Out door kennels? - Page 1

We're moving next month to a small farm in Washington state. I'm going to have a nice place to put up kennels (inside a building with cement floors). Want to put up some kennels for when I am at work for my two dogs (a Malinois and also a Hound mix). Any recommendations? Right now I'm looking at the 10x10x6 kennels which Lowes has for $229 each. Thank you in advance for any info.
 

I have found a few things out over the years with exterior kennels. The chain link wire holds up pretty good of the dogs can't rip it apart. Heavy gage wire, heavier that what Lowes carries, should do OK. Be prepared to reinforce the bottom, not enough wire ties holding the link to the bottom rail in most brands. Powder coating and cadmium coatings are temporary. Galvanized will last.

Mason kennels are much better, but more spendy too.

Thank you to both of you for the info! The Mason kennels look beautiful, but out of my price range. Also, this is only a temp. move (military). Don't want to set up anything that will be hard to ship.

PMWatch out of my price range too. Mine came from Lowes, but if my wife ever wins the lottery that's what I am getting. lol

Paul: Yeah I wish!! Sounds great! I would sleep in those myself! lol :-) How do you like your Lowes kennels? What size do you have?? Mine will be in a closed/locked building, so if they get out of the kennels, they will still be okay. Right now I use crates (I don't work right now and am at home) . When I do use the crates, neither dog has ever destroyed one. I plan to introduce them to the kennel runs slowly when we move. Ideas?

we've constructed ours from priefert kennel panels (5x10 or 5x20, http://www.priefert.com/ProductGroup/kennels-51/) with raised (horse) stall matt (6x4) flooring, indoor and outdoor. the panels easy to assemble and move and have held up very well (powder over galvanized welded wire, galvanized tubing) for both gsd's and catahoulas.

This is branching away from kennels, but here's an idea to just throw out there. The problem with my Mal is I just couldn't keep her in a kennel... She dug under it, so I prevented that, then she climbed out of it, so I put a roof on, then she started fighting the panels to the point where she made her nose bleed (she just wanted to be with all the other dogs!). I finally gave up and returned the $400 kennel I got from D&B and purchased a $250 wireless fence by Petsafe instead. It's sweet-- you just plug in the transmitter and it creates a circular perimeter that you can adjust the size of. No digging lines or anything like that. Just put the collar on the dog and bam! You're good. And from my understanding, the collar doesn't shock until it loses signal with the transmitter, meaning they can't burst past a barrier like the older versions of electric fences. The shock will increase until the dog returns to the designated area, but always gives a warning beep before it does. It also has programs that turns it off in case of a power failure so your dogs aren't getting shocked for no reason... It took all of 30 seconds for my Mal to figure out where the line was (they are wicked smart dogs), and since then we've been very happy with that alternative. I come home and she's actually semi worn out from playing all day, plus she gets to do her guard dog duties around the house (which makes her happy too-- they do love to have a job, that's for sure). It gave me a much more mellow dog in the long run because she has stimulation all day instead of being locked in a comparatively small kennel that just kept increasing her crazy energy until I got back.

The only downside is you have to keep purchasing the batteries every couple of months, and the collars, if broken, are expensive to replace (only one ever stopped for me, and I've had the system for over a year-- I'm pretty sure I know how to fix it though, I just went to the backup right away because I'm worried about the street nearby). I just liked it because it gave my Mal more freedom than a kennel could because it allowed me to make the area so much larger without purchasing a million expensive panels, but at the same time still kept her confined. I understand though that some dogs need to be kenneled, so this system definitely isn't for everyone, but just something to consider :) Also, you wouldn't have to worry about shipping those panels around either... The transmitter weighs a total of like 5 pounds, so its very transportable.

Best of luck! I'm sure your dogs will love having a farm to run around on!

@kneville: i had a BMC with similar issues and integrated the wireless fence into the inner kennel run perimeter (5x30) with similar success. sometimes it's more about keeping 'stuff' out than the dog in.

PMWatch

My are fine. I would watch to see if they fight the kennel to try to escape or if they accept that is where they are supposed to be.