Building A Kennel

[Beastmaster1980 40]

Hi, I'm after a bit of advice building a kennel for my two terriers. My 2 year old lad has developed an allergy so they have to go outside, one dog has been inside for 4 years the other is just a 4 month old pup. I won't be putting them out until end of March when it gets a bit milder but after that it will be permanent. I'm looking to build it myself out of brick rather than wood with a barred front so I'm after some ideas on what to build, dimensions for run, sleeping quarters etc and any tips, pictures of yours to get me started. I've not kennelled my dogs before so is there are any important factors I need to bear in mind please advise eg heating, lighting, bedding etc

[Britishbull24 131]

Drainage needs to be the first thing on your list pal. Build the kennel around your drainage and you won't go far wrong.

[Beastmaster1980 40]

Cheers pal, when I say kennel I mean pen/run as well as sleeping area. Would drainage grid be ok in middle of run area to jet wash waste away or better at front were door would be? Where can I get some designs from?

[deck 35]

do a search on here mate loads been written on the subject

[Guyso 57]

Get urself galvanise panels mate they last a life tym. Mine are 7x4 an 6fot high with a roof so no1 will break in2 them. Bit expensive but worth it

[MIK 4,756]

Heres a pic of mine that I built a few months ago before the roof ,sections and gates went up ...the thing with blocks its cold so all my living quarters is insulated on the floor and walls ...concrete base is on the slope with proper drainage system

[darencross 72]

Mik any more pics of ur pens finished im looking at building some like that in the new year thanks DC

[CorkyJohn 808]

I was thinking of building breezeblock runs & fabricating my own doors rather than buy the sections. Looks good Mik, I'd also like to see the finished job

[Tommy pepper 222]

Heres a pic of mine that I built a few months ago before the roof ,sections and gates went up ...the thing with blocks its cold so all my living quarters is insulated on the floor and walls ...concrete base is on the slope with proper drainage system

524683_716899481672265_118690078_n.jpg

if your gonna do it do it proper lol looks mint that mate

[Huan72 687]

As Mik has done, think of the slope and put the drains outside the run, when you hose down, hair and every thing else will be in the water and you want it away from the dogs. You will also need to lift the drain covers to clean the gutters. Think of the small drainage details as well, you want as few nooks and crannies as possible and no ledges between the area that you are hosing and the drain, otherwise you will have various small areas of standing water, which bacteria just loves Lighting will be required and heating, so think of the electrics, also consider security Visit some local kennels, see what they have done and take the best ideas for yourself. For electrics you will be better off using outdoor switches and think of the smaller details such as were is the hose gonna connect. You will find that you will develop a cleaning routine that becomes second nature but think of were your gonna store brushes/squeeges/ sponges, s**t shovel etc. Draw plans on paper first, play around on paper with ideas and you will save yourself a lot of time in the long run. For longevity buy the best that you can afford and when they are up and running don't skimp on the cleaning materials, you want something that's proven on canine diseases and has no negative effect on them. Trigene was pretty much the industry standard, I think its called Anistall now, been out the kennel cleaning game for a while now but good luck and I don't know if its just me, but I love the smell of a freshly cleaned kennel, once its in your blood, it never leaves you

[unlacedgecko 1,466]

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/260239-kennels/page-2

 

As far as I'm concerned, the above is THE thread when it comes to building kennels. P3d is the man in the know. That thread should be pinned. It is certainly a design I am copying for my own set up.

[MIK 4,756]

Sorry lads Ive no finished pics with me im in Singapore heading to O z but will try and explain what I done .

The reason I knocked my old kennel block down was it was north facing now it is south facing ....the far wall that the gate is leaning on has a drainage channel that runs into a soak away ....so in the morning its a case of pic up the shit and flush the kennel runs out with water that is gotten from a 40m gallon drum that is filled from the run off the roof via guttering ... there water dishes are of the ground on brackets attatched to the run sections .

Like I said all the living quarters are lined with 25mm kingspan then boarded out with 18mm cdx which is also used for the individual roofs that you can see in the last 3 kennels

I mounted wood across the lintel and have attatched a tarpollin flap across each entrance to keep any drafts out .

The kennels are divided by 2mtr x 2mtr galvanised sections with 1 mtr gate sections ...if you look at the pic to the right of the back wall there is also a wall 7 course high that runs right along the right hand side so the whole lot is surrounded by wall .the gate sections are 1 mtr away from the right hand side wall so I put up another gate that you have to go through to enter the kennels so you only have to lock one gate .

If you look at the back wall its sloped so I mounted 3x2 cls as roof beams and roofed it with 6.4 mtr box section roofing and finished off with flashing ....

All the external faceing walls were scratch coated with pvc water proof cement and will be pebble dashed the same as the house next year .

All in all it didn't cost that much when you compare some of the ready made kennel systems that I priced for a kennel with 6 runs they were around the 4k mark ...its a good solid kennel system that should last for years

[whitefeet4190 1,725]

Drainage needs to be the first thing on your list pal. Build the kennel around your drainage and you won't go far wrong.

That's a good starting point

[Rebel 833]

Here are pictures of my kennels that I built during the summer.

 

The kennel block is approx 12 foot by 12 foot, the sleeping quaters are approx. 4 foot by 4 foot, the outside runs are 5 foot long and I put a 3 foot outside yard. The outside yard is the same idea that Mik has above and I find it handy for cleaining out and feeding, etc..

 

The kennels are made from 4 inch concrete blocks, plastered inside and outside, profile cladding roof on the sleeping quarters, and I have a socket and light in each sleeping area, two outside lights on a sensor and a tap in the outside yard for running water.

 

I like Mik's set up above and good advice from Mik and Huan, when you build them you want to do it right, so that you will be happy with them and they do the job they were intended