The Dog Room
I am redoing some parts of my art studio/dog room (it the Reese's Cup of rooms...two great things that go great together).
Its a concrete slab walkout basement with huge windows on the north side and a really big slider on the morning side. it opens up on the Small Yard. Its critical for Sage because he cant see any neighbors or the road from here and minimizes his exposure to stuff that makes him turn into the Incredible Hulk. We just ripped up all the yucky old carpeting the previous owners had in here and am starting with a concrete floor. ( Well, once I get it patched and the last bits of old adhesive scraped up)
Im thinking all this concrete is a bit cold and echoey. I figured Id paint the floor (with garage floor paint) and then get some area rugs to soften the place up- easy to remove and shake out/clean/replace- and I should mention that winter is very cold and snowy here, so walking on cold concrete seems really unappealling. The hard floor is easy to sweep and wipe up as well.
I need to address two ares though where concrete or rugs might not be the best solution-
1) the area right inside the slider will see a lot of wet muddy, snowy paws. I might need a waterhog mat there?
2) under Sage's crate- part of his crate acceptance is that its quiet and denlike- so I think the metal crate on the concrete floor and the plastic pan just seems too rattley. He has a kuranda cot in his crate. So the crate pan might not be needed. How about those black rubber interlocking (or not!) mats that hockey locker rooms have, and maybe other exercisey type places have? I bet they have them at tractor supply for barns...
If you have a more 'industrial' type setup, Id be interested to hear what materials keep things comfy, quieter and easier to clean...
Its a concrete slab walkout basement with huge windows on the north side and a really big slider on the morning side. it opens up on the Small Yard. Its critical for Sage because he cant see any neighbors or the road from here and minimizes his exposure to stuff that makes him turn into the Incredible Hulk. We just ripped up all the yucky old carpeting the previous owners had in here and am starting with a concrete floor. ( Well, once I get it patched and the last bits of old adhesive scraped up)
Im thinking all this concrete is a bit cold and echoey. I figured Id paint the floor (with garage floor paint) and then get some area rugs to soften the place up- easy to remove and shake out/clean/replace- and I should mention that winter is very cold and snowy here, so walking on cold concrete seems really unappealling. The hard floor is easy to sweep and wipe up as well.
I need to address two ares though where concrete or rugs might not be the best solution-
1) the area right inside the slider will see a lot of wet muddy, snowy paws. I might need a waterhog mat there?
2) under Sage's crate- part of his crate acceptance is that its quiet and denlike- so I think the metal crate on the concrete floor and the plastic pan just seems too rattley. He has a kuranda cot in his crate. So the crate pan might not be needed. How about those black rubber interlocking (or not!) mats that hockey locker rooms have, and maybe other exercisey type places have? I bet they have them at tractor supply for barns...
If you have a more 'industrial' type setup, Id be interested to hear what materials keep things comfy, quieter and easier to clean...
Comments
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/rb-rubber-multi-mat-rolled-rubber-3-8-in-thick-sold-by-the-foot
I love you, Tractor Supply!
Why no area rug under Sage's crate? Even though fur and dirt can build up on it, it doesn't take much work to shake it out. We don't have crate pans in our crates due to the kuranda beds, the beds fit better that way as there's no pan lip to slide on. Allow Miyu to demonstrate:
As an idea, It might be a good idea to get traction paint or add sand to the paint to allow for more grip.
Compression anti fatigue mats used by groomers can be placed under or at look out locations that ease compression on elbows when dogs lay to look out window or at sliders. Also the use use dry deck tiles under or in combo… http://www.bigfloors.com/Kennel-Liner-C26.aspxDecking-C2.aspx
We don't have trays in our dogs dens. I use crates when needed but have now replaced with built ins that have orthopedic mats and each has their own den with removable panel doors. Mostly dogs come and go with no doors.
I love tractor supply….they should have something there for sure.
Snf
The crate tray does seem like overkill with the kuranda bed.
Ive also noticed- living with the concrete for a day or so now- that I am sure I will smash Rei and Mott's ceramic bowls one of these days if I dont put down something softer- like the rubber flooring- where they eat.
still working this all thru...
Snf
My set up before I (once again) moved everyone around:
Yeah, the concrete stains are super cool. I had a friend who bought a pretty trendy downtown loft and did that to his concrete floors. It looked great too!
I don't use crate pans either, but I wonder, now, why I never thought of putting the kurandara bed in Leo's crate. He's got a rug in there, but it's getting kind of gross. Maybe I'll just put the bed in there. There's a risk, though, that he'll decide to chew on the bed...He doesn't during the day but I could see him being bored in the morning and trying it.
The soft tiles are a great idea!
And we need pics!