Chain link fencing makes an excellent dog run or kennel.
If you'd like to keep your dog outdoors, but do not have a fenced-in area to keep your pet safe and enclosed on your property, a chain link dog run is a good option. You install the run in the same way you would install a chain link fence, but on a smaller scale. The height of the fence and size of the enclosure will be determined mostly by the size of your dog. The run should be constructed in a location where some shade is available to the dog on hot summer days. Putting it by a large tree will do this job nicely.
Instructions
1. Drive stakes into the ground at the four corners of the area where the dog run will be assembled. Tie a string to one of the stakes and run it from stake to stake until the perimeter of the chain link dog run has been outlined. Use spray paint to paint the outline of the dog run onto the ground. Remove the stakes and string.
2. Use a post hole digger to make a 24-inch deep hole at each corner. Make one additional hole on the side where the gate will be located. Measure the width of the gate. Measure this distance plus 3 inches from the pole nearest the desired location of your gate. This is where you will place the hole for the gate. The extra 3 inches is needed for the hardware that supports the gate. Drop the end of one of the posts into one of the corner holes.
3. Empty a bag of ready mix cement, sand and gravel into a container where it can be combined with water to make concrete. Use a shovel to turn the mix over until it has the consistency of soft mud. Use a shovel to scoop the concrete into the hole around the post until the concrete is 6 inches from the top of the hole.
4. Check the post on each side with a level to make sure that it is perfectly vertical. If necessary, prop the post to keep it in position until the concrete hardens. Repeat this process for each of the remaining posts. You will require roughly one half bag of ready mix cement for each fence post. This can vary a little depending on the diameter of the hole and consistency of the concrete. Allow the concrete to harden for 24 hours before attaching the rolls of chain link to the posts.
5. Fill the last 6 inches of the post holes with dirt. Pack it down with your foot.
6. Lay the roll of chain link fabric next to the first post. Unroll it until you are a little beyond the next corner.
7. Put three fence clamps -- without the bolts and nuts in them -- around the first fence post, spaced evenly apart from top to bottom. Weave the flat stretching bar for the fence into the end of the fence fabric. Lift the fence and insert the end of the fence with the stretching bar into the open clamps. Insert the bolts so that they are beyond the bar. Screw the nuts onto them. Tighten the bolts and nuts with wrenches to hold the fence secure.
8. Lift the roll of fence fabric and pull it around the next corner post. Pull it taut. Weave a stretching bar into the fabric near this corner post. Clamp the fence and bar to the post in the same way as above. The chain link fence has loops at the top and bottom where each strand of fence is held in place. By using a pair of pliers, these loops can be opened by bending the wire.
9. Open the loops at the top and bottom of the fence fabric just beyond the stretching bar. Turn the fence strand, and it will unwind up and out of the fence fabric. The clamped fence will separate from the fence remaining on the roll. This will allow you pull the extra fencing away from the post. Repeat this process of pulling the fabric taut, clamping it to each post and then stretching it to the next post until only the area where the gate needs to be installed is left unfenced.
10. Clamp the hinges for the gate to a post on one side of the gate opening. Hang the gate onto the hinges. Attach the gate fastener to the opposite post. Place the caps on each corner post. Cut pieces of the top rail to the length to reach from post to post. Insert the ends of the top rail into the openings on the post caps. Use the tie wires (these may also be called top ties) to attach the top of the chain link fence to the top rail by wrapping it around the rail and twisting it with your fingers or a pair of pliers. Use one wire every 2 feet.
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