Designing a New Kennel - Page 1

I am designing a new kennel and need ideas of what works and what does not for you and any photos you might have. I want to build a 35 X 10 foot building with three 10 wide X 12 long foot outside areas and climate controlled inside kennels. There will be a storage room 5 feet wide and a 3 foot wide path inside to clean. Outside over the kennels will be a roof.

ALL ideas and suggestions I will appreciate!!

Cat

Sounds like a very nice plan.  I wish I had more yard but I live in a subdivision with a limited yard because the pool takes up so much space.  It does give the dogs a great place to swim and exercise without the worry of an alligator getting them!!!!!  I built a dog room in my garage (10x12) with a crate for each dog.  It has a doggy door to the side yard.  It is under heat & air so they have a climate controled area but can go in and out during the day.  All the dogs are up at night either in the dog room or in the house.    

I have 3 GSD's, 4Beagles & 1 English Bulldog so I keep them seperated when I'm at work to make sure the little guys don't get trampled on.  :o) They all get along well except my retired female GSD and male beagle, I have to keep my eyes on them when they are together.  The GSD's play rough and it's not worth the risk of someone getting hurt and out of commission.  They are all SAR working dogs either cadaver or live find and get exercised and trained on a weekly basis.  Except for the English Bulldog of course.  :o)  I have the yard segregated into 3 different area's for the dogs.  The dogs come inside during the evening to spend time with us too.  Thank God I have access to a large fenced parcel of land near my house.  The dogs love to go there to run and romp around.  It had a small rubble pile until recently, which was great to work and train the dogs on.   

I have 3 dog pens (7x10) side by side that are covered with an aluminum roof.  Each pen has a dog house and cot to get off the concrete.  There is an ajoining play yard (10x20) with rubber mats (with holes to allow for water drainage) and rubber play yard mulch on top.  The play area has a shade cloth stretched over top to keep some of the sun/heat off the dogs and play equipment in the play yard.  The dogs are only out there during the day, when weather is foreast as being good, this doesn't always work out of course.  I alternate the dogs between the dog room/side yard & kennels so they are accustomed to the heat without being in it every single day to wear them out.  We don't get the pleasure of working only at night and the dogs have to be able to compensate working in the heat of the day if necessary.  

I have cats in one of the dog pens so the dogs are use to being the cats outside and not just in the house.  The dogs sometimes go in the cat pen or I let the cats out with them from time to time in the play area.  I don't want the dogs distracted by other animals while working.   Believe it or not one of my beagles is bird crazy, so I have a cockateil in the house.  

I wish my dog room and kennels were attached, it would make my life easier.  If I ever win the Lotto and buy property, I would love to build a house with a seperate wing for the dogs .  A section under heat & air that opens into seperate runs with a large play area off of the runs and a HUGE pool with a big wade area that allows a lot of room for the dogs to romp in the shallow water with a deep end for swimming.  

Teri

Wow I am surprise not more people have added in

Flooring are you thinking concrete? if so think heated if you live where it gets really cold. also use a rough broom before the concrete drys (never slick floor) this will give the dogs footing.  Also make sure you have enough slope so after washing it drains off. Which brings me to waste. Some places have to have a spetic put in just for the kennel (look in to that if you have not!  easier to put one in now then later. Each run should have a personal facet or like a Car wash with a hose over head for easy watering and washing (This will save your back and time) . Do your dogs get along or do they fight between the fence? if so then think about blocking half way up to stop this and save fencing. 

Actually you kennels indoors should be large enough to eat, sleep and drink  then they they should go out the doggie door to the out side run where they should run and crap. Not only will this save you clean up time but also give you more room

Might want to rethink you storage room  make it big enough for a sink and maybe a potty so you don't have to run to the house each time tracking stuff in the house or back in to the kennel. 

Also I heard of nothing for puppies I expect you will have litters, right? then you need a whelping area, maybe a play area for weaning?

As for out side runs think gravel or sand. I would personally dig it out first put sand down first then stone. I would not concrete the outside.

OK just some things to think about

EK

Thanks for the great ideas. I was thinking bigger runs and smaller kennels inside but now I can see the potty area does not need to be so large. I don't kennel my dogs all the time but when I am gone I need to have the options for safety reasons. The room in the kennel will be for cleaning, storage and I am considering a dog wash/shower at some point if I am able to put in a hot water heater. I can see how this will add up if I design the ultimate in convenience. A whelping room would be a nice option.

Teri, nice you have a pool! Never seen an aligator around here and hope never to either. Did you get your aluminum roof premade for your kennels or use sheeting and cut it to size?

EK, not sure about the flooring actually I get torn on the cement. I will never have that many dogs to clean up from and cement is hard on puppies and joints. I am considering having the inside finished with something commercial but not slick as you say and keeping the outside ground with stall shavings and scoop. Have you seen that done or is cement the definite way to go in your opinion.

Cat

i converted my barn to kennels, and it already had a concrete floor.  each run has at least one thick rubber stall mat ( can get at a farm store) and plenty of pine chips.  works well through all seasons.

Personally I don't like concrete (my husband is a concrete pumper!  go figure LOL)  but it has it place. Wood shavings are natural and good but will break down very quickly. After wards if you plan on moving your kennels your dirt will be rich!

Again out side I would use sand and stone due to sand is easy on the feet and easy pick up while letting the urine drain. While rock or pebbles are easy on the feet too tend to be messy if the puppies get the runs you can end up throwing away a lot of them. Great for older dogs thou.

I have seen shavings inside the kennels (like horses but can be a lot of work cleaning out stall/kennel) which tends to work well and are cheaper

If you are a "green person" then chips/shavings are the way to go. What ever is wasted can be put in a recycling bin and used in the lanscaping or garden while adding leaves and other yard waste.

There is good and bad in everything you just have to really think what is going to work best for you

EK

Hi EK,

I was actually looking at loafing sheds and horse shelters and thought that would be an excellent "base" for a dog kennel. Its open and has some air flow and would be fairly inexpensive to add runs. I would still need some climate control areas though.

I do like barn shavings and don't think its that difficult to clean up after the 3-5 dogs I am planning for. We live in the sand LOL, its desert here and so dirt and stone might be good. Do you know what happens to the pine/barn shavings when they get wet?

Cat

Hi Cat,

How are Seb and Sally?  Are you looking to get some more dogs?  I saw that you said "gsds" in the Taste of Wild thread and was a little shocked!  You going GSD on us?     Looking to breed a little?  Kennels are wonderful and anyone who "poo poo's" them obviously has never had any! 

I use pine shavings in my kennels and love them.  They are over top of a crushed limestone base.  The pine shavings act like a huge kitty litter box but for dogs.  Super easy to clean, easy to replenish, free from chemicals (check bag anyway!).  The dogs always smell nice too.  You can use some Cedar Shavings once in awhile and it repels fleas also.  Just don't use Cedar with tiny puppies.  The shavings can be a little dusty right out of the bag but I run a light mist of water over them after they are spread out.  Keeps the dust down.  They dry quickly too.

Hope that helps some!

Kelly