[quote="LNewman"] I made a puppy above ground kennel that is the same just the measurements are a little smaller and a different floor .

road trip sure put some color on that lil walker pup in the pic...LOL

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Hard the believe his great grand father is the great Stylish Clover and goes back to ole Sack Jr dog

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the guy I know loves his floor he has about 6 kennels set up like it says it's the best thing since sliced bread. I'm gonna try it I'll be sure to let ya know how it works.

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[quote="LNewman"]I have kept a dog every way imaginable tryin to get whats best for the dog and myself. And these kennels are over the top the best way to keep a dog. As far as space there's not much difference in space compared to kennels and chains. I also made a puppy above ground kennel that is the same just the measurements are a little smaller and a different floor absolutely great I'll get pics up soon!!quote]


Are you kidding? You'd have to build a 20' by 20' pen to equal a dog on a 10' chain(314SQF). Unless the dog was chained next to a fence or wall or something. I'm not saying chains are the best but let's keep it real. Farthermore, most of these being 8' by 4' is only 32 square feet. Our county requires 40. A standard 6 by 10 is 60 square feet. Twice as big. I tried one of these kennels and the dogs didn't like it at all. So I threw it away. I personally have 5 by 12 kennels on concrete.

i agree, above ground is so much better for the dog. thats the main thing is keeping the hound clean, and healthy. you can move them, i think it keeps them out of the elements better too. and much easier on you as well. i had a pen on the ground, no concrete, i just used thick rubber mats, just as easy to keep clean as concrete. still have it actually. works good. but off the ground is the only way to go, doesnt cost much to build one either.

Earlier this summer I saw this post and decided to try and build one. I really liked the looks of it. I too have kept dogs about every way you can but I've never tried one like this. I've built above ground kennels before and used the composite wood but ran the boards the length of the kennel. Worked well.

This set up works a lot better. I did a few things different. I made mine 12 x 5 and ran a support down the middle of it to support the extra length of the floor pieces.

The 4x4 pieces were cut from our farm here many years ago and I found them in the barn. Oak 4x4's. Yeah, I drilled a pilot hole on every screw!!!

The floor pieces themselves I made actual 2x2. I did this because I made the entire thing out of native lumber I salvaged from a barn that had blown down. With native lumber when those boys said 2x6, it was at least 2x6 and usually 2 and some extra by 6 and extra. lol.

I roofed it with used barn tin that was in my own barn. I hung used cattle panels for the sides. I used 3 1/2 in coated deck screws to put the whole thing together. The only cost involved was the deck screws. Everything else I had around or salvaged.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow of my $25 dollar kennel.

Here are the shots:







As you can see one of my 4x4's is longer. I have to trim that down yet. The barn tin is curled up on that side not because my kennel is out of square, but because the salvaged barn tin was assumed to be square (LOL) it was wider at one end than at the other. I only noticed when I hung it.

Other than that this was a breeze to put together and the price was right. Cleanup is real easy. The dog looked at me like I was crazy for a few days when I first put him on it, but after two days he was moving on it real good.

Future plans include a bench built on to it to allow the dog less of a jump to get in and for working on showing. Behind the dog house will be a stand that I can slide my dog box off and on. I'll be building another one next spring and then putting a fenced in, "dog yard" around both kennels.

Thanks for looking. Also, thanks TC for the great design and everybody else for putting up their pics.

Are you kidding? You'd have to build a 20' by 20' pen to equal a dog on a 10' chain(314SQF). Unless the dog was chained next to a fence or wall or something. I'm not saying chains are the best but let's keep it real. Farthermore, most of these being 8' by 4' is only 32 square feet. Our county requires 40. A standard 6 by 10 is 60 square feet. Twice as big. I tried one of these kennels and the dogs didn't like it at all. So I threw it away. I personally have 5 by 12 kennels on concrete.[/quote]


Mine love them but for yours not liking them the only thing i can think of is you took them away from the pot they once licked on and put them in a pen that the waste falls through out of reach lol i wouldn't like them either lol j/k everyone has a different opinion but most including I, LIKE them alot!!!!

