When I move soon, some of my dogs will be kennelled. Those of you that do use kennels, what do you do about weather protection? My dogs don't care the slightest about getting soaking wet and dirty and it rains so much in the autumn/winter -but I care about it as I don't want them filthy all the time or needing baths twice a week. Do you put a roof on the kennel run so they can be kept dry in bad weather? I don't want them to have to be locked in all the time because of bad weather. Normally they will have a run of over 100 feet in length but I was thinking of covering part of it and confine them more when it rains really bad.

If you can cover a part of the run you'll probably find you don't need to partition it off. When mine lived in kennels they used to lie outside to watch what was going on even in bucketing rain or snow. I put a sort of plastic awning up over the kennel entrance and they would lie under it and keep dry after that. The worst thing is the floor always being wet in the winter with wet paws going over it and then their bedding gets soaking wet. I abandoned vet bed and duvets very quickly and found that sawdust and hay were much better - and always had the dogs smelling sweetly :)

When I had kennels, I had part covered, both on top and at the sides.  This then opened into their much larger open run.   When the weather was wet, then their time in the open was restricted, just as it would be when they were indoors. :)

Just to add my Dad made lovely deep boxes for beds that were filled with hay, the dogs loved to snuggle into them and they were great for drying them and getting mud off after a walk. The hay only needed changed every month or so during the winter. I tried shredded paper in their beds but it gets wet and muddy very quickly and doesn't smell as nice. Sawdust on the floor is great for drying their feet before they get into bed :)

My kennels have covered runs and are shielded from two sides (three if you include the side that the kennel is on) :-)

Stacey x

Thanks everyone! Lots of great ideas there!! I use woodshavings when I have pups but found it creates a problem if ever any of the Goldens went in there as it sticks to them like mad (the Malinois are no problem with their coats), but hay sounds a brilliant idea.

If your dog has not been used to a run but you want to use one on an occasional basis ( perhaps after a walk in the wet and you want your dog to dry off a bit before it comes indoors) do you introduce them to it slowly as you would a crate or do they "see" it as though they are just shut in another room?

We have a year old Golden Retriever who is a house dog. Every day he is walked in the woods and he always swims in the three ponds there and is a natural mud magnet.Last winter  we showered him off when he got home but during this summer we just left him to dry naturally and then the mud etc just dropped out as he dried and then he only needed a brush to be clean again. I was thinking of a partly covered run which he could dry out in before coming indoors again. Do you think this is a viable idea or would it be better to carry on as we did last winter? He is SO much bigger now that I was trying to think of different ways of dealing with a large, exuberant muddy dog. :D

Have you thought about letting him dry off in his crate?  He could probably do with forty winks after the exercise anyway :-)

Stacey x

Not sure about drying him in his crate, wouldn't you have to wash his bedding every day too then? The 4 dogs I have now have always been house dogs but they will happily go into the kennel for an hour or so after a walk if they're soaking wet. They get a liver treat each for going through the door, then I shut them in. When I bring them in the house they're all clean and dry again :)  If I don't have time for that I hose them down and dry them on the doorstep but again that means a load of towels to wash.

Just a thought, but some dogs might be a bit intolerant of possibly slighty dusty bedding such as sawdust or hay? Reason I mention it, is because I was told to never keep my guinea pigs on it, although you always see them on it in pet shops everywhere - and indeed 2 of mine had respiratory problems before I discussed it with the Cambridge Cavy Trust. Even the vets didn't know about the possible problems.

GPs are of course kept in relatively much more confined conditions, being in a hutch etc, but I thought it food for thought as it were... :)

Lindsay
x

Just to clarify, there is a huge difference between saw DUST and wood shavings. :) Saw dust is only safe for tiny animals like mice, in larger animals like rabbits it has even killed when it has got up their noses and blocked airways. Wood shavings are much larger, should be almost dust free if of good quality, and therefore should be safe. When I bred mice I preferred saw dust for them but it was very difficult to get hold of as most pet shops only stock wood shavings.

Sorry you are correct - I call it all sawdust but actually it's woodshavings :)  And good quality hay bought by the bale from our local farm is not dusty at all - complete unlike the packets of hay that you get in the pet shop that are mainly little short bits of hay and dust.

That sounds much better - I was a bit worried for a minute...

We don't use the crate any more as he grew out of it a few months ago.

Chaumsong - I used to hose him down outside but we have a hosepipe ban here and as the water runs down the front drive into the road it's a little bit obvious that we've used it. The washing is no problem as he gets through a towel a day in the winter - I was just looking for an easier way to deal with the mud. When we go to the woods we often pass a white pomeranian type of dog who is absolutely immaculate. The owner always looks horrified as our bedraggled, mud-caked dog waltzes past - he usually has a mountain of burrs stuck all over him as well ( crashing through the undergrowth is only slightly less fun than  hurling himself into black oozy ponds).

A run would also be useful at other times - we have a niece who is terrified of dogs, or when we have a barbecue and non-dog people leave cooked bones lying around.

It's how to introduce the run that I was wondering about the most.

Thanks for your replies.

I have a double kennel for the girls , the kennel part is dry and the runs, whilst they have a water proof roof, are open at the sides. The girls will quite often sit in the runs and get wet, they are not in the slightest bit bothered :D

we have a run of 3 double kennels of 6 ft long x 4 wide they are fully insulated and heated and have covered runs of about 10 ft. They lead into a dog area of about 40x60 ft which is not covered but fully paved this in turn leads to a heated indoor dog room I keep the boys in the kennels when I am not around to supervise and the girls have the inside room and the dog area - When I am around everyone gets to mooch about where they want - they are not allowed in the rest of the house until the evening when they can come into the living room for a cuddle before bed. Wet feet are a constant problem either due to rain or wee (yuk !) and for some reason whenever it rains REALLY hard they all rush outside to stand in it with a look of bliss on their chops then come inside to lean on all the walls/jump up on the nearest human and shed copious amounts of hair everywhere. I use my blaster A LOT in the winter - it dries them quickly and also keeps the shedding down to a reasonable level. I have considered covering the entire dog yard but not sure how to do this for such a large area without it looking awful :(. I'm afraid that the only way of keeping the house respectable in the winter is to prevent them from wandering around in it - they are used to their routine and seem quite happy to be restricted to 'their' areas - except for the little bitch I had back who is used to being with her mum ALL the time and objects loudly if she can't see me :rolleyes:

Yvonne

LOL mine's the same, just stay out getting wet. :) Thankfully at least Malinois dry quickly -but Goldens don't!

Does this mean that your move is on now ? - really hope so - you've had more ups and downs than the Alps :D

Yvonne

Touchwood!! Still not gone THROUGH; but there shouldn't be anything stopping it from going through any day now. TOCHWOOD again, fingers and paws crossed, whatever!

I've hired a woodpecker Marianne. :-D

Looking forward to a CD celebration any day now.