Building a Dog Kennel
A healthy dog needs plenty of fresh air, and should, therefore, be kept outside in a well-constructed and warm kennel, where, in spring and autumn, he will moult. If he is kept indoors he will moult all the year round.
Kennels should be constructed of wood and built in sections. The kennel should be at least four feet six inches wide by four feet deep. It should stand clear of the ground by nine inches; its height at the front, from ground to roof, should be four feet three inches and at the back three feet nine inches. The clearance under the floor of the kennel allows for cleaning, and normal falls of snow in Britain seldom amount to a foot in depth. The timber used for the sides should be tongued and grooved, and that for the roof and floor should not be less than one inch thick or it will warp. The flat roof, which slopes from front to back and overruns the frame, should be made so that it will slide off. At the front of the kennel, besides the dog’s entrance, there should be a personal door, about eighteen inches wide and three feet high for easy access. The inside of the kennel should be periodically creosoted, and outside it should be painted. Inside, also, a partition one foot high should be arranged in grooves so that it can be lifted out. Its purpose is to enable plenty of hay or straw to be put there in winter months, for warmth, and so that it can be removed in hot weather when neither hay nor straw will be necessary.
A sack provides a useful blind over the entrance to the kennel, which should be lowered at night time in bad weather.
In such accommodation the dog provides its own heat, and is perfectly comfortable. If a chain is required, then it should be six feet long, and as thick as possible, so that it cannot become a danger to the legs of the dog. A pail of water, changed daily, should always be available at the side of the kennel, and, if necessary, tied to the kennel to prevent its falling over.
This type of kennel is ideally suited for countries that have similar climates to Britain where conditions necessitate the dog’s sleeping almost in a hay-box, in which it generates its own heat to keep warm in winter. In hot countries, however, this form of kennelling is entirely unsuitable, as the animal must be kept as cool as possible and well protected from the sun’s rays, especially when the dog is resting during the hottest hours of the day. Everything possible should be done to prevent the dog suffering from heat exhaustion or from being disturbed by flies and other insects. The kennel must therefore be erected on a cool site, well shaded from the sun and as spacious as possible. The wearing of collars and chaining up must be avoided while the dog is off duty and so housed. The kennel will have to be built with an outside run covered with very close wire mesh, and it may have to be reinforced with iron bars placed at convenient intervals, or thicker wire mesh. Both the kennel itself and the run outside should be at least seven to eight feet high, the sleeping quarters about ten feet by six feet, and the outside run about ten feet by twelve feet. There should be an easy and convenient wooden platform for the dog to lie on, about one foot from the ground, and two personal doors, one made for easy access from the inside and the other from the outside.