I have used this set up for years and it has a lot of benefits.
1. Keeps the feces away from your dog.
2. Easy clean up under the pen and easy to bleach out in the pen.
3. The dogs stay healthier.
4. BEST reason. It keeps the parasites from your dogs that are in the ground. Absolutely no flea problems. Which are big here in East Texas.
5. Great set up for raising puppies
6. Also like it that my dogs are at my level when I go to check on them.

I have a running pen that I put them in for exercise.
I use the versa pad for the flooring. A little more expensive but does not harbor any germs like wood can.

westbrook how do you like that versa pad? does it interlock when you install it? how much support does it need under it? I know about Kennel-Tuff flooring is it compariable? thx for any answers I'm in the process of getting materials together.

You can purchase the versapad at Fleet Farms. They have the cheapest I have found. I have used a lot of different flooring and so far these are the best. They do interlock on all 4 sides - They are 2x4. Easy to clean. No urine stains to deal with like the wood. Keeps my pups pretty healthy and not harsh on their pads. They are pretty stout. I used 1x2's to brace and they have notches that fit.

Yes, it's true. People without facts generally resort to insults. All I was doing was pointing out some of the downfalls. My dogs never really got comfortable walking on them. Also, in the severe cold it lets the cold air blow right under the dog house. The simple fact is that these are too small for most hounds.

Some people also resort to thinking that the OPINION that they have is FACT. Which I believe is the case above. To each their own I guess.

When my dogs were on the ground, I had the houses up on cinder blocks to prevent the bottom of the house from rotting even though it was 3/4 green treat plywood. I countered this by insulating the entire house and bottom of the house with 2" closed cell foam. Throw in good bedding and you have about 8-10 inch of insulation.

There are no doubt some downfalls to these, but in my OPINION, they are less than the benefits.

No, it's a FACT that they don't give enough square footage to be legal in some places. <----- Fact

They aren't big enough for most hounds. <----- opinion (Based on the FACT that most hounds don't have any day run and aren't ran everyday. If yours do or are then more power to you. Most people are weekend warriors.)

The severe cold air blows right under the dog house. <-----fact

I think the cinder block idea is great. Let's see some pictures of your cinderblocks on your raised kennel............ You completed one of the most commonly used tricks for a debate. Changed the subject. How does cinder blocks on a house that's on the ground have anything to do with the FACT that an above ground kennel lets cold air under it? Exactly what is the insulating value of concrete cinder blocks?

These kennels are good for some people but alot of people may find themselves in a pinch if they use them. I was there when animal control came to my friends house and measured his kennels. They were five by ten and he had to tear them down because the law was they had to be 6' wide. This was close to where the kid lives who was asking questions.

they actually burn pretty easy if you decide you don't like them.
your right though they are made for dogs that are hunted. main reason i built the first one was because i hunted every night and worked 10 to 16 hour shifts. i did'nt have time to dink around spraying kennels down everyday, especially in the winter. but a dog that aint hunted does'nt get anymore excorsize in a ground pen. or a chain. if a dog lays around or it paces it will do the same anywhere its kept. the dogs i got that lay around in a off ground pen, lay around just as much in a ground pen. and the ones i got that pace,pace just as much in either one too. my dogs can run fullbore back and fourth on the rails as good as they can on the flat ground.if a dog walks a 10 foot lap 20 times or a 5ft lap 40 times its the same distance. what? they get less excorsize cause they have to turn around sooner.
i had an old beagle in a ground pen and in the winter i found it did'nt matter if i blocked it up or what ever,when i changed the straw her straw underneath was alway froze to the bottom of the dog house. so was it from the house sitting on the frozen ice block ground or from her tracking wet snow and water back into the dog house.to me a wet dog on the ground would be colder then a dry one off the ground. it gets pretty cold here and in 38 yrs i aint had a dog freeze up.
if i had a problem with animal control i would just build one bigger.
but it aint worth arguing about,you either like them and use them or you don't.