Dog Kennel Guide

Large dog breeds are becoming increasingly popular to have as pets.  They are known to be more even tempered than small dogs and are generally fantastic with children.  The only difficulty is that every dog accessory that you buy needs to be similarly sized, from large dog crates to collars which will fit round a wide neck and enormous dog beds which could happily hold a child!  And unfortunately the large size often leads to a large price tag so you will need to shop around comparing prices on the internet and in your local pet shops.  Though do remember that though the internet might be cheaper, when looking for specialist products such as these you might be best off being able to look at the actual thing to determine whether it is really big enough for your dog.

Luckily, buying a large dog kennel isn’t as difficult as it once was, due to the increased demand.  The main limitation these days is actually the size of your outdoor space.  If you have plenty of room then you can install a dog kennel – though it might resemble a summer house!  This type are built from wood and can have one or two rooms, depending on whether your dog is to spend the night in it.  You can even buy luxury versions with a porch for the dog to lie on and windows from which he can enjoy the views!

If your dog comes in at night time and you are more interested in him getting some exercise during the day without being able to use his large paws to dig up the geraniums then you might be better served by looking into large dog crates made from metal.  These are very strong and, if you buy one made from galvanised steel, will be resistant to weathering.  They have space for your dog to play and run but he won’t be able to escape the garden and terrorise the neighbours or get run over on a nearby road.  You can buy self build versions, which are astonishingly easy to construct yourself or, sturdier ready built types.  Most pet stores would recommend the modular ready built crates for large dogs as anything which isn’t particularly strong could easily be knocked to the ground by a big dog.

If you have an even bigger than usual breed of dog, such as a Great Dane, then you will probably need a more specialist provider to find yourself a good range of extra large dog crates.

Nearly all dog owners will at some time or another want to transport their dog in their car.  Though it may be tempting to just place him on the back seat this is not a practical or safe solution and you would be much better off buying a dog car cage or a specially designed dog kennel.  You won’t even need to apply your brakes very hard to throw the poor animal across the vehicle and a large number of dogs are killed or injured this way every year.  An extra danger would also be if this application of the brakes threw the dog into the back of the driver causing an accident.  Also, a loose dog may just take it into his mind to climb into the front of the car distracting the driver and again potentially causing an accident.

Of course it is not just unsafe.  Dogs are not always the cleanest of animals and are likely to bring mud and dirt into your car, along with piles of shed hair, which would make your seats most undesirable for the next human occupant.  All these factors make it vital to buy some sort of dog carrier in which to transport your pet.

If you are someone who doesn’t use their car very often to transport their dog then a dog car crate is probably not necessary and you would be better off buying one of the many plastic dog kennels available on the market today.  These can be secured to the back seat by a seatbelt and will keep your dog safely in place for your journey.

If, however, your dog travels with you more than once a week then you should consider purchasing a dog car cage.  These cages are specially designed to fit into the back of the car and the newer designs have a sloping side to solve the problem of dog car cages which can’t fit into hatchback cars.  The cages have plastic trays on the bottom to catch any dirt and hair, reducing the need to vacuum out the vehicle, and often come with dividers which can be inserted if you want to transport more than one dog.

All types of dog car cage have a door opening on one side but some also have extra doors to allow access from the vehicle by lowering the back seats.  This may be useful if you need to reach your dog whilst still in transit or in emergency situations.

If you are searching the internet for dog crates then one name that you will encounter time and again is Vari Kennel by Petmate.  These crates are extremely durable being made from heavy duty plastic and so will last you and your pet a very long time.  This style of dog kennel has 3 main uses:

House Training

If you have a new puppy who is not yet house trained then vari kennels are a great option.  A dog will always try to keep the place where it sleeps and rests clean and so by making the kennel a fun place to be, by adding interesting toys, your puppy will want to spend time there but will try and hold on.  You do need to make sure that you take him outside regularly to allow him to go to the toilet somewhere suitable but he should gradually be able to go for longer and longer periods between going out.  The great thing about these kennels is that they are plastic and so very easy to clean and anti-bacterial and many versions have a gutter running round the edge of the floor so that if the puppy does happen to urinate he won’t have to sit in the wet.

Transporting

Most people need to put their dog in the car at some point or another.  Either to take him to the vets or a dog boarding kennels or when visiting friends and family.  A vari kennel is ideal for car travel as it has a handle on the top (up to medium sized kennels) for carrying it and a hole to pass a seat belt through which will make the journey much safer.  Strong wire mesh doors have easy opening latches for easy access to your pet.

