Kennel Surfaces??? - Page 1

Hey, just wondering what surfaces you all recommend for flooring in a kennel.  I'm fairly new here, but never heard mention of anything.  I know dirt would be the cheapest and I would think the easiest on a dogs joints, but then you have the maintance and upkeep side of it that makes me wonder if most everyone uses concrete.  Let me know.

Trex

concrete is the easiest to maintain, keep clean and disinfect between dogs.  If you use concrete make sure it's smoothed out before it's dried, and then sealed.  Rough or brushed concrete is less slippery but much more difficult to clean/dry and also very hard on the dogs feet if they are active in their kennel at all.  I have one roughed-out concrete kennel and any dog who is active in there is foot-sore and pads worn by the end of the day.  I don't use it often.

Dirt is dirty and impossible to clean.  Sawdust over dirt is better but you have to constantly replenish the sawdust/shavings or they become dirt.  If you're worried about the concrete being hard on joints put rubber stall mats down over the concrete, they are relatively easy to clean though once in a while you have to lift and clean under them, and they are very very heavy, difficult to lift.

molly

I used to have both pea gravel and cement block runs. There was good and bad about both. I felt the pea gravel was better for the dogs' feet and pasterns and it toughened up the pads. They were easy to clean  and disinfect too. Most of my dogs were diggers, so it was hard to keep those kennels looking nice and keeping them stoned - the runs, not the dogs  - was on-going.  A few times I came home from work to find that a dog had dug out and was sitting on the front porch. I also had a few rock eaters and they loved to eat pea gravel. Fortunately none of mine ever suffered any blockages from doing that and when they had their hips xrayed it was not unusual to see colons full of gravel.

The cement was easy to clean and disinfect too but I found it was harder on the dogs' elbows and other pressure points. I used wooden pallets topped with masonite for resting benchs, but not all dogs used them and that resulted in sore spots and callouses on some. Also dogs on cement are prone to urine stains on their legs, but you would probably not notice that on a GSD.  IMO the very best thing about cement is that they can't dig out. I used cement patio blocks, but can see that Molly's idea of  poured and sealed concrete would be a lot better idea. There were cracks between the blocks where urine could run and it didn't smell all that great during the summer regardless of how much it was disinfected.

Ditto with Molly -  Concrete, sealed.  To add to that, I would recommend the following: Add automatic waterers or place water buckets at the BACK of the kennels, away from the front doors, and make sure that when you pour the concrete there is a slight slope to the BACK, away from the door as well.  This will allow for better drainage, drier kennels, and you won't get slimed as bad when you go out there.  Make sure (like Molly said) there is a very light brush texture if any at all (not roiugh enough to make the paws raw and sore, and not slick enough to have the dog/s slip-sliding around and injuring themselves) and seal it. 

Thanks for the thoughts!

I have always had at least a couple of pea gravel exercise runs, but unlike the nice, clean, shiny pea gravel in CA, largely granite and high silicate stone from rivers draining the Sierra Nevada mountains, the pea gravel I get here in my area is porous and dirty, never clean no matter how many times you try to wash the dust away or let it be rained on. It is also abrasive and makes callouses on elbows, hocks, etc. The dust gets in the dogs' eyes so they can become infected, and when it gets wet it creates its own mud.

I like light-brush concrete, sloped to drain, with either rubber horse stall mats or resting benches for the dog to lay on, but I also keep a couple of indoor kennels with thick pine shavings (not saw dust) over either rubber mats or concrete for dogs with sensitive skin (that abrades easily) and little puppies. The shavings are expensive at $6.50 a bale, half a bale a day, but light and easy to clean. The mats DO weigh a tons. I need help to lift them up for cleaning underneath, but they are indestructible and easy to sanitize, not too slippery but not abrasive, easy on feet. I've had mine for 20 years.

Dirt is, as Molly said: DIRTY... and becomes mud when wet. One tipped bucket and the dog is filthy gray whether it started out black and red or not, kennel full of freshly dug holes.

Good luck!

SS

You see, I'm looking for something halfway temp I guess.  I don't have the money right now to do the whole concrete thing, we're in the middle of building our house.  I just need one spot, so tell me if this would work.  My kennel size will either be 10x10 or 10x20.  I've found some of the rubber horse stall mats you've mentioned and they are 12x12.  Would that work if They were place on "dirt", however the mat will run past the actual kennel size.

Its fine if the mats are larger than the kennel, preferable in fact. No digging out! The mats are very heavy, no problem or damgae setting kennel panels on them. They do make 4 x 6' mats, so you can arrange them to suit almost any standard kennel format. They're so heavy they rarely shift.

SS

Thank you Shelley