Treated lumber safe for dog houses??

WJD · May 11, 2012

Am currently looking for a new Border Collie puppy (have ad in Classifieds) and am plamming construction of a dog house. While his sounds simple experience has taught me the hard way Border Collies have a weak immune system until they are about a year or so old.
I would like to use treated lumber but am afraid the chemicals used to treat the lumber will kill my (yet to be found) puppy.
Does anybody have any thoughts/knowledge on this?
Thanks,
Bill.

Anonymous-0 · May 11, 2012

(quoted from post at 03:55:45 05/11/12) Am currently looking for a new Border Collie puppy (have ad in Classifieds) and am plamming construction of a dog house. While his sounds simple experience has taught me the hard way Border Collies have a weak immune system until they are about a year or so old.
I would like to use treated lumber but am afraid the chemicals used to treat the lumber will kill my (yet to be found) puppy.
Does anybody have any thoughts/knowledge on this?
Thanks,
Bill.

Since you're still looking... Find you an Australian Sheperd and enjoy life.... As to the treated wood and immune system.... ????
Think it depends more on the breeder and the freaks they throw out to make a buck than the dog itself.... If you get a puppy with 10+ weeks and both shots, you shouldn't hava a problem.... Problems hit when folks throw a dog and dog togethjer, get a bunch of dogs, and unload them at 5 or 6 weeks...... if a dog or puppy chews something , it#s usually cause they are bored .... Keep em busy and you'll be fine.........

Just out of curiosity and not trying to start sumpin..... Why a border collie??

George Rausch · May 11, 2012

There are many different compounds to treat wood, but they have removed the arsenic, used to be in the old CCA chemical. The CCA/arsenic would leach out and kill all the grass under a picnic table if you built one and set it out in the back yard.
You should be able to get the manufacturer;s warning sheets from the lumber yard, for the wood you have in mind.
Then, take that and I bet your vet could advise you, once you know the exact chemical.

dej(Jed) · May 11, 2012

(quoted from post at 03:55:45 05/11/12) Am currently looking for a new Border Collie puppy (have ad in Classifieds) and am plamming construction of a dog house. While his sounds simple experience has taught me the hard way Border Collies have a weak immune system until they are about a year or so old.
I would like to use treated lumber but am afraid the chemicals used to treat the lumber will kill my (yet to be found) puppy.
Does anybody have any thoughts/knowledge on this?
Thanks,
Bill.

Heck they will tell you everything is safe to use. It is all part of the sales gimmic. A couple of years down the road then it becomes a "well we didn't know". I would use regular lumber and paint it. As soon as I hear people saying things are safe the alarm goes off. There are a lot of medical conditions in todays world that are the result of "SAFE" things.

36 Coupe · May 11, 2012

Our Border Collie lives in the house with us.He sleeps in our bedroom on his dog bed.Pups will chew on wood so treated wood is a bad idea.Hes very protective of us and the house and couldnt do this if he was out in a dog house.

Fergienewbee · May 11, 2012

Just to be on the safe side, I wouldn't use treated lumber. Better safe than sorry. Who ever heard of dogs getting cancer 40 years ago?

Larry

36 Coupe · May 11, 2012

Border Collie is the smartest dog. One from Germany knows 75 words.Isnt the Australian Shepherd a cross between the Border Collie and the Dingo.My Border Collie knows many words,if you spell them he knows just what you mean.

John T · May 11, 2012

Noooooooooooooo that asbestos or DDT or smoking etc etc wont hurt you as was told to people for years so I wouldnt bet my life on being told NO PROBLEM, ITS SAFE IT WONT HURT YOU LOL

John T

WJD · May 11, 2012

Responding to Dave2, I have owned border collies on and off for 30+ years. They are very smart and easy to train. They are very friendly and really want to be a member of your family requiring lots of attention.
Border Collies also mind very well, if they understand a command they will do it. You never have to punish them (really any dog) all you have to do is scold them.

Anonymous-0 · May 11, 2012

You have to remember what they were bred for and that is working in the field, not a domestic rug rat. Give the treated timber a miss, I do think it is being phased out anyway because of the compounds used.

Ralph Bauer · May 11, 2012

Or diabetes...!!

Ralph Bauer · May 11, 2012

After reading all the replies, here are my 2 cents worth: I would not use treated lumber for the already mentioned reasons. If you wish to go through all the effort building a wooden house, I would try to paint it with"green paints" that use all natural ingredient. Are they 100 safe? Most likely not but most like the safest stuff you can get! I do like the idea to find a place for your new dog in the garage, hallway, or laundry room, etc......
Beware of wild creatures such as bobcats (while he is still small), coyotes, puma, mountain lions, wild dogs or whatever else might roam your "neighborhoods" ..... did I mention cars on the road?

