[Dailydrool] Dog-friendly homes

[Pamela McQuade]

Since our home was built c. 1920, I constantly think of things I'd like to change, to make a home more dog friendly. Drew and I have even discussed some of these.
 
When they design a home that vacuums itself, I will quickly give up my Dyson.
 
Other doggy accomodations in our new home need to include:
 
A one-floor home that will not tax basset backs--no stairs at all to cater to those senior hounds with arthritis or a back-challenged hound
Nearly level entry and exit from both front and back doors or an elegant ramp
A dog-paw-cleaning area just inside the back door
A dog-friendly bathing system, which could simply be a bathroom with an accessable shower--I can't lift a large dog into our tub
A fenced yard that includes an automatically closing gate, so no one can escape, or maybe a double gate, a scaled-down version of the ones they have in dog parks
A pergola just outside the back door, under which the hounds can do their business when it's raining; sturdy vines will have to cover the pergola, so the hounds never get damp in even the heaviest downpour; underfoot will have to be an easily cleaned flooring of some sort--maybe something that automatically removes and destroys poop and its stink (what a dream!)
An enclosed room or hallway off the kitchen, where we can put the dog food, so no one can get it--preferably one with an automatically closing door, so Holly can't get at the food when my back's turned
Many built-in high-up shelves where the cat can escape from nosy dogs
 
An up-and-coming architect of dog-friendly homes could get some good advice on the Drool. Such a person may have to invent a few things to make it happen, but imagine the possibilities!
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets, who are ready to move into their twenty-first-century home
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