At some point next year, I am going to have to bite the bullet, and have some major work done on my house, as the house was built without a weeping tile system, and the basement leaks. As the space between my house and the next is very narrow, this means part of the fence will have to be taken out temporarily, and I will need to build a dog run to keep my two dogs safe.

My dream would be to install a door from one of the bedrooms directly to a backyard deck, with access to a run and kennel close to the deck, so I don't have to wade through a couple of feet of snow in the winter time. This means the run probably will have to be relocated after the construction is finished.

I'm thinking of a 2-part run: 2 separate dog houses, with  gates that can be closed off, and a fenced-in common play area in front of the houses.

Can anyone give me some ideas as to what type/brand of fence to install, and what it's going to cost? Also, would you buy dog houses, or make your own? (No dog-gloos, I'm afraid, they're not insulated, and this is CANADA!)

With the dollar just about at par, or slightly above right now, is a good time to be thinking of this, as I doubt I'll find what I need here in Canada.

Neither one of my dogs has shown the desire to be an escape artist, though they do like to dig now and then.

One other question: if you have a neutered male, will he have to be separated from the female when she comes into season? I want to show Star, so I can't have her spayed just yet.

Thanks for your help!

I'm no expert on dog run building so I'll let someone else answer that one for you.  I can tell you that a neutered male can be totally obnoxious around a female in heat.  I keep mine separated because he'll pester so much that the female will turn on him.  I hate bloodshed because I hate cleaning it up.  There have been instances of neutered males tying with females but I haven't had that happen...yet.

Hello Sunsilver,

I am putting up a temp. kennel run now.  We are using the Cattle pannels they are 16' long and 5' high.  The runs will be 16' x 6'.  I might end up doing 16' x 16',. I like the bigger yards, my pups won't spend all the time in there, we have a huge 2 acre play yard, so they will be let out to play 4 times a day, and of course for training.  I have 8 young dogs that haven't sold yet and they have to be seperated that is why we are putting them up.  WE have 2 16'x20' up by the house and will bring 2 dogs up each day and have them be the dog of the day....

We will use cattle pannels for the sides and then have them on the ground so they can't dig out..these guys are excape artists.  I will build a dog house, I don't like crawling around on my hands and knees, so I like to have a lift up lid to clean out bedding ect.  I do keep DE in the dog houses so bugs/spiders dont' make homes in there.  I will also be putting up a field fence around the cattle pannels to keep them from poking their heads through.  They will not be side by side, but if I end up  keeping them there then I will plant shade bushes up next to the fences and have them about 4' apart.  this is a heavy tree area so if I am going to have permanite kennels this would be the spot.  I also have 8'x8' wood sheds that will go up if I decide to keep them there, and that will be the dog house.  In the 10 years I have had the dogs I have not had kennels, so this is new for me, but I have had large yards that I put up and take down with pups.  I am doing more boarding and training now, and less breeding.  Going to end up with a pet resort here, so I am putting up things that I don't have to take down.  WE are doing this today and tomarrow, so I will put up picks when we are done if you want.

Heather

http://www.bordersprings.com/houses.shtml   reasonably priced and almost as big as a XLG/500 series crate

as far as panels, there are pictures on the above site also sells"Priefert" kennels, IMO, the best for outdoor use as they are both galvinized & powdercoated.  Most others are either/or, but not both.

Also, check out http://www.powderriver.com/index.cfm?layout=main&categoriesID=23   they are about $400 cheaper, and their 10' panel comes with a vertical support beam in the center of the panel.  Their latches are better, same gage as preifert, same type of set up, same craftmanship, the only thing is Preifert has a superior finish (zinc plated and powdercoated).  Border Springs Supply sells both.