36 replies to this topic

[brettguise]

Ok so Im starting to sort the kennel and run out for the Labrador pup I will be getting. Just wondering what size is best for a dog that will be in the kennel to sleep and in the hours that I am at work but will be out around the house when I'm home and have plenty of exercise. When the puppy gets a bit older and obedient I may give him the run of the garden with my other two dogs. I was looking at this on the bay - http://www.ebay.co.u...#ht_2015wt_1037

Im guessing the dog will sleep most of the day anyway just want to give it the best possible life during the day if it does want to venture a little bit.

[kent]

big run than you might expect and smaller sleeping quarters than you anticipate

[brettguise]

big run than you might expect and smaller sleeping quarters than you anticipate

Idea of the ideal size? Originally I was thinking a 6x4 shed with a side run made from panels but I feel for one dog the shed will be too big and not hold the heat. So Im open to a small kennel and a long run but I don't know if that one is too short.

[kent]

Idea of the ideal size? Originally I was thinking a 6x4 shed with a side run made from panels but I feel for one dog the shed will be too big and not hold the heat. So Im open to a small kennel and a long run but I don't know if that one is too short.

your on the right lines a shed will certainly require a smaller sleeping box. Its very subjective to pocket and available area, though personally i might add i hate wood - it stinks of pee after a short while, splinters, rots and gets chewed. I have a Mitton Hall plasitic and steel built kennels but my second choice would be blockwork with insulated walls burn on felt pitched roof and steel galvanised run pannels perhaps on a low block wall. The Mitton hall suffers from the roof which drips condensation but the lot can be attacked with disinfectant and a hose and doesnt look as unsightly as blockwork that tends to exude salts etc and look scruffy throught its life

[jinxy72]

I'm with kent … i think woods ok as a temp kennel (someone home all the time and short periods etc) but something more substantial for longer and security is poor with wood kennels too .. something else to consider (but depends where u live lol )

Edited by jinxy72, 25 August 2012 - 06:20 PM.

[hillmouse]

Sorry, another Mitton owner. Chatsworth 6. 4'x3' lodges and 7' x4' runs. Size seems fine. Afraid I would never choose to have wooden kennels ever again.

I have inherited a set of Neaverson wooden kennels and I really think a match is the only answer. Stinking, chewed, greasy and horrible.

[steve0146]

As you wanted to keep the dog inside sometimes, it should be house trained. This way, the kennel should not stink of wee or anything else as she/he will be in a routine and not go in the kennel. My kennels are wooden and are a bit chewed to be fair. If I was rebuilding, I would choose something different.

[Dirty Harry]

Another vote for Mitton Hall. I have a 10ft Blenheim in bar. Cost a lot compared to wood but will last a lot longer, does not need treating and does not stink of ****. With the locks I have on the doors it's also very secure. I even have a heater and light fitted.

Harry

[fenntiger]

nothing wrong with wood kennels i have friends with them there dogs dont stink nor do their kennals and as for as chewing goes put plaster skim beads around any exposed timbers and clean with jeyes fluid and you should not have any problems atb

[hutchie the white hunter]

As big as what you can give them

Another vote for Mitton Hall. I have a 10ft Blenheim in bar. Cost a lot compared to wood but will last a lot longer, does not need treating and does not stink of ****. With the locks I have on the doors it's also very secure. I even have a heater and light fitted.

Harry

Why have a heater they have a coat

[Dirty Harry]

So when he's been out all day shooting with me during the winter and I go in to dry off and get warm he can do the same.

Harry

[hutchie the white hunter]

OH right

[Dirty Harry]

OH right

Is that not allowed then? Have I breached some unwritten rule that you can't let your dogs have some warmth?

Harry

[hutchie the white hunter]

Not at all each to there own

[kent]

i have heaters, is some fool saying dogs can live in anything without heat? we had minus 30 degrees here winter before last. I use the heaters when its cold and will also shut the hatches on the sleeping quarters when required. This is one downside of the MH system, the lack of insulation

[brettguise]

How about a metal shed then? I can just hose the inside and planning on using galvanised panels on the front and padlock the shed door and door on the panels. Hopefully that would be secure enough. Thanks for all the advice and 10ft seems to be fine.

Edited by brettguise, 26 August 2012 - 02:21 PM.

[ditchman]

Just a word to the wise ! ive been hitched for over 30 years now, and soon learnt that when coming back from a shoot via the pub then via a mates kitchen, arriving home compleatly mortalled, to find the house locked up cause she dont like the smell of booze and hot air ballons, i made the dog bed in the shed long enough to sleep in and cozy with drop down covers and a 60watt infa-red lamp 8" of dust extracted shavings, always kept and still do an army sleeping bag in the shed for such an occasion...always slept like a baby in the kennel, quite an experience waking up covered in dogs which use you as a pillow......it was difficult to crawl thro the flap for a whas in the run.............

[steve0146]

I would of thought the metal kennel would be freezing in the winter and if you had heaters, the metal would absorb a lot of it. I wouldn't dare sleep in mine. The missus would soon have a padlock on it!!!

[hutchie the white hunter]

i have heaters, is some fool saying dogs can live in anything without heat? we had minus 30 degrees here winter before last. I use the heaters when its cold and will also shut the hatches on the sleeping quarters when required. This is one downside of the MH system, the lack of insulation

YIP and my gwp loved it actually one night around 11:30 looking out into his run he was sleeping on his wooden bed outside, when he has the option of sleeping in a lovely insulated bed ?

[Dirty Harry]

Hutchie,

We have a border collie on the farm who lives outside all year. Give him a blanket or bed and he drags it out. He sleeps on a board in -15°c. He refuses to come inside. His coat is really thick and he copes well with it.
My GWP lives in the house but is kenneled when im at work, when he's filthy or when I want him out of the way. Because he spends most winter evenings in front of the wood burner or Rayburn I think it would unfair to put him out in the cold all day. His coat is quite short/thin for a GWP so he has a heater.

Harry