How to Design a Dog Box for a Truck

A dog box is basically a portable dog house used to transport hunting dog breeds to the field. The box can be any size and generally has doors, locks and a way to attach the box to a vehicle. The doors can come off, when necessary, and dogs can also be tied to it.

Things You'll Need

• 1 Sheet of 1/2-inch plywood
• 40 feet of 1-by-3-inch pine strapping
• 1 2-by-5-foot roll of 3/4-inch galvanized fencing
• 1.25-inch galvanized decking screws
• 1 8-foot sheet of pressure-treated 1-by-2-inch wood
• 4 Hinges
• 2 Latches
• 2 Handles
• 2 Eye screws
• Shingles
• Staples
• Staple gun
• Nylon tow straps

Instructions

1. Cut from the plywood sheet front and back pieces measuring 42 by 24 inches, two sides measuring 24 by 24 inches and the middle divider measuring 24 by 24 inches. Sketch out doors on one of the 42 by 42 inch pieces of plywood and one window in the middle of each of the 24 by 24 inch pieces (including the divider to provide cross ventilation. Make the doors 6 inches wide by 8 inches tall and the windows 4 inches wide by 2 inches tall. Cut them out with the jigsaw.

2. Cut a galvanized screen for the vents 1 inch larger than the vent cutout. Place the screen over the windows and staple it securely to the plywood. Cover the edges of the screen with pieces of scrap plywood and secure the plywood in place with wood screws. This is to assure that the ragged edges of the screen do not cut dogs or humans.

3. Screw the edges of the back, front, bottom and roof together to form a rectangular box. Slide the 24-by-24-inch divider into the middle of the rectangular frame and then screw the other two 24-by-24-inch sides onto the ends of the box. You now should have a basic, completely enclosed box with two separate dog areas.

4. Attach the pretreated piece of lumber to the bottom with several long wood screws and attach the two heavy-duty handles near the top of each of the 24-by-24-inch sides. Screw in the eye-bolts a couple of inches from the bottom of dog box (near the floor) and attach a dog leash.

5. Apply shingles to the roof of the dog box in overlapping rows starting at the front edge of the box roof and working your way toward the rear. When the shingles have been secured with wood screws, lift the dog box into the bed of the truck, with the doors pointed toward the tailgate. Secure it in place by stretching the tow straps over top of the roof and connecting them to the truck bed.

Tips & Warnings

• For more room or to clean the box, the doors can come off by pulling the pins from the hinges.

References

• Informative Article on Building Dog Boxes

Resources

• Visit Lowe's Website to Price the Materials for This Project