Dog Kennel

[looch]

In an effort to find more space for my tractor, I'm thinking about moving my dogs out of the barn and into their own kennel. The way it's set up right now, the dogs have half of the barn (small barn), about 14'X14' and a fenced in area of about 12'X28' accessible through a hole in the barn.

I've done a fair amount of Internet searching and found this site: http://www.sherlocks-country-store.co.uk/

This is exactly the type of thing that I would be interested in. Unfortunately, they're in England. The kennels look fairly easy to build, and those "Galvanized 10mm Vertical Bar Panels" look fantastic.

Anyone have any info on either:

1. Commercially available equivalents,

2. Plans for this type of housing,

3. Suppliers of these vertical bar panels

4. Personal experiences on what and what not to do?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Any good fencing company can help you out with kennel panels. Heavy (9 gauge) galvanized chain link is much cheaper and more common than the vertical bar panels. Two of my acquaintances welded up their own vertical bar panels because their wives liked the look but hated the price.

Do not use DIY-class (e.g. Home Depot) chain link to build dog runs for real dogs. I also do not recommend the bolt-together panels: welded panels are far stronger. One of my GSD's escaped from a kennel by battering a gate hinge until it broke. Then he waited for me by the front door of the house. Fortunately, no meter readers or other potential victims encountered him first.

My kennel currently has 4 indoor/outdoor runs (each 4x6 indoors, 8x6 outdoors) on concrete. This is easy to keep clean, and I have room for expansion. The outdoor runs are covered by a lean-to style roof. There is a perimeter fence no closer than 3 feet outside the kennel panels to prevent idiots from sticking their limbs into my kennels without climbing a fence. The perimeter area can only be entered from inside the building as there is no gate. The inside runs have solid walls to reduce fence fighting. Your needs may differ.

A friend of mine had a really nice run for his dog (a schutzhund titled GSD with excellent conformation), but he found that the neighborhood kids were letting the dog out to play with them during the day when he was at work. This resulted in the purchase of a padlock...

The folks at http://www.priefert.com/kennel.htm have a good reputation, but I mostly just included the link so you have something to look at. I bought my chain link kennel panels from http://www.cityfence.com/DogWatch/DogKennels/. They welded the frames in their own shop and delivered the assembled panels.

 

[looch]

Thanks Dave M. I sent for some info from this site: http://lglacp.com/toc.htm but haven't received any yet. I was kind of expecting to be shocked by pricing. The links you posted show what seems to be nice alternative to the veritcal bars.

Did you build or buy your dog houses? I have one that I built out of 3/8 ply, 2x4's and 1.5" styrofoam. I fastened down a plastic mat heater (made for piglets) in the bottom (gets mighty cold here, especially if you're a short-hair). It took me the better part of a weekend and looking back I think that the material cost plus the labour probably would justify a comercially made one, like the Lifesaver series.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I built a 12'x40' insulated room in one end of my 40'x100' pole barn, and installed PetSafe Ultimate Pet Doors between the indoor and outdoor sections of each run. I ran water, electric, and natural gas pipe for heat, but I haven't installed a heater in there yet. The exterior walls are 6-3/4" thick because of the posts so I ripped down 2x8's to reinforce the walls where the kennel panels attach. I gave each dog a wooden platform or an old VariKennel with no door (depending on what the dog likes and won't chew) to get them off the concrete floor for sleeping or resting.

Most of my dog training friends and acquaintances use a building with pet doors or guillotine doors. The people I do know who use dog houses generally prefer the commercially made units for the reasons you mentioned.

 

[looch]

Thanks for the info, Dave. I think I have enough to go on now.

 

[Bulldogger]

Check out this web site

http://www.masonco.com

I have used their products for about 15 years now and have been completely satisfied.

Bulldogger