is there any advantage to keeping ones dogs off the ground while in the kennel? i've seen kennels built like a deck but with a roof on it. the dog house and kennel is under the roof and on a deck. the reason i'm asking is, i have access to some trex, plastic decking, and thought if i was going to build a deck style kennel i would go with the synthetic decking becasue of low maintenance and ease of cleaning.
all in all, would it be better to use a concrete slab?

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I have no experience with off the ground kennels. It is my opinion that concrete can cause a dog's pads to be sore. I think you may be onto a good thing. The synthetic decking is something that has been going through my mind for kennels as well. I was thinking about bolting that to some treated 4x4's do they make 4x4's outa that synthetic stuff??

Yes Trex makes 4x4's,however they are not for structual(sp) support.They are only for handrail post that bear no load.I Use to work for Trex.When I left Trex there was talk of developing Trex lumber that could bear loads,but to my knowledge there is none at this time.

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Sam Snyder

I read an article in my local paper awhile back about a hound guy arrested for animal cruelty. The dogs were left unfed for days, which was the big problem, but the article mentioned that the dogs were kept in raised kennels and suggested that this was also a problem to the local authorities. I have no idea why, but the article was written as if this was so obvious that it needed no explanation. The guy arrested was a friend of a friend and I was puzzled because he always seemed to treat his dogs pretty well to me. Turned out that his vehicle had broken down and he couldn't get out to feed the hounds, and had asked a neighbor to do it for him and the neighbor, who didn't like listening to the hounds but had never said anything, turned him in to the authorities. The guy was not prosecuted but his hounds were impounded.

Anyway, the upshot is that if you are planning on raised kennels, keep them out of sight of the road because the antis apparently have something against the idea. If anyone knows what that might be, I'd love to know...

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esp

We keep ours in a pen off the ground. Its got wire on the floor and the poop just falls to the ground, like a big rabbit cage. We lay a 8 inch board long ways down the middle and they learn to run up and down that thing pretty fast. We flip the board over if poop gets on it. Each run is about 12 foot long and 4foot wide, with a dog house at the end. It makes feeding and clean up real easy. If you let chickens pick under the pens they keep the ticks and worms away too.
But yeah people look at it and think its cruell because some feel like dogs should be kept as member of the family and not in a pen. So I dont go bragging and showing off thie pens to just anyone.The down fall is you have to keep thier nails cut and they need to be exercised to keep muscle tone. If not they get all stove up at the beginning of hunting season.We also have 10 X 10 chain link kennels that are on the ground that we rotate them in/out of so they dont be couped up all the time. The beagles stay in thier full time though.

An above ground kennel serves many usefull and truly humane needs. It helps the dog live in a more sanitary environement, they are tough to dig or climb out of or into. If made of sound material, plenty of space and provide ample protection from the elements they are great. There are usda regs on how much space a dog should have based on it's size. Our Countys animal shelter consists of above ground kennels which exceed usda regs etc. I agree with the need for more exercise and nail clipping with dogs kept this way. To me the benefits are many if built and maintaned properly.

i have found that if you have an above ground kennal about the hieght of the back of a truck, young hounds learn to load a little bit better. i have one here that i keep my pup in, and 3 ground kennels for the older dogs. my young pup loads like a dream(in the kennel and truck).

My kennel is raised, one end is about 4 feet up the other is about a foot ( unlevel ground) Treated lumber with polytech flooring from farmtech it has .75 inch square holes the liquid flows through and the solids get air all around it so it is dry in an afternoon. dog house is inside the garage and two 12x12 runs. I'm willing to email pictures if someone wants to post them.

There's nothing wrong with keeping dogs up off the ground, i use to keep all my birddogs in pens about two foot off the ground. I keep my walker puppies off the ground now. it is easy to keep clean because you just hose it out and then i pick up the litter with the front end loader about every other week.

I keep my pups in above ground kennels.They are 8ft long x 36 0r 48in wide 36-0r 48 in high.. Wire floor 1x1 square..Its just so much nicer not having to clean puppy kennels every day .....I feel they are to small to keep hounds in..Maybe beagles size dogs... Coonhounds need at least 4x10 ft x 6ft tall..My old kennels are 6x12...x 6ft tall...Some guys dont like cement because they say it hurts the pads. Others love it.......

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Check (Wild River Kennels) or me on Facebook. We have a few pics and video clips of our dogs Co-owner Tyler Stroh :Richmond IN Treeing Walkers
Nite Ch Southern Stylish Tide (7 gen all grand)
Nite Ch Deep Creek Stoney
Nite Ch Nite Time Cheat
Nite Ch Goose Creek Little Tina (1 w GN)
Ch Wild Rivers Indiana ShowQueen
Wild Rivers Machine Gun Kelly
Wild Rivers Stylish Showgirl (Tide X Queen)
English
Gr Ch Nite Ch 'pr' Twin CK Lady
Wild Rivers Main Street Hooker
Black n Tan
Nite Ch 'pr' Black River Boy (3 w to Grand)
Ch Wild Rivers Whole Lotta Rosie
Wild Rivers Black Pearl

I keep my hounds in raised 10'X10' kennels, the flooring is natural hemlock decking spaced 3/4" apart. Keeps them worm free and I can lime the underneath to keep the odor away. I wouldnt have it any other way. Also..nobody digs out of this style.

For sanitation purposes keeping the dogs above ground keeps them from standing in urine and feces, keeps them from picking up the worms again that you just medicated them for, keeps them from standing in mud on wet days, makes it harder for a sick dog to transfer the sickness to another dog, and is much easier to clean up. My dogs are house dogs but even I can see the benefits of above-ground kennels. In case anyone hasn't noticed, the animal-rights fanatics are very fond of pointing at some perfectly normal thing and yelling out "how horrible" and then changing the subject without ever saying what is so horrible about it. The average citizen doesn't know enough to question the so-called professionals of the news media or isn't brave enough to say "I don't see anything wrong with that!" so it doesn't get challenged. Of course, if the hound owner (who does know what is good for his own dogs) says it they are said to be just making excuses for their horrible treatment of their animals.

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The only reason I could see for the antis complaining about raised kennels could be if they were wire bottom and a foot slipping through. Most of the pics i have seen on here don'thave that problem.

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