| Kennel Kapers | |
|
Emyly's Adventures in Kenneling Copyright © Amber Helm 2003, all rights reserved |
Part One: Locating the Right Type of Enclosure
Recently I decided that I needed a secure outdoor place for my two pups, Baron (11 month old Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix) and Frankie (6 month old Lab/Australian Shepherd mix) to spend their days in the summer when I am at work or running errands. The ‘boys’ are crate trained and to this point have spent their unsupervised time in their crates. However, with summer coming and the promise of nicer weather looming on the horizon, I wanted another option for them. It became obvious to me that what they needed was a ‘playpen’ (otherwise known as a dog kennel or run). This is not going to be their primary residence, just a temporary way for them to get fresh air and exercise when I’m not home to let them out/in.
So, Saturday, my mother (who was visiting for the weekend) and I set out to ‘town’ to see what kennel options were available. We started out at the farm & feed store where I buy dog food. The clerk at the service desk was not particularly well informed on the merchandise we were seeking and we pretty much had to look up the information in the sales book ourselves. The two pre-made options were made with square tubing and featured a pretty narrow gate, which seemed to be prohibitive for human movement in and out of the kennel. The cost of these two kennel systems was also prohibitive in my case- over $250 for a ‘good sized’ kennel. The other option at this store was to buy chain link materials (‘fabric, posts, hardware) etc separately and construct our own kennel, which seemed like more labor than we wanted.
The next stop, a major name hardware store, yielded slightly better results. The help was friendly and well informed, and was able to answer all of my questions. A pre-assembled 10’ long, 10’ wide and 6’ tall chain link kennel was available for US $263.29. 10 x 6 Extension panels were available for US $21.29. The clerk also provided information on a 13’ long, 7.5’ wide and 6’ tall chain link kennel made from a kit. There was considerable assembly required, but the price was lower at $175.00. The kit also had a sunshade option for an additional $89.00.
There’s a saying “Third time’s the charm”, and in my case, it was. A large commercial lumberyard had three chain link kennel kits available, a 10’ long, 10’ wide, 6’ tall kit for $157.45 and a 12’ long, 10’ wide, 6’ tall kit for $189.00 and a 12’ long, 12’ wide, 6’ tall kit for $253.00. The downside of the kits was that you were required to stretch the material and assemble the frame. Another option was to use ready-made panels to construct our own kennel. The options were to use 6’ tall by ’12 long panels, 6’ tall x 6 ft panels, or 4’ tall x 6 ft panels. There were gated panels available in the 6x6 and 6x4 sizes. The 6’ tall, 12’ long panels were $49.00 each, the 6’ tall, 6’ long panels were $34.00. (I didn’t price the 4’ tall panels because my dogs are large enough to scale them if they’re motivated enough.) Gated 6’x6’ panels were $59.00. My final choice was to go with 5 6x6 panels and one gated 6x6 panel. Hardware was included on each panel. The cost is listed below
What it Cost:
| Item | Quantity | Price Each | Total |
| 6 x 6 Dog Kennel Panel | 5 | $34.00 | $102.00 |
| 6 x 6 Panel w/ Gate | 1 | $59.00 | $59.00 |
| Grand Total | $161.00 |
Part Two : Kennel Construction and What it Looks Like
EmylyHOST is one of our friendly hosts at The Dog Park, a friendly, online community of dog lovers. Why don't you join us? Don't forget to bring your pictures of favourite furry family members!
