Kennel design - Page 2

SS--You GO girl!!

I have considered a pole building. Trouble is, they are hard to heat. Worked great in CA, where I had a 24' x 36' wooden pole building made of 1 1/4" ply, with 12'w x 8h sliders on either end and three stalls, each with 4'w x 8'h dutch doors to the outside and same size, half high wood/rest expanded metal sliders on the inside. I divided each stall into two 6 x 8 runs. They had thich horse mats on the floors. I had several VERY large 24' x 40+' ex runs outside for the daytime, mostly for the puppies, three 10 x 20's, and eight 8 x 8's. The tack room was remodeled into a feed/whelping room, climate controlled, with a separate dog door to a private run, old doctoer's office exam room counter and sink, small electric hot water heater, small fridge, and a fold-down bunk for whelping nights. I ran cable out for a little TV for long nights of whelp-watch. Very cosy. I had a show ring behind the barn, a small training field next to it, and the entire perimeter fenced with 1" x 12" x 6' solid wood, with a gate leading through the back yard from the street for delivering, loading dogs in the trailer, etc. The 12' breezeway allowed room for lawn equipt/implements, and/or the 4-dog trailer. There were solid fences here and there between blocks of runs, ex. areas and training/show fields to keep barking to a minimum... all on 1.10 acres, albeit flat land. Almost everything was in view of the back windows of the house. I once had 22 adults and 3 litters of pups there, uncrowded, and so quiet that only my immediate neighbors knew thee were more than 4 dogs there. County regs had no set limitations on number of dogs as long as they were well-taken care of and no one complained. It was a sweet set-up. I wish I had never left it! No way I could afford to go back now. CA property values went through the roof shortly after I sold that place. 20-20 hindsight, at its finest! Now I get to start all over again, more property, but most not flat without extensive grading, retaining walls, etc. Similar size house, but not as pretty and NO landscaping or hard-scaping. (read: BUTT-UGLY) and a floor plan that, except for only having one bathroom, would suit a family of five a lot better than it suits two people and a home business. I'd love to knock out half the walls, and probably will one day while hubby is at work. (Ever see "Fried Green Tomatoes?" LOL THAT'S Kathy Bates playing ME!) I will never get used to how HARD it is to do the same things I did for years in the Sacramento Valley here in PA in the winter. They grow 'em tough around here, that's for sure... But Shelley doesn't COME from here :((( and will never get used to the hardship, let alone appreciate and "Love" the 4 seasons. Argh! Sorry for venting. SS

http://www.kenneldesign.com/

a bathroom and a washer and dryer is also a nice addition to any kennel--also, the kennel that i worked at last year was an old hog house that had tenderfoot flooring- seemed to work out pretty good- just wash down the floor and it went into a pit underneath out to a lagoon. we also had large "tubs" that we used to flush out the entire kennel with a couple times a day

Getting there!

Posted by yellow rose:

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I just need to find a husband and a money tree and in Texas trees dont grow very fast......lol

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Now if you'll excuse me I have to clean the Diet Pepsi from my screen and go buy a lottery ticket.

 

 I built a state-of-the art facility four years ago. I researched and researched and read everything I could as well as thought about it night and day while designing it. There are only a few things I would have changed if I had to do it over again.

Take a look if you like at my web site and on that the kennel information and if you have specific question, I would be happy to answer them. What you do should be very dependent on a variety of factors and not just taking it from what someone else did or did not do successfully. So for someone to really be able to help you, in my opinion, they need a lot of information from you first.

http://www.coloradogermanshephredrescue.net

Click on the link to Colorado K-9 Acres and go from there.

Good luck.

 

Hello, anybody ever build their kennel with an appartment or just onto the house? That would be my ideal. When i started at the ranch, i stayed in the barn appartment & i loved it. Of course i had to share the kitchen with lambs & calves, but that was nothing unusual for me. My dogs all sleep in the house anyway, so that would be simpler. I'm the appartment type too; my house is just where i sleep. i now live in my boss's old vet office & it is great. Her kennel house is right out the front door with a breezeway & if it had outside runs would be perfect. ~Krystin