We are wanting to build a nice dog kennel. Mainly for a German Shepard, but we also have a Siberian Husky so we are thinking of a 2 dog run. I grew up with dogs & know we, humans, often have good intentions that go wrong. We live in CT so do have winters. Now, my main concern is drainage & being able to clean/sanitize it easily & protection from the elements along with the obvious, escape proof.

I am thinking along the lines of using nice insulated dog houses of the appropriate size (not too big so their body heat keeps them warm). My husband actually wants to put a roof over the whole enclosure & heat it. A) That will be expensive & B) These types of dogs are hearty dogs that don't need an elaborate heated house to stay comfy. Could actually cause more harm with a heated environment. Also, they stay inside with us at night. We do not keep our house very warm in the winter at all. Usually have the temp set at 63 & we don't have the vents open in the bedroom upstairs.

Any tips/advise? We do have cement slab right in a corner of the yard against the house that would have 2 walls blocking wind but how would the peeing situation work? Or we have plenty of yard area that could make drainage. Any pics of examples would be appreciated.

We would like to be able to keep them in it at most 8 hours when we are at work & our entire, large yard has a privacy fence all around it.

a lot of states are passing laws you cannot leave dogs outside in cold weather i know ma just north of you did

Even with shelter?

Magic Horse

I have Siberians. X Large dog igloos are fine. I have a 12"x20' concrete slab, with a roof(tin) over the pad. I have two individual runs for 3 Siberians 15'x50' ach, with 6' high high quality welded wire fencing using 3"-4" round pressure treated posts. Intead of electric fencing, I used 16'x4' cattle panels cut and placed at the inside bottom of the fence to prevent digging out.

Use the cattle panels instead of welded wire.

This summer, I redid all of my kennel fencing and enlarged it, in addition to the 2 runs, I made a larger lot area , same 6' high welded wire, posts, 150'x 75' dimensions. I did not place any wire at the bottom of the large lot, because they will not stay in that lot for extended "digging" periods.

Huskies, as you noted, do not like heated areas.
I also have current going to the concrete pad to run fans for them during the summer. However, my Siberians do not come inside our house.

My new fencing, materials wise cost me about $1,100, sans labor.

The large lot , if you have space is a welcome feature, for those times you can't walk your dogs.

Email me if you have ant questions.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sunset_Va,

They have space heaters for dog kennels that you screw to the floor or wall and they won't burn your dogs.

I bought one and installed it in a custom built dog house that came with the dogs. The house is relatively small, 48" by 20" and the roof just lifts off to give me access.

But as we got to know them and the winters kept getting colder, we let them sleep in the garage with a space heater but we felt sorry for them knowing it was still cold. Then we moved them inside the house just on the first floor with a fence around them. Finally, I just bought them individual kennels and let them sleep with us in the master bedroom.

Only a couple of times did they wake us at night up by clanging on the door because they needed to go to the bathroom.

quote:

Originally posted by MagicHorse:
Even with shelter?

I bring my Shiba Inu's and Beagles inside to our basement anytime the temps, day or nighr get below 15°, or the wind chill gets drastic.

Useless for my Siberians, as even in our moderate warmth basement, they pant being too hot, and want out.

In Fairbanks, a dog house with a lightbulb was acceptable. Big dogs that did well in the cold though.

My dodgs are my kids. They sleep in the house with me. Have two pugs and they are on the bed with me even thought there legs are too short to get up by themselves. In the past we had two Samoyeds.

They were rather large, 125 and 75 lbs. They slept on the bed too! I think the garage would be unthinkable. dogs are part of the family.

I we kept our Pugs outside they would die.....

Mine sleeps with me too.

Our dogs sleep in the bedroom, on the bed, with us too. One reason the bedrooms are so cold. The kennel will be used on the rare occasions that my husband & I both have to work that day & the trainer can't take them for the day. Doesn't happen often, but we'd rather have a save option where they can be outside. They love being outside. Like today, we both had to work & it was 55 degrees, no wind, & nice & sunny. They will not be neglected out in harsh elements. We even keep the air conditioners on just for them in the summer. I grew up without A/C so it's definitely not because I need it.

Sunset_VA, how do you clean/santize the 12X20 concrete slab? Just water hose? Some sort of pressure sprayer? How do you clean it in the winter? Our concrete slab is probably 20X40. Can you post a pic? Thanks

The pad or run needs to be in full sunshine for health reasons. Surface of pad should not be rough (which would hold parasite eggs, urine, etc.) Seal pad if possible. The pad needs to be sloped to help with cleaning with pressurized water and squeegy. The pad needs to run off into a sloped drainage "canal" or trough, so that the offal can be easily scooped out with a shovel after washing down with a water hose.