Airline Travel

A petmate vari kennel is one of the few kennels which is airline approved.  This means that, unlike with many kennels, the kennel is allowed to transport dogs on a plane.  This is because it has plenty of ventilation so that the dog can breathe easily in the hold and special side bars which ensure that the kennel cannot lie flat against a wall reducing ventilation.  It is also possible to clip a water bowl to the door or floor in a deluxe vari kennel so there is no risk of your dog going thirsty on a long journey.   The final advantage is that they are one of the few kennels that vary in size from very small to large enough for a Doberman or Great Dane.

There are so many varieties of dog kennel that when you first start to look for one you could start to feel totally overwhelmed.  There are dog homes for a huge variety of uses from a collapsible travel kennels to a chain link dog kennel which you would keep in the garden.  To help you decide which type of home to buy for your dog you will first need to consider the main uses that you need the kennel for.  It may be that you even decide that you will need more than one.  If your dog is to be kept outside during the day but you will bring him in at night time then some form of metal dog cage would probably be most suited to you.

These can be subdivided into modular or chain link dog kennels.  Here we will discuss the merits of a chain link dog kennel.

Firstly, they are incredibly easy to assemble yourself even if you are relatively unskilled at building things.  They come flat packed in a box for ease of transportation and you start by putting posts where you would like the four corners of the cage to be.  These can either be set into concrete or hammered securely into the ground.  Make sure that the dog kennel has enough space for the dog to be able to run a short distance and that it is at least partly shaded so that your dog doesn’t boil in the heat.  If there is no shade available then you can purchase run covers relatively cheaply.

Once the posts are securely in place then you simply unroll the chain link dog run and wrap it from post to post, attaching it firmly to each post.  Just remember to leave space for the gate, which will come ready made.  If your dog is likely to try and escape then you may wish to add a roof.

Many people decide to build a dog kennel and run combination so that their dog can play and exercise in the run but also has access to a place to rest or sleep.  The kennel should be built into one corner of the run so that it doesn’t prevent the dog from picking up speed when he runs around.

As well as being easy to construct and relatively cheap a chain link dog kennel is also quite lightweight and so if you find that you do need to move it you will be able to do so with little trouble.

The first recorded use of a dog kennel was in Egypt 5000 years BC.  These kennels were made from mud bricks for dogs who were both used as hunting companions and as pets (some people even thought that they were messengers of the gods).  Over the course of history dogs have always been popular pets for humans, often living within the home as part of the family or used as guard dogs of for hunting.  The Victorians started the trend for the traditional pitched roofed wooden kennels which are still popular today.

In the 1960’s the invention of plastic made it possible to mass produce plastic dog kennels.  These come in a variety of forms from folding crates, which can be collapsed for easy storage to kennels to transport dogs in cars.  The most recent addition to this market is the igloo dog house.

Igloo dog houses have been designed with certain specifications in mind to make your dog’s life more comfortable.  They are basically an igloo style dog house with a long porch leading onto a large living area.  The design shape allows good air circulation while the special foam insulation means that an igloo dog house remains nice and warm in the winter but refreshingly cool in the summer.  Most of these houses have a channel which runs all the way round the inside edge which any unwanted fluids will run into.

It is also possible to buy added extras to put onto your kennel such as a door for the entrance or a bowl holder which fixes to the outside of the dog igloo.  A washable floor pad made will also help to keep the kennel clean though the plastic dog house is actually very easy to clean and won’t harbour fleas or mites as a wooden kennel might.

Other advantages of an igloo dog house include the fact that they are incredibly easy to put together, only involving the clipping together of the top and base, and there is no chance of it rotting like a wooden kennel or rusting like a metal dog cage.  The rim of the door has been specially designed to help keep rain out and the inner floor is slightly raised to stop the cold from passing up from the ground and into your dog.  Of course though these are really designed for dogs there is no reason that you could not use a small one as a cat kennel.

If you are looking to buy a dog kennel then you are in luck as the market is huge and so there is a kennel available in every size, shape and colour as well as being made from a variety of materials.  In fact you might find that you just have so much choice that a decision is even harder to make.  One variety is plastic dog kennels.  These are great for small to medium sized dogs but if you have a large dog then you would probably be better off with a wooden or metal kennel.

Thought there are different types of plastic dog crates they do all have some advantages in common.   The main one is that they are very light making them easy to carry and, therefore, easy to transport from room to room or into a car.  The smooth, impermeable surfaces in a plastic dog crate also make them incredibly easy to clean.  You can simply wash larger particles of dirt and hair out and then wipe down the crate with some anti-bacterial cleaner.

