Outside kennels, what would you do different

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PoorMansWrangler
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Outside kennels, what would you do different

Post by PoorMansWrangler » Sat Jan 30, 2021 9:38 am

Hey guys, just picked up a set of 10x10 kennels for my outdoor kennels. While I know spring is a long way off, I’m trying to start planning the build now. Plan is to pour concrete, and separate the one 10x10 kennel into two 5x10 kennels. Dogs will be outside during the day while I’m at work, but will be inside at night. Plan on building houses for the dogs, and I already have the chain roofs as well as sunshades. For those with outside kennels, if you could change anything about your current set up, what would it be?

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Re: Outside kennels, what would you do different

Post by shags » Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:25 am

I don't have outside kennels, but I have about 60 years experience working in large boarding/training facilities.

Put tops on them. One kennel owner came out to find his pointer missing, and eventually found her up in the rafters above the indoor kennels. If she had been outside, she would have been gone.

Put a broomed finish on the floors. One owner thought a smooth slick finish would be easier to keep clean, but it horrible and dangerous to man, woman, and beast when it was wet or God forgive, frosty or a little icy. It was a tad bit cleaner to scrape poop, but no easier to hose down than the rough finish.

If you have males, think about a solid barrier between kennels, maybe 27-30 inches or so. Some of those boys have firehoses and can really mess up their own run plus the ones on either side of them. Some guys are dainty about where they go and they stay clean on their own, but get really nasty smelly from the neighbors. Yuck. Also, a little wall there can keep water buckets clean. Like I said, firehoses. More yuck.

birddogger2
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Re: Outside kennels, what would you do different

Post by birddogger2 » Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:26 am

My guys are in 5X10 enclosures and they do fine. I use Dogloo igloos which are fine as is, unless one of them decides to be a chewer. Then I install steel J channel around the opening with pop rivets and put some pointed sheet metal screws through the channel facing out. That tends to slow the chewing down to a crawl. I have a 3 ft. border of small river stone(1-1 1/2") around three sides of the kennel. The kennels are sloped to the back so that when I wash them out, everything runs out to the back onto dirt.

If I was to do anything different, I would run a water line and a freeze proof hydrant next to the kennel and an electric line for a 20 amp duplex receptacle. Not having to schlepp water in the winter or have hoses lying around that the dogs can gnaw on is helpful. Also, having an electric outlet right by the kennel can eliminate the need for extension cords and their chewing risks as well.

Some folks I know that have major league kennels have a trough along the low side and a collection box. The trough is wide enough to fit a flat shovel and the box is sized so that it can be easily shoveled out into a wheel barrow for disposal. I don't have that many dogs, so I never went there.

I did install one of those doggie dooley disposal systems in my previous place, years ago. It worked well for a few years and then...not so much. I never installed another. For my dogs I bag it up and put it in the trash.

RayG

One more thing I remembered... I slide female/female schedule 40 PVC "feet" on each of the pipes where they contact the ground. It keeps the metal off the ground and dry and really helps to slow down rust out of the panels. I have the panels made with shorter "legs" since the PVC fittings add about an inch to the bottom height.
Last edited by birddogger2 on Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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deseeker
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Re: Outside kennels, what would you do different

Post by deseeker » Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:47 am

Pour your concrete pad about a foot bigger(on all sides) then your kennels-- that way you can run your lawn mower tires on the concrete -- keeping grass and weeds from growing up in the fence. Also have bottom bar of the kennel elevated about 2", so you can wash the waste out under the fence.

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DonF
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Re: Outside kennels, what would you do different

Post by DonF » Sat Jan 30, 2021 11:01 am

Made my own kennel but don't use it a lot. Top is relly importnt. Arund here it needs something solid on it. Haven't done mine yet as I don't use them a lot but during the winter I end up with a lot of snow in them, yuk! Also had a dg years ago that would jump up on the dog house and over the top. Today I have a pup here, 11 mos, that san go over a 6' fence. He get a chain by the back door if it's nice out or the crate in the bedroom when I go to town. Roof over the thing would fix the whole deal.

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Re: Outside kennels, what would you do different

Post by slistoe » Sat Jan 30, 2021 11:17 am

deseeker wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:47 am
Pour your concrete pad about a foot bigger(on all sides) then your kennels-- that way you can run your lawn mower tires on the concrete -- keeping grass and weeds from growing up in the fence. Also have bottom bar of the kennel elevated about 2", so you can wash the waste out under the fence.
I really like those ideas.

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Re: Outside kennels, what would you do different

Post by ckirsch » Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:42 pm

My back yard is on a fairly steep slope, so I put a drain in the middle of my 10 x 10 pad and ran 2" pvc about fifty yards farther down the hill. I'm able to rinse out the kennels each day and they stay smelling much better, which is important since they are near my deck. It was a lot of work digging a foot-deep trench through rocky soil for the pipe, but it has saved me a lot of time and trouble since.

I also connected the kennels to the back of the garage, and used dog doors allowing the dogs to get into the insulated garage. Each has an insulated box inside the garage, with an approximate 2x3 interior run, so I can do all my feeding and watering inside. I put a workbench on top of the interior portion of the kennels which has been very functional over the years.

If I had it to do over again I'd make the exterior concrete pad a bit oversized (as others have suggested) and the idea about a urine barrier between kennels is a good one. Mine are always peeing through the wire into the other dogs' side. I'm home during the day so am able to let mine out six or seven times per day, and they take advantage of that to run down the hill into the ravine and clean themselves out. Saves me a lot of work.

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Re: Outside kennels, what would you do different

Post by slistoe » Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:50 pm

ckirsch wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:42 pm
and the idea about a urine barrier between kennels is a good one.
Definitely!! I used 4" cindercrete blocks 4 layers high (32"). I drilled anchor holes into the pad to insert 3/8" rebar and ran those up the cavities in the block to pin it to the pad. All blocks were filled solid with mortar to make enough structural integrity for big dogs aggresively jumping against them.

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