Fence paneling should not go completely to the pad but stand off and be above the pad a few inches to allow for the offal to be washed off the pad underneath the bottom of the panel. Needs to be designed to keep the pad dry at all times after cleaning.

Pad needs to be as large and long as possible and location should give dogs a view of the door of your house. If large is not possible, then long is necessary so that the dogs may defecate as far from their nest as possible.

Top of run should be covered with wire so that your dogs will not climb out, if they should be climbers.

Nest should be a room within a room so that draft is reduced as much as possible and heat retention is greatest. Dogs love yellow straw for nesting material.

Feed and water bowls should be mounted off the ground and attached firmly to the sides of the kennel or mounted upon their own pillar.

Invest in bark collars.

quote:

Originally posted by MagicHorse:
Sunset_VA, how do you clean/santize the 12X20 concrete slab? Just water hose? Some sort of pressure sprayer? How do you clean it in the winter? Our concrete slab is probably 20X40. Can you post a pic? Thanks

I will take some photos today.

In the spring/summer/fall I hose it off, as I have a water spigot next to the kennel. In the winter, just use either a broom or leaf blower.

I use cedar shavings in my dog igloos, they like it and its great bedding, but extremely messy, as it sticks ro their fur, as they get in and out of their igloos. More seems to be outside of the igloos than inside, a chore cleanup wise.

Any other kind of bedding gets chewed up.

Dogs do not urinate on the concrete, but do their pooping and peeing in the individual runs. I clean the runs , poop patrol once or twice a week, more in the summer.

Your pad is a great size. I would suggest instead of building a shed, you purchase one of the "prefabricated" garage sheds, I have seen many of those used as dog shelters, and if you desire, you can add siding on it to block wind. But Siberians do not like to be closed in.

Our GSD is inside at night, another level of security and she’d undoubtedly bark from time-to-time and that wouldn’t be good either. We have a fenced area behind the house and a covered “patio” for shade and shelter.

I built a kennel for our GSP when we lived in W CO. Leveled, sand base, 12”x12” red cement pavers. Fill the spaces between with sand. Chain link kennel kit, I believe ours was 5’x10’ and 6’ high. Covered in warm weather months with a black nylon screen for shade. A Dogloo for shelter, placed about 2/3 of the way back from the front gate. She very quickly used the remaining space behind the Dogloo for her toilet.

How close are your neighbors?

Our neighbors ( we are on very good terms with...) built one and the smell from the urine became very bad in the 80-100 degree summer heat. They would spray it down and try to maintain the area but it became an issue.

Eventually they installed an invisible fence and that issue has gone away as the dog walked their whole yard to do his business.

Something to consider - his waste will be concentrated and need regular sanitation.

-------------------------------------------------------

Magic Horse
As you requested, I took some photos of my kennel today. I have been very sick the past 3 weeks, and have not kept the kennel as tidy as usual ,my wife had hand surgery, and can't help.

Please keep in mind, this is not a professional kennel. My old kennel wire had gotten so frail, my dogs could have escaped easily, I had intended to do this last sumer , but got sidetracked , taking in a decreased friends dogs.

First photo , is the front of the main 2 runs.



My self latching setup on the gates, gates have springs to close gates to prevent dogs bolting out. Also locked, do not scrimp on the hardware, buy heavy duty latches, hinges.



Hope this gives you some ideas.
Sorry for the oversized photos y'all.

Thank you for the pics. I like the idea of making the doors so they will spring back. I wouldn't have thought of that on my own. Neighbors are not an issue. (Other than our 1 neighbor is creepy, but we have a huge plot of land so are not close together.) Our 2 huskies are not barkers & the German Shephard only barks when something is amiss. Thanks all for the info.

quote:

Originally posted by MagicHorse:
Thank you for the pics. I like the idea of making the doors so they will spring back. I wouldn't have thought of that on my own. Neighbors are not an issue. (Other than our 1 neighbor is creepy, but we have a huge plot of land so are not close together.) Our 2 huskies are not barkers & the German Shephard only barks when something is amiss. Thanks all for the info.

Haha, you are very lucky if your Siberians have not tried to escape. 2 of mine, before I started using the return springs, would try bolting out if I left my guard down, and turned my back.

As for locking my kennels, many times, local people have pulled into my driveway, and fooling with my dogs without asking me. The locks are to prevent anyone from letting them out accidently or intentionally.

I tell those people not to come back.

And I do not want my dogs stolen.