Testing limits of 20 degree Wooki and new dog shelter...

[Dublinlin]

Great job! Very well done. Thanks for sharing!

Great idea! Looks cool too.

Thanks!!!

[Ribeye67]

Thanks for posting. I found your post while looking for a solution for bringing my Boxer with me so she can stay warm. She is not the go outside when it is cold type of dog. My German Shepherd would rather sit on the patio step outside while the Boxer is inside. I was thinking of suspending a small quilt on the inside so she would have something warm to lie against. Maybe even a dog vest that she can wear too. I also might find a way to reduce the opening to further trap warmth and block the wind.

Too bad I have a Hennessy with the bottom entry so a can't reach out and pet her.

Love your idea. Glad it works too.

[Dublinlin]

Thanks for posting. I found your post while looking for a solution for bringing my Boxer with me so she can stay warm. She is not the go outside when it is cold type of dog. My German Shepherd would rather sit on the patio step outside while the Boxer is inside. I was thinking of suspending a small quilt on the inside so she would have something warm to lie against. Maybe even a dog vest that she can wear too. I also might find a way to reduce the opening to further trap warmth and block the wind.

Too bad I have a Hennessy with the bottom entry so a can't reach out and pet her.

Love your idea. Glad it works too.

Ribeye67, Lands End used to make a reasonably priced Squall Jacket (vest) for dogs. They probably still do. I would highly recommend that for a dog with poor cold tolerance. When I took my shepherd to Alaska in January years ago, I outfitted her with one. It was exceptional quality.

When I make the second pup tent for my old shepherd, who gets cold easily these days, I plan on lining the tarp with Climashield 2.5 covered on both sides with BREATHABLE PolyD or Hexon. Will make it a rectangle almost the same size as the rectangle the tarp tent is made with...basically exactly like the tarp tent it will be slid in to...just not waterproof. Sliding it onto the tarp tent will make it waterproof. The PackTach that I suspend the tarp tent from can handle both layers (insulated liner and waterproof shell) fine, I think. The thing I like about the PakTach is that it doesn't puncture through the material.

Update: Looks like Lands End still has them and all sizes are currently on sale for $20. Hopefully the dog ones are still of the same exceptional quality they were six years ago. I know the people Squall jackets took a disappointing dip in quality a few years back--still a great jacket, but not as exceptional as they were making them eighteen years ago when I bought my first one.

http://www.landsend.com/products/dog...63?sku_0=::QY7

If these Squall dog jackets are as good as the one I got six years ago, I think that alone will be sufficient for your boxer...but I notice they also have fleece vests for dogs, too, which might be nice to layer under the Squall. But if you're only getting one, get the Squall. It has thinsulate insulation just like the people Squall Jacket has and provides exceptional WIND protection and water resistance. I think you'll need an XL. Check the sizing chart. My female shepherd is large for a shepherd and she fits the XL perfectly. My male shepherd is a bit of a beast....over the AKC standard height for shepherds and the Squalls don't come large enough for him. He doesn't need one, anyway...it'd just annoy him!

[Latt]

Latt, I can't take credit for it...I was watching YouTube videos on different ways a tarp can be used as a tent and thought, why not a tinier tarp for the dog? So, I bought some remnant PU coated material (heavier duty than silnylon but still lighter than the small blue WalMart hiking tarps) and hemmed all four sides of the rectangle. The only modifications I made to the tarp different from the blue WalMart one I'd experimented with is that instead of tying the edges of one of the longer sides together through its grommets, I sewed the edges together from the two joined corners all the way to the center fold. This made my DIY tarp more wind and rain proof by ensuring no drafts can come through under the staked out walls in the rearmost corner of the tent. Also, just simplifies it so it's quicker and easier to stake out and hang each time.

Then, rather than putting grommets in at regular intervals like my storebought tarp had, I used a PakTach from Dutch's site to suspend the tarp and just marked where I needed stake out points. I just bar stitched small Lashit loops and the long attached tails to each of those points. That way I can either stake it down right through the loops with a tiny titanium shepherd's hook (what I have been doing) or I could lash it to regular Y stakes.

