Dutch Shepherd Forum

I didn't see a thread about it, so I thought I'd start one for tips & ideas on my set up now & for the future. Here's a pic of this weekends project. This outdoor kennel is surrounded by another 700-800 square foot fenced run off the side & behind our garage.







The kennel has an inside diameter of 4' x 8' & is 6' in height. It is staked in with 3' rebar aprox. 18 " out of the ground.I don't trust the pup to have full access to the run unsupervised while we are at work. I'm not certain if this will be big enough as he gets older. I'll just wait & see for now. During the colder winter months I'll set up a section of the garage for his daytime 'kennel up'.
I suspect this guy will be a digger so I'm going to have to shore up around the 5' high outer fence. If he's a jumper or a climber, that outer fence will be useless for unsupervised access. The next part of this project is to get more shade trees along the outer fence line.
Any suggestions, comments or pics of the set up for your dog(s) would be appreciated. -Dances

that stone sure does not look comfy. it looks like you are going to have one heck of a bored and frustrated dog.

I agree on the stone/rock. Doesn't look comfortable at all.

Do you plan on having him live out there? Or, is this just a place to have him outside when needed?

In regards to your fence height - I have a 4 ft fence around much of the yard. Cino can clear it very easily. But he doesn't. Instead he is an escape artist and will get himself though spaces that look impossible.

He will not be living out there, he will be a house dog like all the rest. This Kennel will only be used while we are at work. Right now until he is crate trained, he overnights in a crate in the garage with a blanket completely covering the cage. His temper trantrums caused by over nights in the cage are starting to lessen. I'm slowly getting him use to the idea of being in the outdoor kennel during the day. He's not a big fan of being alone at all. I'm trying to correct this before I end up with a neurotic who destroys the place because he's been left on his own for a while. There is cement slab on one side of the kennel & his doghouse on the other, he uses both. As per the breeder advice, & I believe him to be correct, there are no blankets or towels in his crate for him to chew up. And without a doubt, he would shred them to pieces!
As for the outer fence Do you think curbing the edges would do any good & if so how far off (in &out) would you bring the edges to prevent/ deter digging underneath it? I am not a fan of invisible fencing as I've known dogs that would take a shock to escape the perimeter to investigate something, ie. another dog, but not necessarily to get back in. Leaving the dog wondering the neighborhood until the owner gets home.

you have separated your puppy from you day and night. why not have the crate in the bedroom - probably no tantrum at all there. the on-going tantrum is about the garage - not the crate. you would not be happy with that; neither will he.
a tiny sliver of hard concrete, 3 sf of hard plastic with no good ventilation, and cut stone is not much of a choice for your dog all day long. no blanket? let him shred it; at least he would have something to do! and a shred of comfort.

I recommend going to the on-line archives of the NY Times and reading about the effects of solitary isolation. it has been shown to have very rapid and devastating effects on the brain. your dog is suffering the very worst of prison techniques - and during his formative period!

out of curiosity, what breeder are we talking about?

also, for convenience of it, recommend looking at the video posted today in adjoining thread '' is DS the right dog for us?'' [ video is at the end of ''flying Dutchman''/Heather's post.]

that is what your puppy s life should be like right now, like it or not. if he does not have you to comfort and entertain him, he should at least have play things to keep him occupied. he should be joyful in his experience of life; that's the way DSs are. instead he is in an austere and uncomfortable solitary confinement that likely will be very damaging to him.

Thanks for the advice about the crate location but he's actually getting better. Originally the location of the crate had no bearing on his freak out, as we had did what you have mentioned with no luck. I chalk it up to being separated from his litter mates. The last couple of nights he has been calm through the night. But as for the kennel & my interaction with my dog I think you have presumed that I have locked him up & forgotten about him. There are toys in the kennel with him. This dog is getting a min. of 4 hours a day exercise & training. With complete interaction in the house & the rest of the yard with the wife & myself. But the reality is that this kennel is not an exercise yard & employment away from home during the day, like most, is reality. The dog house is actually SPCA recommended & is vented in the back with a covering in the front. There is a mattress inside it. As originally mentioned before; as he gets bigger the kennel can be expanded. As for the gravel that can be changed to cement, but the pup does lay on it now without issue.
Consistency in training, exercise & daily routine is what this D.S. getting right now. I believe instilling that now as he is a puppy, will make for an easier transition as get into the hell'in stage of puppy hood. His house training took about a week & accept for the rare accident now, he doing great. He lets the wife & I know with a walk down the hall or a tight circle in front of us. Surprisingly enough, he's not a big barker right now.

Hi there.

