Your dog is outside a lot and has a kennel as a retreat?
But it’s too cold in winter and you want to make your four-legged friend more comfortable?
Then you’ve come to the right place in this article, because here I’ll show you my three favorites in the insulated dog house category.
In more than 25 hours of research, I analyzed the products that are available on the market and included many product reviews.
Here I not only present my personal test winner, the Kerbel kennel 4-Seasons, but also two other models.
That was very important to me, because after all everyone has individual requirements and therefore a kennel that suits me perfectly is not automatically the best choice for you.
However, with my range of insulated kennels, I think everyone will find what they are looking for.
Have fun exploring.
My kennel favourites
Product Test: Dog House Insulated
Kerbl Kennel 4-Seasons
This insulated kennel is lined with styrofoam. This is located between the two walls and ensures a pleasantly heat-insulated interior. This means that the kennel, isolated from Kerbl, is a good place to stay for your darling both in summer and in winter.
A plastic curtain made of transparent slats provides additional protection against rain, snow and wind. So your four-legged friend always stays dry and warm in the hut.
Meanwhile, the height-adjustable plastic feet ensure a firm footing and prevent cold and damp floors.
The hut is easy to set up.
Sauerland doghouse insulated from solid wood
The Sauerland company provides a true luxury dog villa. This is made of solid pine from Finland and has a gabled roof.
There is also a covered terrace, so the dog can decide for himself whether he wants to lie inside the closed hut or outside under the canopy.
The door of the hut is provided with a slatted curtain.
The cabin is fully insulated on three sides. Both the walls, the floor and the roof are covered with a polystyrene layer that keeps your four-legged friend nice and warm.
The door on the rear wall ensures easy cleaning.
Outetntin wooden dog house
The insulated wooden kennel offers your dog protection even on rainy, windy days. This is ensured by the 1.5 cm thick walls made of robust pine wood and the insulation layer made of 2 cm thick polystyrene. The hut is clad with HDF.
In addition, the manufacturer supplies a free slat curtain to prevent drafts inside the hut.
You only need a screwdriver for assembly. The assembly is self-explanatory and takes a maximum of 15 minutes. After assembly, you can paint the hut with the paints provided.
Insulated kennel buying guide
Why do you need an insulated kennel?
Dogs love to spend time with their owners. They love to play, cuddle and just be together. However, dogs also have natural instincts.
This includes, for example, an intense urge to move. In order to be able to live this out, it is important that the dogs spend a lot of time outdoors. Short rounds of gassing to defecate are not enough.
However, it is often uncomfortable for the owners to spend so much time outside during the cold season. It can therefore make sense to let the dog run around alone in the fenced-off garden for a certain amount of time. Other four-legged friends, on the other hand, live completely outside, for example because they guard the property or simply because they like being outside because of their breed.
Basically, it is not a problem at all if dogs live temporarily or completely in the outdoor area. To ensure that the animals do not freeze in the cold winter months and have a warm, dry place to retreat to, it is important to create a cozy place to sleep and stay.
In this case, a kennel is particularly useful. There are now some doghouses on the market that are insulated and offer your four-legged friend a comfortable home.
What many don’t know is that insulated kennels also bring benefits in the summer. Because they also protect your dog from extreme heat and can thus prevent heat stroke.
Which criteria should you pay attention to when buying?
Anyone who buys a dog house insulated should consider a few criteria. Here are the main ones:
1. The right size
A kennel must offer your four-legged friend enough space to stand up, sit down and lie down comfortably. Even when stretched out, there should be enough space for your dog so that he doesn’t bump into everything.
A kennel that is too small is fatal, because either the dog does not use the kennel at all, or he squeezes himself into it in search of protection and gets tension from an uncomfortable position.
Therefore, you should rather choose a slightly larger kennel that offers your darling enough space. Although some dogs feel a bit lost in a XXL kennel that is too big, this can be easily remedied with blankets or pillows.
2. The right material
If you want to use a dog house outside, you have the choice between plastic dog houses or models made of wood. Fabric is not an option for outdoor use because the material is not weather-resistant.
Wood or plastic – which material is better? Of course, every material has advantages and disadvantages. Plastic is easier to clean, easier to transport and weather resistant. Over time, however, plastic loses its positive properties, becomes brittle and leaky and at some point no longer offers your dog enough protection.
Wood, on the other hand, is stronger, more durable and easier to repair. Wood is also visually much more appealing and can be individually adapted. At some point, however, wood will also have reached its expiry date. In addition, wood has to be varnished regularly to ward off rain and snow. Wood is also not as easy to clean as plastic.
Which material suits you better is a matter of taste. I personally prefer wood as it is more durable and I can also touch up and repair it myself.
3. The right insulation
A kennel must be insulated to keep out the cold and damp from the outside. In most cases, double walls are used, between which insulating material is drawn. Insulating materials can also be installed in the roof (also flat roof) and in the floor. Insulating materials are, for example, styrofoam or insulating wool.
The inner walls can also be covered. In this variant, foamed plastic or nylon covers are used. However, care must be taken to ensure that the dog does not eat into the insulation or tear it off the walls with its claws.
4. Other must-haves
Another thing that I can never do without in an insulated kennel is an entrance that is sheltered from the wind. Special blinds are available here. The dog can walk through these, but is still protected from the wind inside the hut.
Height-adjustable feet prevent floor moisture and cold and ensure that your darling does not cool down when lying down.
Keeping a dog in the cold season – what needs to be considered?
Animals are actually very hardy by nature, but human breeding has had a lot of influence, so some dog breeds handle the winter better than others.
Dogs that have very thin fur freeze quickly in winter. This effect is reinforced by the fact that the dogs are taken out of the warm house to go for a walk in the cold. The strong temperature differences can cause problems for the animals.
So if your dog has very thin fur and gets cold easily, I recommend you put a dog coat on him for walks. Finally, we put something on ourselves before we go out.
Dog breeds that are still relatively natural usually get along well with winter ones. If they are regularly outside during the transitional period, they develop a thick winter coat that protects them from the cold. These dogs can also usually sleep outside – in an isolated kennel – without getting cold.
A heat lamp is a handy tool for dogs that spend a lot of time outdoors in winter. This warms up the dog. It is important that the dog can decide for itself when it wants to lie under the lamp and when not.
In conclusion, it must be said that people have a different sensitivity to cold than animals. Even when we’re cold, a healthy, normal dog may not feel cold. After all, he brings his natural winter coat along with his winter fur. Therefore, pay attention to the signals that your dog gives you and do not immediately assume that you are your four-legged friend.
Conclusion: kennel insulation test
The Kerbl kennel 4-Seasons particularly impressed in the test with its double-walled structure with a styrofoam lining.
As a result, this kennel is particularly heat-insulating and offers the dog a comfortable retreat.
The slat curtain provides additional protection against wind and precipitation. It is practical that the dog can still decide for himself whether he wants to leave the hut or not.
The positive overall picture is complemented by height-adjustable plastic feet, which ensure a secure footing – even on uneven terrain – and prevent cold and moisture from below.