Dog kennel advice needed.

Big Sky Redneck

I have a 10'x10'x6' dog kennel that we placed in our back yard knowing that it would get muddy, sorta. Well after the heavy monsoons we got this week the kennel is beyond muddy, it looks like a great place for mud buggy racin[:(!] When I walk into the kennel I go over ankle deep in gooey mud and the smell in there is awfull, smells like pig crap! Anyhow we have plans to pour a concrete slab for the kennel but as of right now I'm not able to, hope to do it before first snow but may not.

What I need to know is what can I do about the mud and odor, as well as insects? I was doing some maintenence on it today as well as evicting the dog untill it dries up and was eaten alive by bugs. Any suggestions about this?

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Politicians are like diapers, every so often you need to change them, for obvious reasons.

n/a

Classic and I talked this one over...*LOL..and it brought back so many memories of raising cows, chickens and horses....well me anywho..he had chickens pigs, and I cant remember what else..oh yea..I know he had goats..
Anywho...get some cedar chips...lots of them...(feed stores) 3 bags oughta do it...lay them down, then cover it with lots of straw or animal bedding also sold in feed stores...

Insects dont like cedar...it will absorb and so will the straw...but youj need to use a lot...we used cedar/straw in the barns to absord and keep the bugs away...



You can't see me, my eyes are closed..

Lil' Stinker's Opinion

timberbeast

Barring concrete, which is necessary, you could probably find a sawmill or tree removal service in your area and get a couple of pick-up truck loads of wood chips for ten bucks and a six-pack. You could also attach some corrugated fiberglass to the top of the kennel to keep the rain (and hot sun!) out. It's pretty easy to shovel a bit of poop from wood chips, if you keep up with it.

TOOLS1

Good advice from BR and Classic. I would not recomend the concreat though. It is hard on the dogs. I would build a deck of treated wood with 1/2 inch gaps between boards. I would also put it on 4X4 skids that way you could move it and clean under it.
TOOLS

General TOOLS RRG

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0311marine

cedar chips will work for now like classic and black roses said but if you lay down a slap of concrete throe down a pad and then toss down some astroturf you know the fake grass stuff used in football stadiums and miniture golf courses,also i would build a roof on it to deflect heat and the elements dont use tin,with the astro turf you can easily scoop the poop and spray the kennel down reguraly, my grandpa did this for his dog on the ranch he built a wooden roof for the top and surrounded the the kennel with bark chips's cedar thou


SEMPER FI

offeror

You can usually find some factory around town whose shipping/receiving has some spare wood pallets. To make sure the dog doesn't get feet caught down between, I'd cover the pallets with big sheets of 1/2" plywood, maybe put in a few nails. That's a temporary "deck" fix.

T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."

timberbeast

A word of warning: The "deck" type of scenario works really well on paper, but there will be dog food falling down through the cracks. In a shaded, protected environment. It doesn't matter where you live, or your status in life. If you invite rats, rats will come. And the dog will have a scar or two from killing them.
Don't make a "deck" in a dog kennel, ever. Been there, done it, burned it.

TrinityScrimshaw

Try using gravel, and place cedar chips over the gravel from time to time.

Trinity +++

"Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it."(Proverbs 22:6)

Sawz

Gravel has worked the best for me in the past, I read where concrete acutally splays the pads of the dog ans is hard on joints.Wood chips would let there feet get tenderand absorb the urine. so when hunting time comes around they have problems with anyhard or rocky ground. gravel keeps there feet tough, supplies runoff. I guess you could mix cedar chips to ward off bugs in with the gravel from time to time but that seems like it would absorb moisture and get to smelling pretty rank. I used some old railroad ties put some chicken wire under the ties and gravel around edges so dog would get discouraged when she tried to dig out . then attached the fence panels to top of ties and fill in the rest with gravel kept her high and dry and feet in good condition

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"Respect your Tools"
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MIKE WISKEY

INSTEAD OF THE CONCRETE, BUY PATIO BLOCKS AT YOUR BUILDING CENTER. CHEAPER THAN CONCRETE AND SEMI PORTABLE. PUT SAND DOWN FIRST AND THE SAND OR WOOD CHIPS OVER THE BLOCKS. EASY TO CLEAN.