I think your set up seems reasonable and your attitude of adjusting it as you go is a good one. For me, I'm taking my dog to work and he crates in the car. I am self employed with a variable schedule and it seems to be working well. I don't know if I'm lucky how well he crates in my car. Some times I really have to bait him to get him out. He can be a lounge lizard. I also have an ex-pen in the house full of toys and this is where Tygo (12 weeks) is when we are in the house. I have a dog run with gravel but I'm not leaving him out there other than when I'm in the house for a bit of alone time... and hopefully he will lose his crazed destructo mode and he can then use the dog door and go in and out to the dog run as he pleases.

My one comment as an FYI is that these dogs can be rock and fence chewers if bored. They can wreck their teeth fast that way so watch for that. Also the gravel may be hard to keep clean of poop. The kennel looks awfully clean. Maybe just because it is new construction. My ex-pen and every crate it seems has chew toys, plastic bottles, kongs and an old blanket. Oh and cardboard boxes... he loves those.

Good luck, be flexible and tons of exercise is what I'm learning is the trick.

Personally im not to keen on keeping this type of dog alone for so long, especially during puppy hood. He will get bored and get into who knows what kind of trouble. Do you have a job planned for him? or will he be living here and in the garage. I still dont understand why he is in the garage and not with you? What are you doing to "correct" his alone tantrums?

He's with me pretty much 24/7 for the last 2 weeks & one more week before I'm back to work. Getting him use to the garage as when the weather turns colder or simply crap we will not be leaving him outside. He will be kenneled in the garage while at work. My wife works locally & I work a continental shift out of town which only will upset the apple cart 3 nights a week. He actually walked into the kennel last night for my wife & laid down. No tantrums last night at all! Fluke? maybe... Will find out tonight. I don't think I'm doing the him any favors by changing his routine too often as a pup. If he adapting to sleeping in the fully insulated garage at night he'll probably stay there. I suspect when he is fully house trained I'll find him sleeping with the wife, like all the other dogs before. This is a companion/ watch dog for us. He seems to have high prey drive & so far he loves frisbee, any chase game & fetch to a point. He's still clumsy, so rolling seems to be a great past time...
Our dogs pretty much go where ever we go. Unfortunately work is out for both of us. What I have done in the past with pups before a longer kennel up is give them harder run/exercise for a good period of time, a 'light' watering and a good chew toy, usually a pigs ear. This has kept the destruction level focused on the toy & sleep is usually their priority.
Again this is my 1st D.S. but my 6th or 7th larger breed dog in my life. The youngest to pass in my care was 12 (non cancerous tumor that was inoperable & the oldest was 18. I don't abuse my dogs, love them like my kids, but provide structured routine for their sanity & mine.

Thank you Karin for the heads up about the gravel eating, I'll keep an eye out for it. He's already eye balling the fencing. I think it's the plastic coat on it he likes to chew. He loves to destroy plastic water bottles. caps removed of course. I found the pigs ears in the past keep them focused. Some don't like to give their dogs these, but as far as I know there a good alternative to rawhide, which I won't give them. As he gets bigger and can destroy ears in minutes instead of days or hours, I stop with these as well.

Deer antlers. Go with deer antlers.

I will give that a try today when I pick up his food.

I like to give Tyson a variety because his chewing needs change. He always has full round, full flat, and split antlers. He will go days favoring each depending on "how" he is wanting to chew (e.g. sometimes he wants to gnaw with his back teeth, sometimes he likes to nibble/dig with his front teeth). I will usually let him pick out his own when we go get a replacement. Can you say spoiled?

Pick him up a piece today. Playing with it as I type. Looks like part of the base and a tine. Picture a shillelagh & you'll get the idea. I know I have a smaller moose rack in the garage somewhere and there is a deer farm nearby, so I may have to stock up!

Dances With Empties wrote:there is a deer farm nearby, so I may have to stock up!

JEALOUS!!!

Dances With Empties wrote:Pick him up a piece today. Playing with it as I type. Looks like part of the base and a tine. Picture a shillelagh & you'll get the idea. I know I have a smaller moose rack in the garage somewhere and there is a deer farm nearby, so I may have to stock up!

Word of advice, don't tell them it's for dog chews. We get our antlers at the neighbor's farm in bulk and I found out my mom was getting a better price when she told him it was for crafts compared to what I was paying for dog chews. It seems everyone is jumping on the antler dog chew craze and the farms are catching on.

I'll take that into account when I talk to them.

Boy that is the truth... almost fell over at the price of deer antlers at our specialty dog store. $30???!!!!! I have to go find some hunters now.

I get my Moose antlers at Elkusa.com. The single pieces at the store are very expensive. Elkusa.com has gone up in price over the years but you still can get more antlers for your money from them, or another place, than from a store.

Lisa, thanks to you I recently got 8 lb of antlers from them for my crew. the antlers are a great success. they like them almost as much as the raw marrow bones, but since they are not messy, they get to keep them and do what they want with them. fresh marrow bones require supervision so marrow and all the other messy stuff does not get all over everything in the house. great solution for both me and the dogs. thank you.