EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Saw a recent post that reminded me about these off the grounders. The debate on the perfect kennels still rages on. I so far prefer a combination of these off the grounds and dirt kennels.  I have seen some very impressive and well put together concrete kennels but have heard more negative from folks that have them due to more maintenance, smell, and other items like holding bacteria.  Again this post is mainly for the pros and cons to the off the grounders.
Also guys I am not a carpenter. So as you can see anybody can build these.
Enjoy.

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I would recommends you build these off the grounders on skids. Which makes you pens moveable for sanitation and weather conditions.

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They look good yellow. I prefer the above ground kennels. No fleas or ticks flys don't seem to be as bad. They are always dry. I will get some pics of mine up in a little while. Im in the process of building some more.

Im a huge fan of the elevated kennels, they have worked out great for me and my dogs.
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f277/matt_aggie04/DSC03418.jpg)

I feel like is much better to raise a litter of pups off the ground if at all possible. I'm waiting to see if Beulah took (I recently bred her to a dog out of TN.). If she did, I think I am going to invest in some "nursery tenderfoot" flooring like they use at show hog farms. It is expensive, but is really nice. Anyone on here ever used it? 

http://www.gillisag.com/hog/tf_ns.php

Wow those are super nice kennels

They look good man.

I was telling Karla about these on the way home yesterday. But I was wondering last night , so I will ask now, do yall clean the floors off, or rake the turds from underneath?

I am going to have to do something soon. Concrete with a good drainage system is hard to beat. All I have is a slab. and some on chain slides. I like these above grounders.

Bobby

I leave enough space behind to either send the kiddo with a rake and wheelbarrow or I can just pull behind with a frontend loader and rake scoop and go. I treated my floor boards with thompsons and pee and poop shoots off with no problems.  
I will say I prefer all wood vs metal. If you don't know why put several male dogs in an all metal one for a few years and find out. The drawbacks are hot in summer and cold in winter. But so far the good far exceeds the bad. Coupled with my larger day run type pens they are awesome.

I have 3 runs built on concrete, but I used treated lumber and chainlink fence for the same pee problems you mentioned.

I believe I will build a set for my crop of pups and expand from there.

I really like these

matt   

do u spray yours out with water our rake out?

Charles they are Priefert brand kennels, 10x10x6.  They are galvanized and powder coated so they hold up really well.  I used all treated lumber in my set up and the wood looks just like it did the day I put it all in 18 months later.  I wash them out daily, usually just wash everything out the back.  I had to build on a slope and this idea came to me so I went with it.  As previously mentioned it has saved me a lot of head aches with snakes and bugs.  I have my kennels fence off with a about 1/2 acre of woods that I let the dogs out to run around in daily. 

Hey matt

Was gonna ask how yours are holding up. They without a doubt look sharp. One question. I noticed you have plywood dividers probably same as me to keep male dogs from fighting and such. I am thinking on taking them out and replace with wire panels due to having poor air circulation.  Just wondered if you have experienced the same.

Myles

I have both and like the ones off the ground better they clean up pretty fast.(http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6cd0b87-8bfa-7521.jpg)

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I used plastic flooring made to use in hog barns comes in 2' x 4'
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I (luckily) dont currently have any male dogs that are face barkers, kennel fighters etc.  That plywood was in there because I had a momma dog that was due any day when I took those pictures.  I did that to keep the pups from getting into the next kennel over on either side.  I shortly after removed those sheets of plywood and put a 2x6 at the bottom and it did the same thing.  These kennels are 2x4 on the panel marerial so at least they cant get through the wire.  I have few dogs now and space them out some and also usually space them male, female, male etc.  My bulldog is also scared of his own shadow so I am good in the fighting dept haha

(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv10/ETHHUNTERS/967942555_photobucket_46532_.jpg)
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Nice job. Like your covering for sure

Thanks you can see how much I like them more than concrete. Im building the new ones over perfectly good concrete.

Timmy,

Those are very nice.

Has anyone used the compose deck boards?  If so, what are the pros and cons?

Man y'all are killing me. I got to build 10 and I've changed my mind 3 times already. I think I'm going concrete and some real heavy gauge chain link???

cutter the only thing bad about the composite deck boards is if they get direct sunlight they get pretty hot.

This some fine work gentlemen--- havent seen a single set up that I havent liked here.

Thank you Hippy.  That would not be "cool" so to say.   :D

Really like these above grounder kennels I've seen, one day when I am able I'm gonna get all my dogs off the ground. Thanks for posting them fella's

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Each kennel is 4x12 and i used pressure treated plywood as opposed to 2x4s for nothing other than to save a few bucks.  now im regretting it.  the plywood after 2 years is still holding up good but it has some sag.

I built these about 10 months ago... They just got flattened by a pecan tree limb about a week ago so i've got to build some new ones :-\

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John i really liked those when you posted them a while back.  What did the panels cost ya, ad where did you get them?  I built mine out of welded wire and im sick of fixin them from dogs tearin them up.

I see all of these have tin roofs. Is that for shade or rain. I ask because I dont have the shade most of you have and if I puyt a tin roof, its going to have to be 6-7 feet high so it dont radiate heat down to the dogs.

I have a few trees, but in years like this, they have about half the normal foliage and throw very little shade. I was thinking maybe some of that screen shade instead.

Bobby its alot better under that tin roof than it is without any shade. On mine the roof only gets shade the first couple hours and the last couple of hours of daylight and it seems to be fine. Mine are about four feet over the dogs at the highest point.

