The Doskocil Dogloo II: Not For Eskimos, but a Pretty Darned Good Dog House!
Written: Aug 28 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Durable, Attractive when new
Cons: Discolors, Some dogs may not like it
The Bottom Line: The Doskocil Dogloo II doghouse is a durable doghouse, but its discoloration through time can make it rather unattractive.
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| sweetcece's Full Review: Doskocil Dogloo II |
Sweetie has been part of our extended pet family now for about six years. While Sweetie may be a strange name for a dog, she truly personifies her name in many aspects as the companion dog that my deceased mother had for several years and now continues to live in the home of my dad and stepmom.
While Sweetie is mostly a housedog, there were times when she could not be left inside for long periods of time during the day. This is why my parents built her an outside dog run with a concrete slab, and a Dogloo II doghouse.
Sweetie Dog
Sweetie is probably the quietest animal I have ever known in my life. To my knowledge she has only barked three times in her entire life. I was there during two of the barking incidents and I will never forget those times as long as I live! As a multi-colored Whippet, she has this calming personality and an obedient attitude that makes her the perfect pet.
However, I really was rather concerned when my dad told me that he had built this dog run and bought a Dogloo for Sweetie, because being so petite and feminine, I really didn’t think she would really “go” for the idea.
Dogloo II
However, it didn’t surprise me that dad bought Sweetie a Dogloo II dog house. These igloo shaped dog houses had fascinated me for years all the times I had gone to Wal-Mart, and I guess that got to him too. They wound up having one of these houses on fall clearance at a sidewalk sale, and it was nothing for him to get one of his friends to load it up on a truck and haul it home for Sweetie’s new run.
When I first saw the Dogloo, it looked really impressive there on the concrete slab. Being that my dad and stepmom live in South Louisiana, the weather there can be quite brutal and I wondered if this doghouse would be ventilated enough or if she would be suffocating if she would hide inside to avoid direct sunshine.
These fears were pointless because there is a flap on the top back of the Dogloo that you can adjust to have ventilation. In addition, the Dogloo II is also made of a foam type of material and not plastic. It was similar in thickness to some insulation that we had put on our home in the past so I felt confident that the unit would indeed be conducive to a more temperate temperature than a regular doghouse.
Overall, the doghouse just looked very attractive there in the back yard, and I wondered how it would hold up through time. I also wondered if Sweetie would even use a doghouse. After all, inside the home she had her own chairs to sleep in and she was very spoiled indeed!
Durability
Considering the rain, extreme heat, humidity, and yes, even cold, in South Louisiana, I was very impressed how the Dogloo II held up through time. During this time the outside of the unit did not seem to show a lot of undue wear and tear other than the bottom of the house for several years.
However, the outside roof and side of the house became discolored through this time because of the fact that mud would splatter on the sides of the dog run in heavy thunderstorms and debris from the nearby trees would also stick to the house and stain it. Dad would wash the house, but eventually this did not make a lot of difference through time.
Eventually the house became very ugly and unsightly and because of this my dad decided to get rid of the house even though it still had a few more years worth of use in it because it was becoming an eye sore to his backyard garden.
Size and Fit
In addition to the situation with the discoloration of the house, we found that Sweetie did not really fit in the house as well as we thought she would. Because of her long Whippet legs, she should have been in a much taller unit, even though that may have “swallowed” her in width and depth.
Through time, she had eventually grown tired of ducking her head to go inside and outside the door of her outside home and began to just lay on the concrete instead of going inside. In fact, it came to a point where even when it rained she would not go inside because of this “fit” issue. So, the doghouse eventually became “useless” to my dad and between the discoloring issue and the fact that Sweetie would not use the house anymore, he threw the house away.
Recommendation
Even though Sweetie did not like her Dogloo II, that’s not a reason for you to avoid this product for your pet. If your pet is of the correct size, the Dogloo II would probably be a great alternative to you rather than buying a wood dog house. From my past experiences with doghouses, I have discovered that most wooden doghouses will eventually wear out from the bottom if the house is not elevated from the ground. This is what caused me to consider a Dogloo doghouse for my pets in the past and why I believe my dad purchased this house for Sweetie.
And our presumptions about the Dogloo were correct. Throughout all of the time that this house was in use, the bottom of the house was still strong and did not break, shatter or rot out through time.
With really the main drawback of this product being the fact that it did discolor though time, I have really no problem at all giving a good recommendation to the Dogloo II doghouse for purchase. It is a good product, for a decent price (especially if you can get it on a clearance like my dad did), and I really believe most dogs will enjoy sleeping and using it.
Specifications
Size Dimensions: 47 X 39 X 29.75 inches
Doorway: 18 inches high
Vendor: Doskocil/Petmate
Type: Igloo
Warranty: 5 Years
Recommended:
Yes
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