The Dog-Friendly Dream House - Page 1

With all the rain, and the resulting MUD I can't seem to keep from tracking into the house, my thoughts have turned to dreaming about a Dog-Friendly Home as I use the last 3 Swifter refills, which, BTW, hardly made any significant difference on the indoor trail.

My next house will have extensive landscaping and complimentary hardscape designed with very practical purpose in mind. There will be wide patios extending well away from the doors and raised flower beds inconvenient to dogs, easy for an aging woman to attend. Ditto for the vegetable garden.  Paths from driveway, parking areas, flower beds, vegetable garden and kennels will be paved with either testured concrete or attractive paving stones. They will be constructed with raised barriers on either side to discourage mand and beast from venturing off of them, and they shall be wasy to wash, with excellent drainage properties. A deck would be nice too, but with a ramp rather than stairs. I ain't getting any younger.

Inside, there shall be tile, not only on the floors, but most of the way up the walls, much like a commericial kitche (or a rest room). The floors will not be level. They will slope towards a very wide drain in the center of the house. Quick connect plumbing fixtures will be conveniently located, attached to a hot pressure washer with liquid disinfectant infusion capability, identical to the ones used to wash grease and  bugs off of agricultural aitcraft.  Washable throw rugs will provide atmosphere and traction for aging dogs and infirm humans. There will be NO stairs. PERIOD. The radiant heat system will help dry the floors quickly. Air conditioning will be delivered from stainless steel ceiling vents. Electric outlets will be the exterior, weatherproof variety, located above the tile line. I'm think outlets and light switches with GFI's are probably a good idea.

The Dog-Friendly house will also feature a central vacuum system. I'm thinking about 20 hp. would work well. We'll need stainless steel grates on the attachments of course.
Oops... Sorry about that Kitty.  :-X Better luck in your NEXT life. You were doomed in this house anyway.

No need for window treatments (to get drenched with the pressure washer or sucked up by the vacuum). I'll just install those electrically raised and lowered security shutters everybody has in Germany on the INSIDES of the windows instead of outside.

No worries about upholstery getting damaged by the hot pressure washer. Its amazing what they can do with lawn furniture these days.

Why waste a state-of-the-art outdoor kitchen by locating it outdoors? I shall install folding exterior walls on two sides of the kitchen and bring the "Great Outdoors... IN!   Hell. Half of it ends up inside sooner or later anyway, right?

Did I mention the dual-purpose, industrial-strength garbage disposal under the floor drain? It will be fitted with a handy, optional "rodent feature" ...basically a small spike for bait and a highly sensitive pressure plate under the grate that will turn the unit on briefly with a small amount of pressure.  Probably work well for cockroaches too, briefly, at least till natural selection took over. Remember, we don't have a cat anymore and other small game doesn't enjoy a long survival rate around here to begin with.

Now... Lets talk design options for the remote-control features.  I'm thinking programmable timer here, certainly waterproof to 3 meters, lifetime battery.

I really do need a vacation.  SS

Now that would be a dream house,lol, take your vacation, liz

LOL TOO FUNNY.  When you place the order get a quote for me too :-)

W

shelly send me you blue prints..The only time my dogs get crazy is when its muddy.those swiffer mops were not ment for dogs and mud..The hose is always a great temptation to me.Turn it on and just let it rip.Hell id like to power spray it sometimes.            ronnier there is something wrong with you. Just so every one knows Im not this ronnierunco.. 

I have 100% wool carpets that used to be gold, but now are muddy brown, thanks to the dogs.  I'd be more upset of the carpets weren't 30 years old, but they were still really nice before we moved in....I'm replacing them with travertine, which is already purchased, over 700 square feet of it, piled up as high as my shoulder in boxes in the basement, waiting for my knees to feel good enough to get to kneel to do tile work.  I'm putting it in the area where the dogs enter the house.  The at least it will be mop and GO.  Veronica

I know what you mean. I have been giving my house a makeover. I painted the inside a pretty dark brown to help hide wall smudges...  I was thinking of getting the coragated galvanized tin and putting it up in my down stairs along the walls about 30" tall and up the stairs. Just like at the Lone Star steak house.

I shampoo'd my upstarirs carpet and it still looks like crap. I found a clean spot when I changed the flooring in the bathroom and it was a huge difference. I did put in laminate floors down stairs last fall and it has been much more pleasant to live with than carpet. I would like to do some thing similar upstairs but I am worried it would be too loud and too cold on the feet.

My plan has always been to lay down gravel in mt back yard to keep the dogs out of the mud. Maybe next spring I will finally get my wish. 

Veronica I will help you in the summer when I can get in and out of your driveway (after the snow melts). You just have to help me with my back yard. Deal?

     And, for those Doggy-Doors, this is a little invention of mine,( it may be already invented, and I just didn't notice yet), as your dogs go through 'the doggy door', there is a little brush-sqwuieggy(?), that "GROOMS the DRIPPING MUD OFF" into a little catch tray at the bottom.  Custom brush panels for the size and coat of your breed. The Broom and Groom!

     ( I know, I should probably stay out of the invention dept.).

I love it !!  Very well thought out.

Send me the blueprints as well. When I win Lotto my dream will come true.

Julie

You could always live in the yard and sleep in a hammock!  lol

Or you could just put bare dirt flooring in, walk around in your shoes in winter and barefeet in the summer, grow some patches of grass in the livingroom, grow your herbs in the floor of the kitchen too :D 

 Kitkat, I think you have something there, you just need that guy on the Sham-WOW commercial to sell it for you for $19.95 and see if you can get any Germans to make it for you, because you know, they always make good things.