What Do Wood and Plastic Dog Houses Have to Offer?
Wood is a natural building material that offers unique features not seen in other materials like plastic, stone or metal.
For instance, some woods like cedar and cypress, give off naturally fragrant aromas.
More importantly for doghouses, some woods, like cedar and teak, produce natural resins that act to repel all nature of insects, including a dog’s worst enemy, fleas.
Plastics are a unique material in how workable and moldable they are.
Plastic can be manipulated into any number of shapes, designs, sizes, colours and textures.
Consider plastic the chameleon of the building world, which in turn makes for some of the most creative dog houses.
Wooden houses simply aren’t afforded this ability to transform so dramatically.
One of our favourite wooden dog kennels is the Insulated Pets’ Imperial Kennel
For a good plastic dog kennel take a look at the double walled FeelGood Dog Kennel which offers excellent wind and weather protection.
Which will keep your dog warmer? And cooler?
The insulating properties of both wood and plastic will keep dogs warmer in the winter and cooler in the warmer months.
However, plastic might have a slight edge in this category.
While wood possesses some amount of natural insulation, in extreme temperatures some extra padding may be needed as a supplement.
Plastic dog houses are created so that small air bubbles are placed throughout the plastic walls. The air bubbles trap warm and cold air as necessary and create an airtight seal of protection throughout the dog house.
The argument can be made conversely that this means that plastic dog houses don’t breathe as well as wooden dog houses.
One of our favourite plastic dog kennels is the sturdy and easy to assemble DogVilla from Ferplast.
To compare the actual work and attention to detail that goes into building these dog houses, wooden ones win every time.
That’s because of the nature of the materials.
Wood is natural, grown, harvested and often worked by hand.
Plastic is synthetic, made from chemical compounds and impersonally constructed in factories.
Both wood and plastic are fine to use as outdoor dog houses; wooden structures are made from those same strong hardwoods found in other types of patio furniture, while plastics are by nature waterproof.
The specific poly blends used in things like outdoor furniture and dog houses is also more durable than other kinds of plastic.
Is a Plastic Dog House Good for Winter?
No, the plastic dog house is not the best option for winter.
Plastic allows heat and cold to transfer through it quickly, meaning it will get cold in a hurry inside the dog house. There are plastic dog houses with insulation, but in general, the best insulated dog houses are made of materials other than plastic.
During winter and in cold weather, the wood dog house is the best dog house.