The Design of Kennels I Use: DIY

The Kennels I Use Are Build To Last

I built my kennels in 1999, and they are still in use today.  Our original DIY needs were to be able to live with multiple dogs for training and breeding.  I manage a group of 6 dogs full time year-round 24 hours a day.  7 days a week.    When I built my kennels, I wanted to preserve natural light, open air and easy to clean as well as long term absorption of daily wear and tear.   Dogs under the age of 2 years are incredibly destructive so the materials I chose had to be able to block destructive chewing and be available as needed at local hardware stores.

If you are new to German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Dutch Shepherd, Labradors or Border Collies as your pet, working dog or for breeding and are thinking about building outdoor kennels I offer design advice for the fans of DIY person.  I will help you build it right the first time so you can use it daily and train your dogs for years.  Today kennel panels and kits are available, and I can help you understand why some kennel panel kits are TOO WEAK for the breeds mentioned.  Which ones are well built and you can use.  We can discuss permanent vs temporary options that suit you the best based on your budget.    My kennels are permanent kennels outside fully covered with concrete floors that have served me for 2 decades and will continue to serve me for 2 more decades!

The breeds mentioned can be difficult to contain.  They do destroy cars, homes, doghouses, crates and fences. The materials chosen should be metal or unpleasing to chew up.   Wood is one of the softest materials and dogs love to chew and eat it.   The dog breeds I mentioned value personal space to call their own and destress daily.  The location in your yard should be peaceful for the dog, but close to your backdoor so you can easily put your dog in his kennel each day.  To keep the peace, you may have to use plywood or metal to create solid walls to prevent dog from seeing activities that will cause him to get agitated or bark.  These solid types of walls at my house also serve as a weather block to keep the rain, snow, wind and debris from trees out of the kennel.

The size of the kennel depends on your purpose.  Building a kennel is worth it if you need your dog to be confined to his space while you work or tend to your family for 4 hours or more.  Once built we then teach him to use it every day.  For each dog we house we need a kennel that is 6 feet tall by 10 feet wide by 10 feet long with a full roof and a wood, concrete or brick floor.   The dogs do dig, and these types of floors prevent that from happening.   If you are taller than 6 feet you will want your kennel to be 7 - 8 feet tall so you can stand up in it.

Each of my individual kennels are 10 feet wide, 16 feet long, 6 feet tall walk-in gates and have 12 high peaked roofs over them.  The sloping peaked type of metal / Suntuf is keeping snow and branches from piling up.  Two of my kennels have flat roofs and are not pictured here.  All of them are combination of Suntuf polycarbonate roof panels and metal.  I want to have natural light for my dogs.   I built my kennels to house multiple dogs at a given time, but do not have a commercial kennel.  Each of the 6 kennels was built with privacy panels between dogs who share a wall.  Shared walls help you save money.   I fenced one full acre for my dog kennel purpose.  The fence is chain-link, 6 foot tall.  Within the acre it is cross fenced to create 5 dog yards, within each dog yard is a double kennel to house 2 dogs per space.  

My private kennels are ugly but functional and built to stand the test of time.  Over 24 years I have had to repair them more times than I care to mention.  The damage my client’s dogs have caused over the years has led me to use mixed materials of wood and metal readily available at my local hardware store.  I like my dog setup that still serves me today which was my original goal!  The concrete floors are easy to clean.  My kennels are large enough to feed, water, potty, groom, train bed stays and platforms.   They are protected from the weather and have heated beds with lights so I can see at night.

The pictures here show two of my favorite kennels.  My full-time mother dogs find them very comfortable and private for her to relax, nurse and care for her newborn puppies.  Please subscribe to my email list if you are interested in scheduling an in-person kennel design build consultation or would like to share with me your ideas for your build through email conversations.