Dog Kennel Systems

Is A Kennel For The Home Good For Your Dog and You

Why have a kennel in the first place?

You as a new dog owner or a present dog owner may be sitting there right now thinking it is not worth the money to have a kennel in the backyard.

I was with the don't need it group when we had our two small dachshund dogs until the expenses and headaches started to mount.

From the wall board damaged in the garage to the wood/weather stripping damaged at the encased opening at the back door and then throw in the wood fence eaten at the gate, I could have paid for the kennel structure.

Next came the daily battle to keep them from digging under the fence and taking off to run wild in the neighborhood. I'd fill one hole with a brick or wood pieces and then have 2 more holes the next day to fill.

After experiencing the worry filled searches for the dogs up and down the streets way too many times and not wanting to fortify the entire perimeter of the wood fence, my frustration began to grow.

Throw in the, always in the back of my mind, fear that the dachshunds would start chewing on the expensive wood siding installed on the house and my frustration and worry grew even more.

In the past as a realtor, I saw first hand the thousands of dollars in damage to a house's wood siding that dogs can create by gnawing on the wood. And to think, the sellers still wanted full price for their home.

Instead of thinking of a kennel as a solution to the problems, one more breakout from the backyard resulted in us giving the two dachshunds away to a good home.

We Now Have Two Basset Hounds And An Outdoor Kennel

After realizing we did miss our two dachshunds and regretted the decision to give them away, it was decided to get two more dogs.

This decision was made only after agreeing to create a plan that included installing a kennel.

What Kind Of Kennel Systems For The Home Are Available?

I found various types of kennel systems in my search and listed them below for your convenience.

• Chain Link Fence System
• High-strength Polypropylene Plastic Square Oriented Mesh System
• 16 Gauge Galvanized Wire Mesh System
• Welded Wire Modular Kennel System

After reviewing the Kennel Systems available and with each system capable of securing our dogs, I chose to buy two(2) 7.5 x 13 feet chain link fence Do-It-Yourself kits for several reasons.

1. Cost was a major factor since I wanted to buy two kennels.

2. I decided one kennel would not be big enough for two basset hounds to have enough room to get exercise in between their monitored play time in the lawn area of the backyard.

Bailey and Buster's backyard lawn play time will always be monitored as they love chewing on wood. See the picture of their doghouse inside the kennel. Better their doghouse than the expensive hardi-plank siding installed on the house.

3. Since there is two basset hounds and our little Maltese that hang out daily in the kennel during the day I didn't want them going to the bathroom in the same kennel where their doghouse, food and water is located. This worked out great as they all have chosen the far end of the second kennel as the bathroom area which gives them over half of the second kennel as an additional play area.

Enhancing The Kennel

While not part of the actual kennel system, I added inexpensive fence sections and 2 gates at the entrance to the kennel to corral our dogs straight from the house to their kennel. This is part of my plan to keep the mud out of the house.

As you can see in the picture above, I added a different type of kennel flooring system in each kennel section.

Find out here which system you should never use unless you want to waste money. See which flooring system makes it extremely easy to remove the dog feces.

A sun screen was added to one kennel section for shade during the summer. Presently, I chose not to cover the other kennel section for warmth in the winter from the sun.

Bailey and Buster love laying on the sun exposed area of the floor when the weather cools off.

You can also see in the picture the dog-friendly plants I installed around three sides of the kennel. 

I wanted a design that allowed Bailey and Buster the enjoyment of eating a few flowers or plant leafs without the worry of them getting extremely sick or die from eating poisonous plants.

Adding plants was also a way to help make the kennel system more esthectically pleasing.

With a little planning and with numerous kennel system options available, you too can create a safe environment for your dogs.