Kennel setup

[weezer]

Looking for any advice on a good setup for an English pointer. He will be outside year round as my bulldog does'nt get along with him, and wife said no more dogs in the house. I live in North Dakota, so any cold weather advice would be very useful. And also at what age should he be put in kennel.

[Doc E]

Here are a couple pics of Casey's kennel.

The first pic shows the footing/foundation. The entire perimeter is concrete that goes down 24" - this keeps a dog from digging out or other critters from digging in.

The fencing is 8' high. The front 1/3 is a cement pad that is covered with "astro turf", and has a roof with a snow deflector and rain gutter. The rear 2/3 has dirt to dig inhe goes clear to the back to poop), trees to pee on and bushes to lay under.

On the pad, is his dog house (Dogloo) which I fill up with Grass Hay in the winter - he stays toasty warm even in the coldest winters. There is also a 'motion detector' light that comes on when he moves around at night. In the summer, I put his Kiddie Pool on the pad. There is a "teather ball" that hangs down from the inside of the roof. The gate is lockable.

[drgildy]

Doc E you have a nice looking setup for Casey. Since it does get cold here in SD also I have a 4 by 16 ft run for each of my dogs and on the outside of the run I have a house that is 4 by 3 ft and 30 in high. They have an entry that gives them protection from cold winter winds. Tey have a triple floor with air space between each floor and a double wall and roof with insulation. When it gets down to about 20degrees I stuff the sleeping quarters with fresh hay and let them burrow in. The Chessie usually sleeps out on the concrete in front of his house unless it is fly or mosquito season or it gets down to about 10 degees. The Lab will sleep in side the dog house almost all weather. The cement makes it easy to clean up if one of them can't hold on till I let them out in the morning. I scoop and then wash it out.

[SWOSUMike]

Doc E's kennel looks great. I really like the tree in there. Another suggestion would be to build the kennel with one solid wall...the dog might feel more secure, not having to turn circles all the time to know what's around him. Might make him feel like nothing can sneak up on him. Also, consider putting this wall in such a way as to block winter winds from the dog, but allow summer breeze to hit the dog. My kennel has a three walled, roofed stable setup at the end of it that will block cold north winds, but faces open to the south so that the cool breeze comes right on in over the dog. He likes it, I think Might also give him a wooden bench or anything he can jump up onto (not close to the fence unless the kennel has a full roof). 55 gallon barrels make good houses, only don't put a door on it up there becuase if you do, the dog's breath can create a cold condensation on the inside. Straw is good for the winter in the house, and nothing is needed for the summer, usually. Cedar shavings are supposed to be warm, too, and they also have those outdoor/waterproof pillow looking dog beds that can go in a house. Here is a pic of my pup's house...he's about 4 months in this picture, he's gettin' quite a bit bigger now.