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Dog Kennel Design Ideas

186K views 44 replies 24 participants last post by  floorers 
#1 ·
Just bought our house of a lifetime on 24 acres, pond site, 8 acre pasture (will be planting food plots for hunting/training) and a barn. I have got to build a 4 to 5 dog kennel for the hounds. Looking for good ideas and some don't do's as well. Pictures would help.

FYI: Jumped 3 bucks out of the front yard yesterday morning. One giant 10, a good 8 and a small buck. All were still in velvet.
 
#30 · (Edited by Moderator)
We used Options Plus Platinum Series. The wire openings is small on the bottom and gets bigger as the kennel goes up. This takes the worry out of a small pup or a foot getting caught in the larger openings. I would not go with the average weaved mesh wire sold at most places as it sags over time and the dogs can get nails or hair pulled on them.

There are several different types of doors and how they open. We have all 3. In tight spots you can use the door that swings outward and inward. I think this might be there newer model. There is also the sliding door that rolls open to the side. It works fine in our whelping room but not as well in the main kennel because dirt and sand gets caught up in the rollers. Our whelping room is a room between the garage and the main house so it stays free of sand. Most of our doors open outward which is the older style. They are easiest to work with but if not shut right away, the dogs bang into them when you are letting them out.

There are also several different latches. Our dogs can all open the newer flush lock. They are lockable but unless we lock them every time they will get out. Our Boogie female can unlock any of the locks and she will go around letting all the dogs out except one dominating female she doesn't really care for.

The thing I don't like, is the baked on paint does chip off where plain galvanized may hold up better. The best thing is the company is wonderful to work with and gives superb service. I would have to rate the company 100+ in the service department. They quickly replaced or corrected any problems we had when shipping that amount of pens
 
#31 ·
Here is mine before I had it finished,nothing fancy. I'm going to put a 12 X 16 storage building on the north end before winter. It will also have flood lights overhead. Six 5X10 runs with room for as many as I need but planning on adding two more this fall. Barrel are hanging for easy cleaning under them.
 
#34 · (Edited by Moderator)
Perfect timing for this thread. Fixing to start new kennels myself. Here's my two cents. I've worked at, had, and built most every kind of kennels setup. I've found that all the money it took for me to actually build kennels, I should have just bought what I wanted. Mason kennels are the best made. That is not an opinion that's a fact. They make everything from plain jane to very nice. Most of the good points of building kennels have been covered so I won't repeat. Concrete block or CMU makes a very nice divider but there are definitely some down falls. If you don't keep the block and especially the mortar sealed well, and I mean very well the mortar will freeze and crack out when the dog pees or you wash it in the winter.

Also if the metal above it is not painted really well then the rust runs down on the block and makes it look old after a year or two. My new kennels will be 4 X 8 outside and 4 X 4 inside with a door that you can use to lock them in or out. Which is very nice on the cold nights. The PVC drain works well except when your water pressure is high it's pretty easy to wash a turd right over it. My trough is 12 inches wide and 8 inches deep. Works good with a square point shovel if need be. Make sure the roof is high of the top of the runs to maximize air flow. If the roof is too low you won't get as much breeze.
 
#35 · (Edited by Moderator)
I am new here and have appreciated all the comments about kennels, but do have a question. we converted a small garage in to our kennel with inside kennels each with their own dog door leading out. Outside we poured a large slab, 21x41 and now I am having problems with drainage. There are low spots on the slab, but not that big of an issue, as I can use a squeegee to get the water off. The biggest problem is no drainage around the outside of the slab. we had talked about French drains poured at the same time as the slab but it didn't get done.

So now I have water standing around the outside edge of the slab. I pick up all the solids, but pups seem to run through it and them when I wash off there is always remnants left over that goes off the edge of the slab. so of course now I am having trouble with flies and odor. I have been using bleach on the ground but it is not working. is there a way to add some sort of drainage system around the perimeter of the slab that can be used as a drain? I think we need to put in a dry well but not sure if adding a drain will help and then not cause problems in the winter. Our soil is a mix of clay sand and dirt. I do have gravel in this are but it seems to make it worse

I also am having a heck of a time cleaning this in the winter when we have heavy snow. it is smooth finished, which is very slick, and I can't use water on it as it freezes. Please any suggestions appreciated
 
#36 ·
My setup

Building Farm Barn House Farmhouse
Furniture Table Room Wood Plant
Cage Kennel Animal shelter Canidae Dog


Ten indoor/outdoor built inside a Morton Building. I would panel the outside if I was to do it over again with the same plastic panel I put in the inside. I have had to replace some metal sheets from urine stains.
 
#37 ·
I have a six run kennel. 10 x 5 kennels outside on cement and igloo dog houses inside. Nose doors. I have a metal roof over the kennels. I did not put in a drain system but what I did was dig a trench 1.5 feet wide and a foot deep all around the cement. I then put in 4 inches of sand and 8 inches of half to three quarter inch rock. I poured a cement curbing on the outside of the rock to hold it in. It works great. I wash the kennels out and it disappears in the rocks. I pick up solids if any in the kennels before I wash them out. I also use a Wysiwasher with chlorine tablets about twice a week. No smell, no flies.
 
#39 ·
We are getting ready to build a new kennel. My builder is concerned that the concrete blocks would let pee go under them. Have you had any issues with water and pee getting under the concrete blocks and retaining smell. They say the concrete blocks will allow water to pass thru.
 
#41 ·
Cut dog doors in your barn for indoor/outdoor runs. Cut or pour concrete for indoor drain channel. Pour outside kennels, and join with inside drain. I made my outside drain away from the barn and put inside drain on the barn wall. Put plastic wall panels on both sides of the barn to eliminate metal rusting from pee. Here are pics of mine. Five by five Priefert inside, and five by ten outside. I attached them to the barn on the outside, so three five by fives and two five by ten panels per run. Dogs come inside in the summer where I have a fan on them. I put a mister outside when it gets real hot but they don't lay in it. They may walk in and out to get cool. I have found that dogs don't want to be wet all day, even in the hot summer.
 

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#42 ·
https://mississippirottweilers.com/

Hey, I know this post is pretty old but it still seems very useful.. the only problem is I can not see the pictures that you posted.. it says "sorry this person moved or deleted this image.. I dont know if that I a mistake or not but can you repost? I understand if you can't or dont.. just thought I would ask as I am about to redo my kennels
 
#44 ·
If you're building kennels in the south, I strongly recommend you screen them in. Kissing bugs are drawn to CO2 from the dog's breath and light. I had mine custom built w/ fold up flaps at the bottom so I can spray them out every day.

Chagas is a rapidly growing problem. In Texas, many vets are reporting more cases than heartworm.
 
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