The lady that I bought all my kennels from had a mister sistem in them (that is the reason for the hard water stains) but even a water sprinkler on a timer on the roof would DRASTICALLY reduce the amount of radiant heat off of the metal roof.

           matt i know someone that use to put used motor oil on the wood floors  when she built her kennels before the dogs were put in them it sealed the wood  very well

Bobby, if you put your lathe close enough together you could lay some OSB or plywood down before your roof to use as insulation......

Dang Lamar

I forgot you should be mighty handy when it comes to construction.  Where were you when I was building mine. You might want to throw out some pointers for some future ideas on a serious note. 

I have been really pleased with this setup.

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I like these alot!!! You did a really good job!

I was thinking about this some today. I used that pink foam insulation under the tin in my puppy house. It worked great. I would imagine that or the osb would work great.

Karla likes these too. Looks like a set is in the near future.

Nice Wine

X2. Great job on those.

WOW--- they are real nice. I can see these kennels being much, much cooler then my set up since the air can circulate from the bottom---


I have a question--- what do yall do to prevent them from smelling?  Doesn’t the urine accumulate in the bottom(ground) when you wash the kennels?

I use pavers (stepping stones) and wash them down daily and TRY TO pressure wash them weekly I use odo-ban to keep the smell down and try and lay a nice layer of sweet PDZ it helps.

In the winter time there is really no smell at all believe it or not. In the summer if the smell gets too bad, i usually sprinkle down some lime to help dry it out. Has worked pretty good so far. Also, i try to wash out every other day to give the ground some time to dry out.

Deepsouth, how much were those panels and where did you get them at?

The ones with the 4"x4" holes are $49.99 and the ones with the 2"x4" holes are $72.99 and they both come 5'H x 16'L. I bought them from Tractor Supply

Thanks Deep!

Oly

The smell is very limited. You can place them over sand or put pine or cedar shavings that will soak it up quick. Again I built mine stationary but preferred to swap to skids that allows it to be moveable. They clean out great, zero fleas, great for gyps in heat ,wounded dogs keeping cuts sanitary ,but are cold in winter.

THANKS SIR for the answer.

Deepsouth, what did you use to attach the panels to your posts????

I just used regular ol fencing staples.

I'm in the process of building me a set of kennels off the ground. I've been planning on building them for a while but just now getting the time. Here's a few pics of them from this past weekend, still got alot todo I'll put some more pics up as I go.
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Looks like your building some good ones. How big of a slope are most of you guys putting on your floors? Think I put a foot and half.

ROOSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!    ;D

Heck mines not sloped that much I got a 3" slope over 14'. Yea I got a few roosters aswell been debating if I'm going to keep them or not.

I got 14 kennels to build but am torn between concrete n above ground. Whats yaws sugestions on 14 kennels? Above or slab?

Personally, I would do concrete, i've had both, and like concrete a whole lot better. Only downfall is you can't pick them up and move it

Brother I can only give you what others have told me on concrete. Surprisingly most of my friends don't like it on several different levels. I personally have wanted concrete for years but am now swayed by the combo of dirt and off grounds. 

I don't want to be completely one sided so let's here from the concrete owners that have had them say more than five years to get some first hand experiences.

I have had both and all I will build from now on is above ground kennels. My dogs look better since I have built mine. I have no problems with fleas, ticks or flys. The smell is no where near as bad. The wood floor is always dry. Certain times of the year a slab outdoors is going to sweat. When it does it don't matter what kind of dog food you feed the turds get wet and it makes a mess. I know there will be alot of people say concrete is the only way to go but for the most part concrete wiill be all they have ever had.

Hey matt. How long an how much did just lumber cost you?

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I like my above ground kennels. These have an FRP floor w/ 1"x1" squares. 4'-0x8'-0 w/ barrels on outside.

Only thing I can say negative is they are colder in the winter.

I have had a 3 run set up on concrete for 6 years. 6' chainlink around treated lumber frame with the dog boxes about 18" off the ground on the outside of the back . It has worked fine. I wish I would have had the money to put in at least a drain trough, but you know.

I scoop it out and wash it out. This past Winter I just bedded the boxes deep with hay and had no problems during the 2 cold spells we had.

I am seriously planning a set of the wood floor kennels. I need 12 runs and I am thinking about building them with a walk way in the middle, door facing each other with a tin roof.

Still planning at this point.
I forgot to ask about this. What size are y'all's runs? The ones I have on concrete are 5' x 10'. And I double up my Britts with no problems. I am thinking using the same size for the new ones.

Hey Ked

Nice pens. Whatcha got peeking out of the bottom pic!   ;)

Throw a pic of it outside for everybody to see 8)

Im suprised your eyes can even recognize something that isn't yellow! ;D

Not a great picture but here ya go YBM

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ked     do u like the floor like that    i really like that set up   im probably about to buil something like that but just curious on the floor????

Yes Sir Ked

Thats what I thought was peeking out. HaHa. Looks good kennel and occupants! ;)

I really like it. I will be building some more kennels soon and going to try and use the same flooring. There is a plant in Texas that these came from. They are seconds, but not an issue for dog pens.

what part of texas   im about to build 5 or 6 5 by 10 and would like to try em     and what do they cost?

What's the demintions of them kennels ???

x2 very sharp! i am hopefuly about to start buyen a place and u have inspired a project for me.

They are 5'x10's

Ok thanks I'm thinking about a 4x8 pens using palets as the floor since there cheap and easy to come by

4'x8's would probably be fine, but i would maybe reconsider the pallets. Most pallets I've ever seen are made out of the cheapest material possibe and do not have much longevity.  I myself would rather build it right the first time than have to worry with the hassle of changing out rotten pallets every six months. jmo