated stock and is confident enough to supply a printed & signed Guarantee stating what he/she will do if any of the genetic "unthinkables" happens. If not, all bets are off, and you will have to keep you fingers crossed..
Your phrasing "I need to be very stern with my girl" indicates that you are either a poor reader or you have been reading the WRONG material.
The genuine herding breeds (Border Collies, GSDs, Heading Dogs, Huntaways, Kelpies, Malinois) have been developed to WANT to please their human, and so are the easiest to train of all breeds. The next easiest-to-train category is the bird dogs.
Although I was an obedience instructor in my early days, I do very little formal training nowadays - my pups mimic their elders, and so for "household" type training I just reinforce them when they guess right, reprimand them when they guess wrong. As I said - GSDs are easy to train.
What you should be doing right now is using a light happy voice to praise your bit.ch every time she does something right. Two reinforcers always being more effective than one, whenever she is close enough you also reward her - the obvious rewards are a pat, a chest rub or ear-base massage or croup rub, a game, a tiny tidbit (sliver of cheese, peanut, sliver of hard-baked liver, etc).
When she does something that is absolutely forbidden, reprimand her - the deepest sternest growl you can manage. Suitable reinforcers for that are stamping your foot on the floor or "snapping" her lead or throwing something light to hit her - I emphasise the LIGHT - a balled up sock is fine, as the intention isn't to hurt her, just to startle her and make her think that you have an amazing retractable/extendible arm that can reach her where-ever she happens to be. Time your growl to start just as you stamp or as the object hits her or the lead "snaps".
The lead "snap" is easy to show, difficult to describe. I operate with a straight-link slip chain (aptly nicknamed a "choke chain", because Sod's Law explains that if it is left on an unsupervised pooch the trailing ring WILL catch on something and the chain WILL choke that pooch) and a flat leather or nylon leash. I choose a chain with links open enough for me to put the tongue of the horse-clip through so that I can, when appropriate, lock the slip-chain to whichever size I need and it cannot then tighten to choke nor loosen to slide off - important if I tether a pooch outside a shop.
To produce a "snap" you must first ensure that the lead goes totally slack; then you either use the lead to flick the chain or you pull suddenly so that the chain tightens and pulls the pooch off-balance. With a dog that pulls you need to coordinate your arm to produce that slackness - slowly haul the dog back so that there is very little lead between you and it, and your lead hand is close to your chest; then punch your hand into the direction the dog is going - the result is instant slack, albeit not for very long; but long enough to then "snap" it.
Now go visit every training class within driving range (if you need contacts, ring your Animal Control Officers; local vets probably know of some training groups; if you strike out on both sources, contact your country's Kennel Club) then book yourself into the club that has happy dogs and happy handlers. Although training is basically common sense, common sense is nowhere near as common as it should be, and so being in a club means that you get advice on your use of "the voices", your body language, your timing, your use of rewards & reprimands.
I suggest you also join a couple of the 300+ YahooGroups devoted to discussing various aspects of the GSD. When a group's name attracts your attention, click on its name to go to its Home Page. Once there:
⢠read its "mission statement" to see whether they are likely to discuss what you want to talk about (some groups let you look through their messages; others are more secretive), and
⢠scroll down to the Monthly Activity "calendar" to see how much "traffic" they tend to produce - you want neither a group that is "dead" nor one producing so much that you can't cope with the flood into your Mailbox.
Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly
"In GSDs" as of 1967
10 months is not the ideal age for a newbie to take on a pup - that is traditionally when under-trained pooches perform in much the same obnoxious ways as do rebellious human teenagers. If she & you ARE under-trained you might get a week before she starts testing out your "boundaries" - both territory boundaries and behaviour boundaries.
But if she has been well-bred and well-reared and YOU do your bit re sensible & consistent training you should have 11 to 14 happy, fun-filled years ahead of you.
I am, of course, assuming that you have been sensible enough to get your bit.ch from a breeder who uses only hip-&-elbow certificated stock and is confident enough to supply a printed & signed Guarantee stating what he/she will do if any of the genetic "unthinkables" happens. If not, all bets are off, and you will have to keep you fingers crossed..
Your phrasing "I need to be very stern with my girl" indicates that you are either a poor reader or you have been reading the WRONG material.
The genuine herding breeds (Border Collies, GSDs, Heading Dogs, Huntaways, Kelpies, Malinois) have been developed to WANT to please their human, and so are the easiest to train of all breeds. The next easiest-to-train category is the bird dogs.
Although I was an obedience instructor in my early days, I do very little formal training nowadays - my pups mimic their elders, and so for "household" type training I just reinforce them when they guess right, reprimand them when they guess wrong. As I said - GSDs are easy to train.
What you should be doing right now is using a light happy voice to praise your bit.ch every time she does something right. Two reinforcers always being more effective than one, whenever she is close enough you also reward her - the obvious rewards are a pat, a chest rub or ear-base massage or croup rub, a game, a tiny tidbit (sliver of cheese, peanut, sliver of hard-baked liver, etc).
When she does something that is absolutely forbidden, reprimand her - the deepest sternest growl you can manage. Suitable reinforcers for that are stamping your foot on the floor or "snapping" her lead or throwing something light to hit her - I emphasise the LIGHT - a balled up sock is fine, as the intention isn't to hurt her, just to startle her and make her think that you have an amazing retractable/extendible arm that can reach her where-ever she happens to be. Time your growl to start just as you stamp or as the object hits her or the lead "snaps".
The lead "snap" is easy to show, difficult to describe. I operate with a straight-link slip chain (aptly nicknamed a "choke chain", because Sod's Law explains that if it is left on an unsupervised pooch the trailing ring WILL catch on something and the chain WILL choke that pooch) and a flat leather or nylon leash. I choose a chain with links open enough for me to put the tongue of the horse-clip through so that I can, when appropriate, lock the slip-chain to whichever size I need and it cannot then tighten to choke nor loosen to slide off - important if I tether a pooch outside a shop.
To produce a "snap" you must first ensure that the lead goes totally slack; then you either use the lead to flick the chain or you pull suddenly so that the chain tightens and pulls the pooch off-balance. With a dog that pulls you need to coordinate your arm to produce that slackness - slowly haul the dog back so that there is very little lead between you and it, and your lead hand is close to your chest; then punch your hand into the direction the dog is going - the result is instant slack, albeit not for very long; but long enough to then "snap" it.
Now go visit every training class within driving range (if you need contacts, ring your Animal Control Officers; local vets probably know of some training groups; if you strike out on both sources, contact your country's Kennel Club) then book yourself into the club that has happy dogs and happy handlers. Although training is basically common sense, common sense is nowhere near as common as it should be, and so being in a club means that you get advice on your use of "the voices", your body language, your timing, your use of rewards & reprimands.
I suggest you also join a couple of the 300+ YahooGroups devoted to discussing various aspects of the GSD. When a group's name attracts your attention, click on its name to go to its Home Page. Once there:
⢠read its "mission statement" to see whether they are likely to discuss what you want to talk about (some groups let you look through their messages; others are more secretive), and
⢠scroll down to the Monthly Activity "calendar" to see how much "traffic" they tend to produce - you want neither a group that is "dead" nor one producing so much that you can't cope with the flood into your Mailbox.
Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly
"In GSDs" as of 1967
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Title Post: I want to build a small, cheap, and relatively Earth-friendly home...?
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