Dog Space, a Safe and Comfy Spot just for My Grand Doggos

Making a safe, cool dog space in the summer time for over July 4th weekend and many years to come. Most of you on the blog know that I am a Fairy Dog Mother. I love my best friend Rachie to death but I admit I stop over there from time to time to visit my Grand Doggos too. Anyone with pets knows how hard it can be to find someone they trust to take care of their animals while they’re gone. I love that I help them by dog sitting but, really, all we do is eat, cuddle, nap and dance in my kitchen! I love having them to spoil and cuddle with!

(I’m part of a decorator group called the Farmhouse Hens. The first Sunday of every month you’ll find us all completing projects in a theme together. This month it was animals and pets! Make sure and see the rest of the projects following my post!)

I am a HARD CORE DOG PERSON, I grew up with three dogs and one of them (Bucky) was my whole heart and soul. We lost Baron first and then after Bucky died his brother Reny was completely inconsolable. He and I spent many nights curled up grieving together.

It was the worst though when I went to work and he was alone.

Reny would literally sit outside and just scream all day long. He’d been with Bucky from the day they were born, all fourteen years of their lives. It was heart breaking.

I found Diesel online one day to adopt and I brought that giant Mastiff home with me. He was a delight to my life and though Reny didn’t like him much, he stopped screaming and got better. It was only a few months though before I held him in his last moments too and was relieved he got to be with Bucky again. I was glad though he had Diesel to at least make his days a bit less lonely when I was at work.

Diesel was a ridiculous lover in an aloof cool dude way that was SO charming. I called him Winston Churchill incarnate. I swear I would get home from work and Diesel would scold me, “Good God woman, stop this busy-ness nonsense, have a snifter of brandy here and tell me about your day!”

At night he would get cold and tug at the covers at my shoulder so I would lift them up so he could sleep under the sheet beside me. It was a normal morning for me to wake up with Diesel sleeping with his head on the pillow back to back with me. We literally both weighed 125 pounds lol he was far more like a sibling to me then a dog.

I have not yet adopted another dog since I lost Diesel. I only got four years with him before, one night, he crawled into my lap, pressed his head against my heart and died. It was just too much. Losing my three childhood dogs in just a few years and then only getting four with Diesel. (He was diagnosed with Cushings and few dogs with that diagnosis make it past a year.)

Its been over two years now and I still get asked often by friends and family, “When are you getting a dog?” Because I have ALWAYS had a dog and they were always such a huge part of who I was and my life.

But I cannot get another dog until I have more then just my time sleeping to spend with them. My life as a single gal right now is filled with work and wonderful projects and I absolutely love not being tied down. Someday though, I am really looking forward to adopting at least two (if not four) dogs 🙂

In the meantime, I have my Grand Puppers to spoil rotten!

I had a plan for this space that involved dogs all the way back in 2014 when I began the renovation here. This was always going to be the “doggie door” and my “front” yard was always going to be a big dog run/pen. It worked out perfectly because my front yard is a long stretch along a dirt road.

So, the part of my dog fence that is on the road and on my driveway I used privacy fence because it looks nice and really helps cut down on the dust in the summer time. (In other words I would never use my front yard regardless because eating road dust and waving at traffic is just not my thing so this worked out great. And I don’t even call it my front yard either, I actually refer to this space as my “back porch” area.)

With my best friend staying here over 4th of July weekend for her big birthday party it was no question they were going to bring the dogs too of course!

They brought a camper but there was no way we were gonna lock the dogs up there when I have a huge outside kennel.

HOWEVER, not everyone loves dogs (especially my horses) so they couldn’t be loose in the house with people going in and out so I set out to make this a nice dog space.

I moved everything out, cleaned the space (noted how badly I need to remodel and paint back here OMG) and then made it as dog friendly as I could.

My plan for this huge closet (maybe this winter if I get to it) is actually to make a nice day bed/reading nook/dog bed. I even have a great little ancient wrought iron bed frame!

I planned to make a closet door here that’s large enough to swing open and double as a dog gate but also close and act like a “privacy” door for the bed.

Rachel and Shane happened to have this big wooden gate that they were no longer using so I hung it up here for the party! I had to add some wood to the wall to make sure it reached and, also, to make sure no dog torpedo hitting the gate could get through!

From there I covered the floor with one of my greatest discoveries:

Horse saddle blankets make AWESOME dog beds!

I used to own four horses (down to two now) I also rode both English and Western so I’ve got several extra saddle blankets that I had no use for. Until I discovered how great they were for the dogs! The big square Western blankets are ideal and doubled up they’re even better!

Knowing what I know now I would never buy another dog bed. Seriously, I would just pick up some used saddle blankets and take them to the laundromat.

I also added water and food bowls, and a ton of toys too of course. This area stays cool all year and the dogs could go in and out any time they liked. (Which they did a minimum of 8 million times the night of the party!)

But, back here, they were well away from the craziness, the dozens of people and kids and, yes, the fireworks going on around my neighborhood as well.

(Of course us dog mom’s checked on them constantly. At one point I snuck back here and found them both laying out napping like nothing else was going on.)

Someday, when I have my own dogs, this space will be great for potty training or, if I have somebody whose destructive, a space where they will be safe, out of the weather, with easy access to the bathroom and not destroying my sofa when I’m at work during the day!

My brain is already turning on how I can make that gate work for my future plans. It needs to be wider and taller but I think that’s very doable! Not to mention, of course (at least on the outside) I will be also be painting it white.

The sign I purchased here from Amazon!

Make sure and check out the rest of the pets project below from the other Farmhouse Hens!

DIY Dog Toys for Cheap

Leanna at FaeriesandFauna! Blog / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

Creating a safe place for my Grand Doggos!

Tarah at Grandma’s House DIY! Blog / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

DIY Bird Feeders with Recycled Materials

Chas at Chas’ Crazy Creations! Blog / Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, YouTube

Check out her website!

Michelle at Our Crafty Mom! Blog / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter