Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1912-12-04
A PAckINe-cAsE DOLLHOUSE.

A substantial appearing dog-house,
placed in a prominent part of the
yard, will of itself furnish to resi-
dence considerable protection from
thieves, inasmuch as the average thief
will much prefer to pass by that house
than to run the chances of encounter
ing the dog, which he will naturally
assume to be somewhere upon the
premises. / do not mean to suggest
that you boys build a dog-house ii you
do not own a dog-although this might
furnish good excuse for getting
dog later, but if you have dog do
not fail to take advantage of this
means of making known its presence
to all passersby.
The size of the house will depend
largely upon the breed of your dog,
but in any case it is better to get the
quarters too large than too cramped
for space In the case of a pup, be
sure to provide for its full growth.
The house shown in Fig. l is "a
inches wide, "a inches high at the
lowest point, and AZ inches long, which
is about right for dog of medium
size The easiest way to build it is by
using a packing-case. One OF these
can usually be obtained at a shoe
store or drygoods store for rs or 30
cents. You can probably get one OF
very nearly the dimensions given
above, but if all you come across are
too large one way or another it will
not take long to cut one down.
The first step in the construction
of the house should be the cutting OF
the doorway. For a house of the di-
mansions given, this will be about II
inches wide and 20 inches high. Mark
it out upon the end OF the packing
case, with an arched top, as shown
Gig. % then with your bit and bit
stock bore a series of holes close to-
gether and just inside of the line, and
with a compass-saw or other small
saw connect the holes and saw out
the entire opening. A wood file and
sandpaper may be used to finish off
the opening. When the opening has
been cut, it will be necessary to bind
together the remaining ends of the
boards on each side of it with vertical
battens. Place these upon the inside
&c, Fig. AZ. The end Of one or more
of the bottom boards will also have
to be connected to the boards adjoin-
ing by means of batten fastened
across the under side.
The dog-hcuse may have either a
peaked roof or lean,to roof. The
latter is the better form If you fasten
the house against a wall or fence, as
| in Fig. 1, which is good plan if you
place it to one side of the yard. A
well-made packing-case is REINFORCED
at the ends with vertical battens, as
| shown in Fig. 2, and for the purpose
slanted roof, several inches of the up
per ends of these battens should be
saved off Zig. p. One or two nails
probably will have to be removed Cut
the triangular extension pieces A Gig.
! 3 of the length OF the ends, between
and inches wide at the high end,
! and sIanted down to nothing at the
other end. Then prepare the battens
/ B and of the right lengths to ex-
tend from the upper edge of pieces A
! down to the tops of the sawed off ends
of the battens of the packing-case, and
after mailing them to pieces A set
pieces A in position on the ends OF
the packing-case and nail the lower
ends of B and G to the case. Fill in
/ the board B. between pieces A, on
the high side of the house.
| The roof may be covered in any one
| of several ways. The main thing to
look out for is that it will be water
tight. The method shown in Fig. 1
| Is to nail on a covering of boards,
| fitted close together, and SO cut as to
| form a projection of several inches
| over the ends and one side of the
house, and then cover these with a
piece of table oilcloth, tar paper or
heavy canvas. The latter should be
| painted after it has been tackled on, to
make 1t waterproof. The method of
putting on two layers of boards, with
J the edges of the upper boards Tapped
! about one inch over the edges of the
lower boards Gig. 81 is a good one,
| while if you can get few shingles
! you can have a splendid shingled roof.
! If you single the roof, split up the
shingles into narrow widths to make
! them of smaller proportions: also eX-