If you breed, train or board dogs, you will need a well-planned kennel facility. Your kennel should be easy to keep clean, functional and aesthetically pleasing. Always plan for a bigger facility to allow for expansion. Building a large kennel facility may require several people or a professional contractor. Whether you do it yourself or hire someone, knowing the essentials will ensure you get the kennel facility that accommodates your needs.
Instructions
Planning to Build Your Kennel Facility
1. Consult your local zoning office to be sure your facility is permitted. If you are going to use your kennel facility for services such as boarding or training, consult with a lawyer for the appropriate legal forms and releases.
2. Plan your building for ease of use. Your indoor kennel area should have kennels at least 6-feet by 6-feet for each animal and at least a 4-foot aisle to work in. A large aisle makes your facility easier to clean, move around in to feed animals, and move each animal.
Your facility should have a separate feed preparation area where you can mix and store the food for your occupants. There should be running water and a sink in the feed room, if at all possible, so you can easily wash dishes and fill water bowls. If you have no indoor plumping, your facility will not pass a public building inspection for commercial use for boarding or training other people's animals. Plan to have your building on a site where water is an available option. If you are building your kennel for private use and do not have water lines present, you can bring water to the area by hand or by hose, although it creates a lot more work, and in cold climates can be difficult.
Shelves on the walls for storing unused dishes, cleaning supplies or canned dog food are useful. The number of shelves you will require depends largely on the size of your facility and your desires. Store all dry dog food bags on pallets so that they are not in contact with the ground where they can accumulate moisture and spoil. Include a grooming area with running water and bathing tub for grooming dogs. Make sure to leave an area in your kennel facility for a reception desk if you are going to use your kennel for boarding or training other people's dogs.
3. Pour a concrete slab at least 4-inches larger than the building and outdoor kennel size. Concrete makes the best foundation for both building and outdoor runs. Concrete is both durable and easy to keep clean. It also prevents digging and makes your indoor and outdoor runs escape-proof.
4. Erect a suitably sized building or hire a contractor to construct your facility to be sure it is strong and durable. Metal pole building kits are available in many appropriate sizes if you have the construction ability to erect a large building. If you are not an experienced builder, a full-scale kennel is probably not a suitable do-it-yourself project and will likely be hazardous. A kennel building requires exact construction knowledge. The size of your facility will be determined by the number of dogs you wish to house and can reasonably handle, and whether you will be running your operation on your own or hiring a staff of employees to help feed, clean and care for the occupants.
5. Leave plenty of room for outdoor runs. Individual kennel runs are the most useful. Having an individual run for each animal prevents fighting between kennel mates that can result in severe and even fatal injuries. Create outdoor runs from chain link kennel panels bolted onto the cement with concrete screws. Outdoor runs should be 12 feet long at a minimum and at least 6 feet wide. Commercial chain link kennel panels are available in 6- and 12-foot lengths, are easy to assemble and can be freestanding, or bolted to the sides of the building with bolts and/or the concrete pad with concrete bolts. The number of panels required will also depend on the number of dogs you wish to house at any one time and if you will be handling all of the daily duties or hiring a staff to help you feed, clean and care for each animal. It is wise to build for a few more animals than you think you wish to house to allow for expansion without having to build additions to your existing facility.
6. Build indoor runs with chain-link kennel panels, or build sides with concrete blocks with a chain-link door front to keep dogs from fighting between kennels. The same chain-link dog kennel panels that are used for the outside dog runs are excellent for the indoor portion of the kennel and are available in 6-foot side and door panels. Six feet by 6-feet is the minimum size for an indoor dog kennel area for permanent breeding housing, or for boarding as it allows for dogs of all sizes to be housed comfortably. Kennels can be freestanding or bolted to the side of the building with bolts and/or the concrete slab with concrete bolts.
7. Cut an opening in the side of the kennel building between indoor and outdoor runs and if desired put a sliding door that you can open from the aisle inside the building to keep dogs in during bad weather, or out when you are cleaning kennels. If no door is desired, add a commercially available "dog door" that they can open and close on their own but still keeps weather out.
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