Authored by Rodney Southern in Dogs
Published on 01-19-2009
Building a dog kennel is actually a fairly easy venture if you have a basic knowledge of construction and some important tips about how to do it. Many people go out and spend thousands of dollars on a pre-made dog kennel only to find that it lacks in one of several areas for their personal pet needs. This is one of the primary advantages of building your own dog kennel. It allows you to make it specific to the things that your pet needs.
Taking the time to plan out the kennel is absolutely one of the most important things. Many people just jump in and build without carefully considering some very important factors.
One of the most important and vital considerations is location. Not only should you consider the obvious physical location of the kennel, but what effects that location will have on your neighbors. If the kennel openings are facing the road or a neighbors house, then you can expect far more barking and howling. This will be an issue with your surrounding neighbors and your own sleep patterns.
Another consideration is flooring. Building a dog kennel means constructing something that will be easy to keep up, while still providing comfort for your pet. This means that you should slope the flooring enough that you get good drainage. Also, you will need to make certain that this drainage is managed after it leaves the kennel floor and goes into the yard. Another key aspect of flooring is the type of material. Wood and plastic are not good options due to splintering. The most popular options are steel or concrete. Concrete works very well, but it will crack and need repairs over time. Both steel and concrete are easy to clean and maintain.
Proper ventilation is your next concern in building a good dog kennel. This can be accomplished any number of ways. The most popular method is to leave a portion of the kennel open to the outdoors. This can be done in such a way that the pet still has a sheltered warm area to go in inclement weather. This is also rather easy to construct.
Keeping your pet secure in the kennel is another very important consideration. This is best accomplished by using a strong fence material that is posted strongly. You can use any number of heights depending on your specific pet needs but you need to make certain that you make it several times higher than you pet. Dogs are a wily bunch and can find ways out of the best kennels if given an opening.
Finally, you will construct the dog kennel to your own specifications. Make sure that you do not go cheap on the building supplies, or you will find yourself making repairs constantly. Dog kennels get abused over a very short period of time if they are cheaply constructed.