There are different varieties of plastic dog kennels made with different purposes in mind.  One type is made from rigid plastic with an easily removable grate at the front.  These are usually used for transporting a dog short journeys in a car, say to the vets or a boarding kennels.  You can buy these for medium sized dogs but for small dogs a cat kennel will work just as well.

A plastic dog house comes into its own when you want to house train a new puppy as dogs are naturally reluctant to go to the toilet in their own bed.  You can use this to your advantage by taking him out to the garden to do his business as soon as he comes out of his dog kennel and, even if he does have an accident, it won’t really matter as it’ll be an easy job to clean it up.

As well as rigid plastic dog kennels you can buy kennels with plastic frames that have nylon stretched over them.  These are made to be easy to fold up so that they don’t take up much space when not in use.  The nylon can also be removed and put into the washing machine when it gets dirty.  These are quite often used by people who take their dogs to shows as they only need them at certain times.

Some people would suggest that dog crates are cruel, cage like structures which remove an animal’s freedom.  However, dogs don’t see it this way.  In their wild, undomesticated past dogs found dens where they had a safe place to go and watch the world go by.  Today’s dogs will still generally find some sort of hidey hole in their owner’s house where they can rest or sleep undisturbed.  By providing them with a dog kennel or crate you are giving them their own little den.  There are several different types of crate available.

Plastic dog crates

These crates are mainly used for transporting small to medium sized dogs, either on visits to the vet or on car journeys.  They are hardwearing and easy to clean and generally have a grate like door, which can be totally removed, at the front.  These are the cheapest type of crate available.

Folding dog crates

These crates are slightly more expensive as they have a frame with fabric stretched over it.  These collapsible dog crates are great for people who want to save space as they can be easily hidden away when not in use.  The nylon covers of soft dog crates can also be put into a washing machine, making them very hygienic.

Metal crates

These are much sturdier and make a great large dog kennel.  They will last much longer than a plastic crate and tend to be a more permanent structure as they aren’t very easy to move once put into place.  Being large they will allow your dog more freedom to play and exercise while still being a safe, secure environment.

Car crates

These are specially designed to fit into the boot of a car and represent a safe, clean way to transport dogs.  The dogs can’t escape into the front of the car where they could cause an accident by paying the driver a visit and, should an accident occur it will prevent them from being thrown across the car.

In short, crates are a form of dog kennel to be used for keeping your dog safe, either while in transport or in your home or garden.  They represent somewhere that a dog can sleep or relax without worrying about any noise or chaos going on around him.  They come in all different sizes and the material from which they are constructed will vary depending on the main use that the crate is for.

Though there are hundreds of different styles of dog kennel on the market they can generally be subdivided into 3 main construction types: plastic, metal and wood.  For many people the only types that they would ever consider are traditional wooden dog kennels.

A wooden kennel is aesthetically pleasing and blends in much better with a garden surrounding than, say, a metal dog cage.  Also, as long as they are made from wood from a sustainable source, they are much more environmentally friendly.  There are several important features of an outdoor dog kennel that wooden dog kennels fulfil admirably.  One is that a dog who has to sleep in it during winter weather or overnight is kept nice and warm.  Wood is a very warm material and, with good insulation felt fixed to all internal surfaces, will keep the kennel well insulated against the cold.  Another feature is that it must be hardwearing, both to withstand being exposed to the elements and to endure the not so gentle attention of its occupant.  Luckily if you buy a dog kennel made from good quality wood and make sure that you weatherproof it with wood stain or varnish every year then it should last easily as long as its resident.

Many people are very specific about the features that they want for their dog house and if you feel that you can’t find exactly what you would like either online or in a pet store then your best bet might be building a dog kennel yourself.  You may at first think that this would be too difficult, but if you make sure that you do some research first and then draw yourself a detailed plan then all but the most hapless ‘Do It Yourself’ enthusiasts should be able to build a very passable kennel.

You will need to make a decision as to whether you want a flat or pitched roof and how many rooms you will require.  Some people who like to pamper their dogs will have them living in nothing but luxury dog kennels with both a bedroom and living room and a heated pet bed to keep them warm when the temperature drops.

Of course wooden dog kennels, like all other types of kennel will need certain accessories to ensure that your dog it comfortable.  A large water bowl so that he always has a supply of fresh water and a comfortable bed to lie on are essential but a good selection of dog toys to keep him occupied will also be much appreciated.