M Nut · May 11, 2012

Could you buy a plastic or rubber made type? That's what I have, one for each of the two dogs, and they have held up well. Nothing to maintain, and spray them out with the hose every now and then to clean them up.

WJD · May 11, 2012

Thanks to everybody for their responses. Am going with regular wood and paint it. My border collies stay both indoors and outdoors. I don't like to leave dogs indoors when nobody is home, they get into too many things.
Hope I am able to find a puppy after all of this work. It is always like this, then two or three will turn uo for sale at once.

JRSutton · May 11, 2012

Build it right and keep it dry, it'll last longer than you.

No need for pressure treated unless you're sticking it in a damp/shady/muddy area where it might get covered in moss.

(though I'd use pressure treated where it touches the ground/cement blocks)

We have my father in law's old dog house. It's probably 30/40 years old now.

Strong as the day it was built. I can tell it wasn't pressure treated because it was obviously built from scrap wood.

It has a good shingled roof, and it's kept up off the ground, has a light coat of paint on the exterior wood.

Steve in VA · May 11, 2012

WJD, I don't know where you're located, but here is a link to the Border Collie Rescue that I support. My young dog is a rescue and has been a tremendous dog.
http://www.arcbcr.org/index.html

flyingace · May 11, 2012

I built our doghouse out of untreated 2X4s, cedar fencing for siding and roofing shingles. Seems to be holding up very well.

641Dave · May 11, 2012

Down here you pretty much have to keep a wooden, or any dog house up off the ground just to monitor and control the fire ants. Or that's what I do anyway.

As mentioned, just keep it up off the ground on bricks or blocks or something and it should last you a while.

Texasmark1 · May 11, 2012

John,

When I was a boy, riding my bicycle around the neighborhood, I lived in S. TX. and mosquitoes were a problem. So on a summer's night occasionally, the DDT trucks would run up and down the streets spraying this big cloud of DDT.

We used to get a big kick out of riding through it and I did it for years. Apparently it didn't hurt me I think, I think, I think, I think,,,,,,,,daaaaaa. Grin

Mark

Texasmark1 · May 11, 2012

I built my dog house out of wafer board, treated wood and corrugated sheet metal. The part of the house where the dog lives is wafer. Roof is beamed with treated 2x4's as is the frame of the house and the covered porch I built. Roof and siding are tin. The exterior floor is 5/8" x 6" treated decking. Had it for at least 10 years. Haven't lost any dogs to it that I know of.

Mark

El Toro · May 11, 2012

I wouldn't since it will probably chew the wood.
We had to put coffee cans around the kitchen table legs and take out the good chairs. Hal

Red Mud · May 11, 2012

I used treated lumber when building our dog house, but the dog couldn't get to it inside or out. few years later we switched from direct tv to dish network, the guy put the dish antenna on the dog house, you can just imagine all the questions I was asked over that. My answer was always the same, dang right, he's a good dog and deserves it.

NEBeef · May 11, 2012

I've had Border Colllies and Aussies, haven't had a bad one of either yet. Got a pair of Aussie brothers right now. To be fair I haven't had a dog at all yet, they all got their strong points and their personalities, just like the kids, lol...

To stay OT, I'd maybe make the framing underneath the dog house out of PT, but I'd avoid it on the rest. As someone said, puppies chew and I can't help but think that chewing that stuff would not be a good thing.

Ken Macfarlane · May 11, 2012

The new treated lumber doesn't have arsenic, supposed to be safe for kids playing on it as a deck, I'd guess a dog is ok.

Anonymous-0 · May 11, 2012

(quoted from post at 05:51:42 05/11/12) Responding to Dave2, I have owned border collies on and off for 30+ years. They are very smart and easy to train. They are very friendly and really want to be a member of your family requiring lots of attention.
Border Collies also mind very well, if they understand a command they will do it. You never have to punish them (really any dog) all you have to do is scold them.

Whatever works for you..... I remember a couple as a kid growing up that were super dogs.... FF and most of the ones you see around here are bordering on insanity.... Think it's because they are so smart and and try to be part of thier family that they take on the traits of the people..... and the people were always worse than the dogs.........

mkirsch · May 11, 2012

(quoted from post at 06:11:24 05/11/12) Or diabetes...!!

Oh heck, dogs have been dying of cancer and diabetes as long as humans...

We just didn't DIAGNOSE it or TREAT it. If the dog got sick and didn't get better after a few days, you put it down.

The vet served three functions:
1. Sterilization
2. Vaccination
3. Euthanization

Now we have cancer scans for pets, and surgery, chemo or radiation to treat the tumors... You put the pet on insulin if it has diabetes. Crazy.

Treated lumber safe for dog houses??

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