Dutch Shepherd Forum

Im tossing around the idea of putting up an outdoor kennel for the girls for the times I have to leave them home. I have a good spot under trees. At the moment they stay in crates when I go out. I would have each in a pen, even though they get along great, Sadie usually pisses Thalie off at some point. My worry is leaving them untended. I only give them moose antlers to chew on and id build dog houses for them. They would be able to pee and poop when they needed.

Im kind of thinking out loud but what do you guys think?

Thanks

I have outdoor kennels but still bring my dogs inside to the crates if I leave home.

I have a fenced back yard that they are in when I am home. But I feel guilty leaving them in crates when I go out for a while. This saturday Ill be out for about 5 hours, fair then Soccer practice with two kids. If im just being silly, than let me know. I have left them before and they are fine, never messed in the crates.

As long as you have already crate trained them and they are able to make it 5 hours without being let out ... then crate them.

At four years old I still regularly crate Cino when I'm gone to work and such.

The times that I tend to leave Cino out of his crate is when I leave the windows open and I'm gone. Much prefer someone looking in the windows to be greeted by him.

I think they should be fine in the crates, but the kennel would be a nice alternative too.

There are more risks with leaving them out, especially if they are barkers or would irritate the neighbors. I think typically dogs tend to nap while we are out - so it doesn't much matter where you leave them. But getting up and stretching their legs some probably would be nice.

Thats where im on the fence. Thalie is quiet anyway, but does get anxiety when I leave her. The house she grew up in, I could leave her loose in the house and she would just sleep or what ever she did but didnt do anything bad. We moved last fall and I left her once and she freaked out and chewed some of my wood windows. Sadie still barks at stuff, so she would probably annoy neighbors. Hmmmm. I think I just may leave them crated. The amount of times I leave them for long periods is few and far between anyway.

Thanks for listening to me think out loud and I appreciate your feedback.

Check out Dog Appeasing Pheromone for the anxiety. If its only occasional and when you leave, the pheromone may have enough of a soothing effect.

Thanks Christie, Ill check that stuff out. im afraid now to leave thalie loose in the house since then, one window she chewed off the wood down to the glass, she really could have cut herself up. A few times I left them in the fenced area outside when I had to run a short errand in town and I noticed scratch marks on the fence from someone, I am assuming Thalie, Jumping up.

Just checked it out. very interesting!! I should try it to see if it helps Sadie during bad thunderstorms. Maybe it will help the kids too!!

I love my outdoor kennels. I use either crate or kennel, but it all depends on the dog. I don't have (tolerate) screamers. Old pro's are just loose in the house, young ones outside where they can move around more than in a crate. I periodically park in kennels when I am home as well. For everyone's sanity.

I have them in a large pen outside when we are at work, 3 days a week they'll be alon for 7 hours, so they need to "go" on their own. We have a dog-flap so they can get into a small kennel in the garage, where it's dry. No heating but in winter it doesn't freeze inside. Works fine.
For a future pup I have just finished the roof on a smaller outside kennel, so they will be safe. Do not like leaving them alone with a youngster...

I am revisiting this idea. I may not be able to leave the dogs with my parents on day trips so I am looking at pens for the girls.

Do all of you guys who have pens have gravel? Would it be okay to just leave them on grass for the day? Ill make them raised beds.

Does galvanized or not make a difference?

What about height?

I could also set them up in my garage so they would be in the shade.

My pens are on cement, easier to clean and they can't dig. Also easier if you have to do flea/tick patrol.
The pens are 20' long,4' wide - with concrete block doghouse at the end. These are only used when I'm home to supervise tho. If I leave the dogs are crated until I can trust them to be loose in the house. (I only have one loose at a time when I'm not home tho.)
You can see them if you look over the top of Carrie's back in this picture.

those are nice. I dont have a permanent place yet to set them up. I do have a place in mind though. They would be left unattended though.

my other thought is to set the kennels up at my parents house. Then they could watch them.

I have one smaller one with concrete floor, I use that one for Dingo when Ivil is in heat so he can't dig under the fence or for pups, they dig pretty fast too.
Normally Ivil and Dingo are together in the large pen which has concrete and grass, partially covered bij a roof, and they can enter the dry indoor kennel. They get along fine and I trust them together, but many other combinations of dogs, I would prefer to seperate them.
You definately need concrete along the fence if you have diggers and/or panic dogs, out of anxiety they can dig under it in half an hour and escape... My fence is partially below ground level, so they'll have to dig pretty deep here

thats why I thought the garage would be good, they are not diggers in the fenced yard, except to go after mice. but i dont want to take that chance of them getting out or hurt.

thanks guys for listening to me think outloud about this.

What about stall mats as a base with a portable kennel?

alspyce wrote:What about stall mats as a base with a portable kennel?

stall mats are good
What is a portable kennel? Is it portable to dogs too?? haha, sounds like they just pick it up and run with it to where ever, and set up camp there
You probabely mean a vari-kennel as a dog house, not the whole kennel to be portable

Yes, I meant the kennel panels that are not permanent, they clamp together and you can take them with you if you move. Most of them are 10' x 10' and 6' high, but you can get just about any size. The ones in my photo are that type, they are not attached to the cement.

HAHAHA, the kennels I am looking at go up and come apart really easy. Stall mats would be good too! I found nice 2'x2' mats at the big hardware store, they can be moved a bit easier.

alspyce wrote:Yes, I meant the kennel panels that are not permanent, they clamp together and you can take them with you if you move. Most of them are 10' x 10' and 6' high, but you can get just about any size. The ones in my photo are that type, they are not attached to the cement.

ah, ok, get it. Don't think we have those overhere