People love their pets, which is why the doggy daycare industry has been steadily growing over the years. If you have been thinking about opening a doggy daycare in your area, you might not be sure of what kind of building would be the best for your new business. A steel building is the
perfect choice for doggy daycares and grooming facilities because it is affordable, sustainable, and easy to customize. Steel buildings also do not require much maintenance to keep them staying upright, which can alone save your business money.
While you may think of a steel building as a warehouse or storage facility, there are many other uses for steel buildings than those; doggy daycares and kennels are one of those. Here, we will look at why you should consider a steel building for your doggy daycare.
Energy Efficient Building
Since you are designing your steel building for a doggy daycare, it can be designed with energy efficiency in mind. It is a common misconception that a steel building will naturally attract heat and warm up the building, which can be insufferable in the summer months. However, that is not true. If the building has proper insulation, windows, and doors, the temperature inside the building will be regulated, keeping the heat in during the winter and out during the summer. The insulation has the added benefit of adding some soundproofing to the structure; the dogs can bark as much as they like without disturbing the neighbors or making the building too loud if the dogs get overexcited.
You can add energy-efficient lighting to the building, and since you are customizing the building, you can add bigger windows and skylights to allow natural light to get in, so you do not have to have as many lights on during the day.
Steel is also a green building material. Steel’s recycling rate is approximately 90 percent, which makes it the most recycled product in the United States. No other building material has a life cycle like that.
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Easy to Maintain
One of the best things about steel buildings is that they are easy to maintain because they do not suffer from some of the weaknesses that plague wooden buildings. Since steel is not an organic material, it does not rot or mold as wood does, pests and rodents cannot enter the building, and you do not have to worry about mold. These buildings are virtually maintenance-free.
All-Season Space to Play
Dogs need plenty of space to run around and play, but depending on where you live, they may not be able to run around outside all year. With a steel building, you can design space for the dogs to play indoors when the weather does not permit them to play outside. You can get a building that offers 300 feet of column-free space to give the dogs plenty of room to play during the day. Climate controls will allow you to keep the building at a temperature that is comfortable for the dogs all year.
Ventilation
When you have a building full of animals, you need proper ventilation to maintain airflow and keep the air clean for humans and animals. By adding extra ventilation to the building, you will be able to ensure that the air quality in your building is comfortable. It will also help keep your daycare smelling great, which is important to pet parents; they do not want to leave their pup somewhere that has an odd smell to it, the dog could bring it home. Bad smells are also associated with cleanliness, and you do not want to give the impression that your doggy daycare is not clean or sanitary.
Durable
Steel is one of the strongest building materials in the world. A doggy daycare made from steel will be designed to withstand harsh weather; some steel buildings have even survived hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes.
Customizable Building
When you order a steel building, you can completely customize it. You will be able to design the perfect layout for your doggy daycare, ensuring that you will have enough space to meet the demands of the dogs. For example, you can section off play areas to keep certain dogs apart, add space for overnight boarding, space for grooming, a veterinary section, and whatever else you may need. You can also have moveable partitions instead of fixed walls to make your space even more customizable.
The aesthetic of a steel building is not for everyone, but there are plenty of other siding options for steel buildings. You can make the building look like it is made with wood, stucco, brick, and stone with ease, giving you the look you want, with the durability and reliability of steel.
Expandable
When you have a building made of wood, and you need to expand it, it can be difficult and expensive to do so. The great thing about steel buildings is that they are easy to expand. If your doggy daycare grows to the point where you need more space, this is something that is easy to do, without the headache that often comes with tacking on an addition to a wooden structure. Your business will not be interrupted by the construction of the addition either, so you will not lose business during the construction process. You can easily expand your doggy daycare to include grooming, training, and more.
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Lower Costs and Construction Timelines
Steel buildings cost significantly less than buildings made from traditional materials like wood, and they typically take less time to erect. Frequently, it is as much as 50 percent lower costs and reduced timelines.
Durable
Steel is one of the strongest building materials in the world. It is designed to handle a heavy snow load, and steel buildings have been known to stand up to hurricanes. They also can potentially stand up to earthquakes.
The durability of steel also means that the dogs in your care cannot chew a hole in the wall.
Steel is not a flammable material, so it is safe from any nearby fires. The fireproof properties of steel can also save you money on insurance.
Easy to Clean
Cleanliness is crucial to any facility that houses dogs. You do not want the place to smell, as that can lose you business, and it all needs to be sanitary for the health of both you and the pups in your care. Therefore, you are going to spend a lot of time cleaning. Steel is easy to wipe down, so your walls are safe, but you also need a floor that is simple to sanitize.
You cannot use wood for your flooring; it is outlawed in many states because it is hard to clean. Concrete and steel are the best options; you can have drains installed in the flooring, so everything is easy to wipe up or hose off, depending on the mess.
Prevents the Spread of Diseases
There are some diseases that dogs can catch at a kennel or a dog park, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, and keeping your kennel clean will help prevent this. Kennel Cough is one of the most common viruses for a dog to come home with. It is spread through contact with infected dogs and contaminated surfaces, as well as airborne droplets. Dog influenza is spread from contaminated surfaces and through respiratory secretions. Canine distemper is spread through respiratory secretions and air particles. Parvo, one of the deadliest viruses a dog can get, is spread through contaminated surfaces and contact with an infected dog.
There are vaccines for canine distemper, canine influenza, parvo, and kennel cough, but it is better safe than sorry with these diseases.
By keeping your doggy daycare clean, you can help prevent these illnesses and the parasites listed below from spreading between dogs. Using an inorganic floor like steel or concrete will also help since things cannot grow on them, which will help keep any diseases from spreading. Pet parents will be happy knowing that their pups are in good hands and will come home clean and healthy.
Prevents the Spread of Parasites
Fleas, ticks, and mange are common issues for many dogs, and they can transmit diseases on their own. While this is a risk in any social setting for dogs, they are even more common in an outdoor setting. Fleas love to hide in the grass and grab onto unsuspecting dogs. A clean facility can help prevent the spread of these parasites.
Since your doggy daycare is indoors, you also prevent dogs from getting sick from being around fertilizer and pesticides, which can also be harmful to dogs. Fungal infections are also a risk in an outdoor facility, and they can easily be picked up by a dog sniffing or eating contaminated soil.
Mosquitoes can spread heartworms, and while you cannot keep all mosquitoes out of any building, by having the dogs indoors, they will have a less likely chance of getting bit by a mosquito to transmit heartworms. Intestinal parasites are also common in an outdoor setting, through eating the stool of other dogs and licking contaminated soil. Since your building is not organic, the parasites cannot live in the soil after cleaning up the infected stool.
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Security
Unfortunately, dognapping happens often, especially if the dog is purebred or looks like it can fight well. When someone leaves their dog at your doggy daycare, they trust that you will keep their precious pup safe. It is easy to make your steel building secure to ensure that the dogs in your care do not come to harm or get stolen. You can add security functions to each entrance to the building to make it harder for someone to break in, which is important if you offer overnight boarding. The doors to your steel doggy daycare can be set with security codes; they can require you to buzz in people and more. You also need to have security features in place to make sure the dogs cannot escape when someone opens a door. A dog running away from your daycare is a risk to the pup’s life, and if word of the incident spreads, you can end up losing business. Keeping dogs safe is important, and with a steel building, you can design the building to do exactly that.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why steel buildings are the best option for a doggy daycare. You can completely customize the structure, it is easy to keep sanitary, it is sustainable, and it is much more affordable than a wooden building. Instead of buying an existing building with a prefabricated steel building, you can have a complete custom doggy daycare to meet every need for your business and the dogs left in your care.