We bought this for our chickens to use inside a larger run. we have it above ground elevated on some cinder blocks with steps. After going through just about everything one does with raising chickens for almost ten years now we will NEVER have real wood in their coop again - does not matter how diligent you are about keeping things clean and properly maintained pests will eventually become a problem and mites, i.e. if not treated properly can be deadly to a chicken. Know EcoFlex also makes this in a 'chicken coop' version but the dog house worked perfectly for our existing set up. Would like to add that we live in a mile high desert climate and get insane monsoons with extremely high winds - I no longer worry about my girls because they have so much protection in this dog house. Putting it together was fairly simple but not always obvious as the panels were not labeled. I will definitely look to ecoFLEX for other outdoor animal houses/hutches in the future.