How to Add Life & Scale with Animal Entourage in AutoCAD + (Free DWG Download)

While not structural, adding pets or animals to residential and landscape drawings evokes an emotional response from clients. It helps them picture their life in the home. Drawing a convincing dog or cat silhouette, however, is challenging. A library of well-drawn animal blocks allows you to add this “soft touch” instantly.

In landscape architecture, animal blocks serve a practical purpose as well: scale. A medium-sized dog helps visualize the height of a fence or the size of a planting bed in a way that a simple dimension line cannot.

Technical Guide: Best Practices for Animal Blocks

Use these blocks strategically:

• Sectional Scale: In site sections, placing a dog or bird can balance the composition. Ensure the scale is correct relative to the human figures to avoid a cartoonish look.
• Layer Management: Keep these blocks on an “Entourage” layer (e.g., L-ANNO-ENTR) that is set to “No Plot” for technical construction documents, but visible for presentation drawings.

For more on the role of representation in design, check out Architectural Drawing on Wikipedia.

Expand Your General Library

Animals belong in a landscape. Add context with:

• Plant Blocks (B3).
• Outdoor Furniture (C9).

Watch: Video Guide to Drafting Standards

Watch this video to learn more about drafting standards for architectural drawings and how to efficiently integrate these blocks and patterns into your daily workflow.

Download the Animal Starter Pack (Free)

To help you work faster, we have created a professional AutoCAD Animal & Pet Pack. It includes dogs, cats, and birds in plan and elevation. It is fully layered, purgable, and ready to use.

[Image: Preview of the Dog and Cat blocks]

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