The whole thing, Dutch titanium shepherd hooks and all, folds up into a very small, light package that I can easily slip into my dog's backpack next to his food. Best of all, it was super cheap and fast to put together and solves well a problem I've struggled with on every cold hiking/camping trip--how to shelter my dogs WELL from wind and blowing rain. Since my daughter and I normally bunk our hammocks from the same two trees, our tarp has to be hung fairly high...leaving the dogs below without a windbreak. Problem solved now!

Latt, since you'll be hanging from your tarp's ridgeline, you can utilize the shape I started out with. I like that shape much better because it gives more wrap around protection which would hold in a bit more body heat!

I think the main thing is to watch to make sure your end design doesn't collect condensation. I'd tried a different sort of windbreak out of the slick, heavy WalMart ground tarps and that was a disaster...horrific condensation in just a matter of minutes! (The small, blue fabric WalMart "backpacking" tarps do work ok.) So, you do have to choose your materials strategically and make sure the design ventilates adequately. So far, every "shape" I've experimented with using my DIY tarp has passed that test with flying colors...never any hint of condensation. And when I picked up the tarp as I was packing my gear away yesterday, the underside of the tent's floor was wet from the soggy ground, but the dog's side of the floor was still bone dry!

Thanks for the write up! I had to go through your posts to look at the pictures to understand what you meant, but thankfully they were a great help. I'm a visual learner and English isn't my first language But with your write-up and the pictures, I think I got a pretty clear view of what needs to be done.

One question though. What's that PakTach you speak of? I can't seem to find it on any of dutch's sites

[Latt]

Also, do you think Tyvek would be an OK material to make this from? Or isn't it waterproof enough? My only experience with Tyvek is from using it as a ground sheet under my hammock onto which I can put my stuff and step onto while getting dressed.

[Dublinlin]

Thanks for the write up! I had to go through your posts to look at the pictures to understand what you meant, but thankfully they were a great help. I'm a visual learner and English isn't my first language But with your write-up and the pictures, I think I got a pretty clear view of what needs to be done.

One question though. What's that PakTach you speak of? I can't seem to find it on any of dutch's sites

Hah! MIGHT help if I SPELLED it CORRECTLY!!! Sorry, Latt!
When I went to Dutch's site just now, for the life of me I couldn't find them either...until I started trying to spell it all different ways! Finally added a "c" in front of the "k" and it popped up. PaCktach!

http://www.dutchwaregear.com/packtach.html

[Dublinlin]

Also, do you think Tyvek would be an OK material to make this from? Or isn't it waterproof enough? My only experience with Tyvek is from using it as a ground sheet under my hammock onto which I can put my stuff and step onto while getting dressed.

I don't know. It would be interesting to find out! Tyvek is kind of noisy, but that eases with wear. I don't know if it breathes any or not...though I wouldn't really think the PU coated material I used would breathe, yet I've had zero condensation issues with it (unlike the ground tarps I first experimented with which had major condensation issues--but I was also trying a more enclosed design back then, so maybe that accounts for the condensation?).

I think Tyvek would certainly be worth experimenting with! Then you should let us know how it works!

[Latt]

Hah! MIGHT help if I SPELLED it CORRECTLY!!! Sorry, Latt!
When I went to Dutch's site just now, for the life of me I couldn't find them either...until I started trying to spell it all different ways! Finally added a "c" in front of the "k" and it popped up. PaCktach!

http://www.dutchwaregear.com/packtach.html

Ahaa!! Those thingies! I remember looking at those a while back

[Latt]

I don't know. It would be interesting to find out! Tyvek is kind of noisy, but that eases with wear. I don't know if it breathes any or not...though I wouldn't really think the PU coated material I used would breathe, yet I've had zero condensation issues with it (unlike the ground tarps I first experimented with which had major condensation issues--but I was also trying a more enclosed design back then, so maybe that accounts for the condensation?).

I think Tyvek would certainly be worth experimenting with! Then you should let us know how it works!

I think I got enough laying around. Could experiment with some strong tape instead of sewing. That ought to atleast be a simple enough test to see if the tyvek would work at all and be a good way to try out the design and setup. If the tyvek turns out to be a bad idae, I'd at least have some more experience with the design and could probably manage to make that one straight seam that needs to be done