Kennel Question
 

I am working on a kennel. I am new to this, so any advice would be helpful. Anyone know how many bags of quikrete I would need for a 12 by 12 lot? Would it be better to have a truck come and buy it that way? Thanks for any pointers.

RE: Kennel Question
 

I had a huge pad laid for mine. I built a 6X12' but found 24X6 works much better. I have good fall and hose access so i just hose it off every day.
Works good.

RE: Kennel Question
 

Hey KYHunter,
Where are you located? I'm in Bowling Green, Ky. The pad should be larger than the kennel. Is this up against a building?Where do the dogs sleep? Dog house or in the building? Advice: Put the pad against a building where ther dogs will enter to sleep. Inside the building the dog box can be used as a work bench. Your building should be at least 8' wide to accomadate storage for food and other supplies. Your slab should be pitched for easy run off. The ones I prefer have a gutter that goes to a 6" drain that is attatched to a pipe going to a drain well. Dig a 3'x4' hole and fill with rip rap on the bottom, let the drain line enter the pitup top, don't use dense grade . I fyou are on a hill then run the drain under ground to the side of the hill. Call for a concrete truck to save time. Make sure your form boards are secure and that you know how to pour and float concrete, a 6" slump is usually easy, you may need to tell your driver to juice it up if it is too stiff when he gets there. Most concrete pours require a minimum 4 yd pour @ $70 a yard. If you are going to build the whole thing from scratch then pour enough to lay blocks for one side of the building. Pole barn the other three sides. The building can have processed 11's as a floor. Lay 2 courses of block on the slab. Your dogs will enter above these and then common frame that wall. A common mistake is to not have enough pitch in the slab or to have low spots that pond out in the middle of the slab.
If you are just pouring a slab quickcrete has a reference guide for the do-it-yourselfer to estimate bags needed. One thing that is a pain is to have 6" of slab beyond the kennel you have to step up on to enter the kennel. Extend this side 40" and you have a walk way. Let me know where you are. If it's close I'll stop and look at it. Masonry is how I make a living and dogs are one of the things I live for.

RE: Kennel Question
 

Sorry Roost em, I am in Ashland, so unless you want to drive 6 hours, I will just have to take you up on your advice. I appreciate your help. What kinds of dogs do you have?

RE: Kennel Question
 

Chessies and GSP. I travel to the east coast for work and pass through Ashland at times. Know where any grouse are up in your neck of the woods? That might give me reason to see my way up there. Send me an email and I'll send some pics of a kennel that may work for you.

RE: Kennel Question
 

I have hunted all around this area and last year i finally found a farm where i jumped about 9 grouse in one day. I went fishing at the same farm this summer and they were logging the place. I am gonna check it out later this fall and if there are any birds left out there I will give you a holler. I love bird hunting, but don't have a whole lot of them and I don't have any bird dogs.

RE: Kennel Question
 

Copy that. I grew up on the other side of the Blue Ridge in VA and have heard the numbers are improving. Sorry about the logging but it may make it easier to hunt Turkey this Spring. Did I hear right that KY hunters can use dogs for fall turkey this year. That is how I first learned to hunt them. Break up the flock and then get em coming back together and you can get yourself a true prize for Thanksgiving. As far as grouse later on let me know. I will be ducking through December and January and plan on a trip to the Chesapeake so give me a heads up and I'll switch gears for the grouse. Caught your FFL question this morning. Got a buddy with one in Bowling Green I'll ask him when I see him. he doesn't have a shop but does some buying and selling and a little smithing. Sounds like the same thing your looking into.

RE: Kennel Question
 

Didn't mean to get off the Kennel topic. Does anyone know about some of the products out there that get used for the runs besides concrete. Seems like I've seen ads in PDJ but i am wondering if anyone has used some of the mats or plank sysytems and what they think about them, I may be moving and will need to put up a new Kennel if I do.

RE: Kennel Question
 

I haven't read the above replies too carefully, so just in case it wasn't mentioned...consider a sealant to put on the concrete. This can prevent urine and other stuff from soaking into the concrete. Good luck.

RE: Kennel Question
 

Here is a pic of Casey's kennel.

The front 1/3 is a concrete pad - Covered with Astro-Turf. It has a roof (with a snow deflector and rain gutter). His teather ball hangs down from the ceiling. His dog house and Kiddie Pool (in the summer) as well as a raised platform for food and water sit on the pad. There is a "motion detector" light that turns on when he is "protecting our property" at night. The gate is lockable.

The rear 2/3 is dirt to dig in (the perimiter foundation goes down 2', to prevent him from digging out or other critters from digging in), trees to pee on and bushes to lay under.