setting up a three or four dog kennel at my home - Page 1

 I have a storage shed Id like to covert it has several electric outlets ,any suggestion , should I keep it all cement inside and out , I planned a indoor and outdoor kennel with a doggie door , where should I order fencing i have a budget etc,Im on east coast near Baltimore MD , please send any pictures etc ,any advice etc dkingjr@comcast.net

If you have a tractor supply store they have some nice AKC kennels.  That is what I used for my outside runs.  These however are not very good if you have dogs who will bite and pull at the  kennel wire!

Vickie

www.PowerHausKennels.com

www.optionspluskennels.com/    Check these guys out for dog runs. nice runs and good prices.

I have about 1/3 acre, fully fenced-6 ft.

Just one problem, it's a hill-no flat land.

Sometimes I think it would be so wonderful to have a kennel. Especially if I get a second dog sometime in the future.

Is anyone else on a hill with kennels?

Michele and Pharaoh

(3)  Commercial, two part epoxy floor covering (expensive!) which was the same as that used in veterinary clinics, automotive establishments, etc.

(4)  1.5" legs on all kennels, to allow dog waste to pass below, then into the outside drain, which had sufficient slope to dump the waste quickly.  We had our septic tank emptied every 2 years, due to dog hair, and also bought a commercial (~$500.) RIGID/Kollman drain cleaner, which was rarely needed.

(5)  One puppy kennel, with a low panel to block the puppies from walking out. 

(6)  A fully enclosed screen room with variable speed fans mounted on the ceiling, and full fluorescent lighting.     The most unique feature of MASON Kennels is the fact that the chain link is laced to the frame at every intersection with solid 11 gauge wire.  There is no possibility that the dogs can tear the kennels apart.

MASON Kennels builds the finest kennels available

The above kennels are the kennels of Steve Leigh  in Tampa , Florida , when he was in the training business built by him and his wife, during the 21 years of dog training business.

Automatic waterers are installed in every kennel so no bowls or messes to make. Simple hose washer installed with lot of extra special features like pressure washers, and freeze protection. Slanted floors with trough in real to empty when needed., along with  walk way in the front of kennels.  Can be seen on his www.sl-prokeys.com

http://www.sl-prokeys.com/axs/ax.cgi?/wffcw/visual/slk4.jpg

I bought my indoor outdoor kennels from

www.petprokennels.com

The price and delivery service was really good.  The first two pictures are when they were first being built.  I should try and take some of them now. 

I also added the puppy area a few months ago.  It also goes into the garage, into a 5x10 kennel, bottom picture..  The garage now has a swamp cooler on the inside and misters on the outside.  My dogs don't stay in their kennels all the time, so the size works great for me.  The yard around the house and garage (kennels) is about 1/2 an acre fully fenced.  The garage also has a washer/dryer, hot water heater, and a full size bath tub built off the ground for bathing the dogs.

KIM

www.justk9s.com

Michele,

A friend of mine also lives on a hill, she has 3 runs,  she built a retaining wall, divided her hillside into three parts and on the flat area above the retaining wall, she was able to put three smaller kennels under a roof.  She can lock them up or leave them loose in their individual run.  It is kind of neat how she did it.  But I am sure it was a lot of work.  It looks like it could be steeper than your back yard,  her dogs were in great shape..  She actually had a rescue Hi bred wolf, that loved its run.

KIM

Nice looking kennels...  

BUT If you're on a budget like many, you might also look at a Farm store for something called "Stock panels" or "Hog panels" They are 20' long... the first are 4' high, the 2nd are only 3' high... My side yard which is 40' x 20' is done with these, and permagard fence (2"/4" squares) up to the 4' level.  For more secure kennels for individual dogs I'd use 2 of the Hog panels on top of each other. One benefit of them is that the cross wires are closer together @ the bottom thus better for pups.  When I was breeding I had individual runs for 1-2 dogs which were wooden framework and permagard fence available from most fencing/farm catalogs.  Gates I made myself, again with wooden frames, and hasp latches.  Not as pretty as comercial professional fencing by any means, but took a lot of knocks over the years... Til I had one Akita who was bound to pop the welds on the fence... LOL The Panels I mentioned earier are really really strong... as in I can stand on the cross wires without them bending (and I ain't no 100lb cutie) Living in the woods I felled Ceder trees or Ironwood for posts, and attatched the panels to them with rolled wire strands.

Someone asked about kennels on hills... one of the nicest kennels I ever saw was that of Karen Staudt-Cartabona who raises Borzoi in NJ.  Her runs ran 100'  up the side of a rather steep hillside.  They were 10-15' wide as well so there was no wear and tear on the plumbs of the dogs tail. Coops were @ top of the hill with shaded porch, gate and water were @ bottom.  Amazing to watch 10 full coat Borzoi race up and down the kennels, did wonders for keeping them in good physical condition also. 

I think it would be cool to have a hill like that.  Maybe not for training, but for a kennel.

Get someone to excavate.  It would be great for heat in the winter and coolness in the summer if most of the indoor building was covered by earth.  You would have to pour or brick the back and side walls and seal it.  For more light, you could put skylights in the roof. 

Hell, if I was only going to have 2 dogs like you said, I would put their outdoor runs off to the side and have those partially in the eart like the building.  Then, just the fronts require kennel material.  If you did it this way, you would only need the two outside walls and the back poured or bricked.  The other three walls of the building could be framed or poured.  You could put windows on the sides of the building to look into the outdoor runs from inside the building. 

You could even build a deck over the entire building.  Maybe overhange the deck 4-5 feet over the front for more shade and a snow cover over the walk in the winter.

Dont forget to run the H2o, elec., phone and cable.  The In-laws will appreciate it.