Kennel Constuction Continued….

So, you know how on TV people can completely renovate their house in 48 hours…well real life isn’t like that!  Real life is measured in weeks not days.  My new goal is to have the kennel finished by winter.  It doesn’t help that I went away with my sister for a week and that I keep getting distracted by gardening.  This is a picture of my Akita Garden.  Not much right now but it is full of hostas and by the summer it should be beautiful.

With that being said we have made some progress.   All the plumbing and electric is now done.  We had to wait to have the propane hot water heater installed and that held us up a bit.  I really wanted a washer and dryer in the kennel.  So, we have a bath tub, large sinks and a washer and dryer in the grooming room.  We haven’t done any of the cosmetic work in there yet, but it is functional. 

 Outside we are working on putting the outdoor kennels up.  In planning the kennel we thought about putting in indoor/outdoor kennel but decided against it.  We think it is really important that our dogs get lots of hands on everyday.  The few minutes it takes to walk them out to a kennel lets us pat, play and interact with them.  It lets us know right away if something is wrong and keeps them happy.  We also wanted runs that would blend well with the natural feel to the property.  Chain link is harsh and ugly.  We decided to go with wood 4×4′s and welded farm fence.  We put in 10 ft 4×4′s so that we can use them to add a roof over the runs.

We are cross bracing all the runs with 2×4′s for added strength.  Around the outer edge we are putting in cement stones to discourage digging at the fence line. 

We put some thought in how to put the posts in the ground.  If we augured a hole and then put the post in with cement they would always be a bit loose.  Also, that would be a huge job.  Sean knew that in Alberta they would pound posts into the ground, so we searched for a post pounder.  We found a couple of options to rent but they do restrict the height of the post you can put in.  Our neighbor, Stephen, to the rescue.  He has a large excavator that he lent us.  We use the bucket to push the posts in…works like a charm! 

Although everything seems to be taking a long time to do, we are really happy with how things are going.  A lot of thought is going into making it just how we want it.  Here is one last picture.  This is the view from the back kennels. 

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