Waiting

Border collies at rest?   Border Collies are a pretty active/attentive breed.....
Charles was standing in front of the fireplace and the team was waiting.....we weren't sure if they were expecting Santa since this was the night before Christmas.....
or perhaps a call to round up the squirrels in the yard.

Kate, Pie and Abby

I was describing my concept of an intervening dog room to a friend of mine and she indicated that someone high up at Google down the street from her had a similar set up. I think this is very cool and clearly I must be on to something!

Last time I wrote, I was thinking about where you could locate the dog transition space in your home. It could be your new front entry if you don't have a lot of people/type friends. If you are willing to separate your garage from your house, it could be a "breezeway" without the breeze. Or perhaps a greenhouse extension added on to the backdoor off of the kitchen. You could of course design a whole new house around it which when I mentioned the location conundrum to Abby she thought that was the best approach and wagged her tail wildly!

Mud Room

The next issue is the rain, mud and three dogs.  From a design perspective, there is nothing that works better than a mud room for a dog transition space.  Whether it is summer and you have taken the dogs to the beach and they are sandy or it’s winter and they are wet and/or covered with mud, it is a NECESSARY room and one that we don’t have.

What is the ideal design?  I was thinking something like a car wash that would have options…just walk in and…

1. Paw wash only. 

2. Paws and underbelly. 

3. Complete body wash and dry.

4. Complete body wash, dry and flea and tick application

Well, that may not be feasible, but what about a space that includes; dog food storage, dog feeding area, dog cleaning area, organized brushes, leashes etc.,  a nice bench for us to sit on and store our dog walking outfits and inclement weather duds and a dog door to the outside.

I sketched up a quick layout for a room, one thing that is really important is natural light, a non-scratchable door and windows that aren’t nose height! 

How about a stained concrete floor with a drain and a grate so that feet can be washed?  It would be a great idea to cove the concrete so that the whole area can be washed down if need be.   Coving the concrete works well for new construction, but in a remodel, you may want to use either linoleum or a nice-looking sheet vinyl.  There are some wonderful, sustainable flooring materials now and there are great laminates can be used for cabinet faces that will resist flying mud and drool.

So….this mud/transition room is a room and where does it go in the overall design plan?  Many of us live in a house that has a garage, maybe a laundry room and then the entry to the house…usually this is a dismal and uninspiring entry to the house.  Unfortunately, many homes are designed with the concept that the front entry is the “elegant space” and those who live in the home don’t ever experience it…they trudge through this unlit depressing space that doesn’t say you are “happy to be home”.   Well, back on topic….where does this room go?: Our Next Topic!

Integrated Dog House

Before:

 

 

After:

 



.....I was hoping for better accommodations.......

The Dog House

Life with dogs…..3 of them.  As architects, we first realized that despite the fact that we had one TV, most of our clients had multiples, and we needed to remember to ask…..so where do you watch TV?

Now we realize that many people are opting to have dogs, as we do, as family members…. ersatz children….so what happens to the 4 bedroom 3 ½ bath house?  Functionally speaking, it is a dinosaur, no more appropriate for a dog family than a cage.

Right now I am sitting in our kitchen, dogs wandering about aimlessly but with intent…they are border collies after all.  The doors are open, the freshly cleaned floor is now dusty and nose wipe is dotting the windows of the French doors.

How do we, should we, and can we address this ever-increasing design program….Does architecture need to go to the dogs?

We think so….we have treated our dogs as extras in our family  play for too long. 

So how do we think about design “gone to the dogs”…how do they live, what is our relationship with them and what would we like it to be?

Kate and Abby/blur

Kate looking in

When we first started our practice 25 years ago, before the crash of 80 something, we had an attorney client who lived with his wife, but equally loved his dogs. We designed a large barn that was really a place that he could get away with the dogs…spend the night if he wanted to, watch TV(yes another TV) and give them a bath.  A comfortable place to hang out and just be a dog and be a dog friend…

Several years ago, I was approached by a potential client whose husband had wolves. Wolves are different than dogs, not real cuddly and they have an unusual odor, kind of wild…. The design program (how we approach a design problem or challenge is addressed in a “program”) called for a separate hose-able space with bathing but also space for hanging out with the wolves…with a relationship to the rest of the house.  The wolves individually were fine but when the group got together they became a pack and both smelly and inappropriate behavior could occur.  So, in addition, we needed to look at individual space and relationships to the wolf house and the main house…

These are more unique design problems but most of us do have pets/furry children.

So how do we design to address the basics; family dog/dogs…family cat/cats? Next week we will discuss dogs in detail and share some thoughts and brainstorm about space…