Dog Kennel Construction Update
This Tuesday morning we finsihed the final preparations for the pouring of our 8 X 20 foot kennel pad adjacent to the barn. My father-in-law and my hunting buddy were on hand to help me finish the concrete. The cement truck arrived promptly at 8:00 AM as promised and the driver was a great help. Since none of us were trained in the arts of finishing concrete the truck driver was able to offer some great pointers. We chose to reinforce the concrete pad with rebar every 24 inches which is probably overkill for a dog kennel pad. At the last minute we added a four foot square porch pad in front of the kennel gate.
The other thing we were very careful with when forming up the pad was the sloping of the concrete. We made sure that there was plenty of fall away from the barn and then West down the driveway. This will make it easier to keep it clean and hosed down if they choose to poop on the concrete. I am providing the dogs with an adjacent 8 X 20 foot dirt area that I am hoping will be used as the bathroom. I am planning to fill the bathroom area with pea gravel for the dogs to pee on. The bathroom area also has an 18 inch concrete footing that we hope will prevent the dogs from digging out. Next week I hope to finish building the dog houses and the indoor portion of the deluxe dog kennel.
I really enjoyed your article and you have done a fine job. You may want to put a lid on that smaller kennel for your female. When in season, both sexes can climb that chainlink. You certainly don’t want to return from work and find your stud inside the kennel with her.
I think this project is a great idea and your posts are interesting, I’m working on my own dog enclosure right now for our housedogs to go out to sometimes so I wished you’d have been a bit more specific on what you did but otherwise bravo! I love reading about other pet owners who are willing to go the extra mile for their dogs… my only question being why not spay the female? Or neuter the males after they’re 2? It won’t affect their working ability.
How has the “bathroom” area worked? I’ve been thinking of doing one like this: http://www.gundoghousedoor.com/articles/complete_kennel_design.htm, but yours seems much simpler, if it works. Let me know!
Clint, I am glad I left the dirt area. The dogs seem to prefer that as the bathroom area. At some point I would like to add gravel over the dirt so it isn’t such a muddy mess in winter and rainy weather. I like that design they have at the site you mentioned, but it looks like a lot of work.