Building a kennel for extreme climates

[TinkerDoodle]

Living in Wisconsin, we get everything from 120 heat indexes in Summer down to -100 windchills in winter. Neither is comfortable or safe outdoors, yet having 5 large dogs in the house full time is not ideal either. Since I have 2 studs, I have to keep them separated, and of course when any of the 3 girls are in season I have to keep them away from at least one (often both) of the boys too. So this year I decided to invest all my puppy income into a kennel building that would keep my dogs safe, comfortable, separated, and out of the house as needed, but close enough that I can easily check on them at any time without having to be out in the extreme weather myself.

This fall I finally gotmy dream kennel built!


I can go out the back door of my house into an office that has 2 other doors leading out of it. One goes outside, the other goes into my new kennel. I can now bring people into the office from outside rather than through my house which is a nice change. The kennel itself isn't huge, nor fancy, but I am in love with it.

I have room for 5 dogs to each have their own separate indoor run. Each area is 5' x 6' and leads through a doggy door outside to a 14' x 24' (or larger) outdoor run. There are also service doors in each run so that i can go out easily to clean, etc. The floors are ceramic tile with in-floor heat, with a one foot tall row of tile around the perimiter of the floor going up the walls. Above the tile is a 4' high fiberglass panel so that I can simply wipe down the wall for ease of cleaning. Each run has a gravity fed wall hung feeder that keeps rodents and water out, and is plumbed so that they all have constant fresh water with a "lixit"stainless steal nipple for them to drink from. No more spilled water or food pans for us!

The building is heated with a small wall furnace so is 62 degrees even in the coldest weather. When we have a litter, of course that will be warmer and they will have the 90 degree floor to lay on as well. I have a sink large enough to bathe a dog in, a rodent-proof pantry to keep dog food in, a cleaning closet, and lots of storage for all my dog related items.

Each outdoor run has a gate at the end away from the building that opens to an alley that will lead into a large group exercise area for the dogs to get together to exercise and play in. I bought 500 running feet of chain link fencing, so no more worries about any of the dogs escaping or strays getting in.

I have a separate 24 x 24 chain link kennel with a large dog house for visiting females that have come to be bred, or new dogs that need to be quarantined before coming into my kennel.

This is something I've dreamed about building for a long time, so I'm extremely excited to finally have it built. There are a few things left to finish up, but it is useable and so far I LOVE it! I was concerned about having to teach 5 dogs to use doggy doors all at once, but they took to them instantly. I was lucky to be able to hire an Amish crew to come help with the fencing, so I swear it's stout enough to hold buffalo in.

Since Wisconsin just implemented a new breeders law in June of this year, I was able to check out their guidelines to be sure that my runs etc exceeded them in case I ever decide to step up from a hobby breeder to a licensed one. All I have to do to stay within the hobby breeder limit is to not sell more than 25 dogs per year from more than 3 different litters. Since I have yet to exceed that, I don't feel limited by it in the least.

Come spring, we plan to put A/C in the kennel so the dogs will be able to keep cool inside. The biggest problem we had getting approved for this project was that the zoning office had never seen anything like it, so didn't know how to categorize it. In the end, because it is attached to my house, they called it an attached garage, so the building permit was about $250.

I figure the dogs earned this new housing, since I was able to pay for it with puppy money from this year. With as easy as this makes it to tend to them now, I expect to be able to continue my hobby for many more years.

So has anyone else built a kennel building? I found very little on the subject when i was researching the project online. My website is now being rebuilt as well, so I plan to include this information and pictures of the new kennel for those who might be looking for plans. It's the best gift I could have given myself or my dogs. We had -10 (f) winchills here last night and my 4-legged babies were all very comfy. What a relief!

[lindamarie]

CONGRATULATIONS! I'd feel very happy and proud too if I had accomplished that task.
I often wondered how people breed dogs and keep them. My niece and I bred our Bouvier's twice. She kept them in her basement and it worked well. But, it would be difficult on a regular basis and if they lived together.

ENJOY!
Sounds like you're all set for winter and summer. Living in Michigan, I know how cold and hot it gets. Wisconsin is even worse! BRRRRRRRR!

[LabyLabradoodle]

The summer heat is dangerous. Heat stroke is getting more and more frequent these days because of the rising temp brought by Global Warming.