The American Beagler Forum

I have a heavy grade plastic (store bought) doghouse. It has a slightly raised enterance bottom and on the inside the flooring is also slightly raised so water will pool in the "moat". It also has a weather flap. But we've had some hard rain lately and the floor is getting SOAKED! I was thinking about getting some cedar shavings to place in the "moat" so more water will be absorbed. Would this work? Anyone have any suggestions how I could keep the floor drier?

You might try taking a drill and drillin a few small holes in the floor of it so that the water drains out instead of pooling up in it.

You don't have to drill a big hole just a small one with a small drill bit.

If you do as tC said, and fasten a deck board to the bottom rear of the box, it will give it a slight slope to the front, where the holes are and the rear majority of the box will stay dry.
In this season, I would think the weather flap would be better removed, to allow fresh air for health and drying...;-)
Best of luck keeping your hound "high & dry"...

Beagled1 wrote:I have a heavy grade plastic (store bought) doghouse. It has a slightly raised enterance bottom and on the inside the flooring is also slightly raised so water will pool in the "moat". It also has a weather flap. But we've had some hard rain lately and the floor is getting SOAKED! I was thinking about getting some cedar shavings to place in the "moat" so more water will be absorbed. Would this work? Anyone have any suggestions how I could keep the floor drier?

TC's Idea is good. I think cedar chips are unhealthy for dogs. It would just be a darn mess to clean up. Also, I find my dogs like to pee in pine shavings.

just curious in the winter months what people use to bed their dogs in? WE have a heated kennel building (400 sq. ft) and I try to keep it around 55 in the winter time but, it still can be chilly at times.

Leah

I agree with you about the cedar chips Leah, our dogs seemed to get a cough when we used them, then they got eye infections, so we took them to the vet and he said that Cedar chips will cause serious lung infections and he recommended that we do not use them. He said that pine shavings were better if you have to use them.

Personally I like to use clean straw, not the dusty straw which is usually found on the out side rows of a field, but the clean stuff on the inside rows.

What I like about the straw is it seems to retain the warmth, the dogs can snuggle down into it, it is soft, their coats seem to maintain a high gloss shean to it.

Straw is however not as easy to get rid of if you live in town, but where we live in a rural area not a problem.

Our kennel is not heated yet, but for the winter we plan on putting in whelping type boxes in each run (interior) lined with straw of course to keep them off the floor and to help them retain their body heat. On the colder nights we will use those heat lamp shades, with a light bulb hung in each box hung high enough the dog can't reach the bulb but low enough to heat the enterior of the box. The really are good at warming up a small space.

Eventually the entire kennel will be heated and cooled, but since we just finished building the kennel shed the amenities will take some time.

Kennel can be viewed at

http://www.excoboard.com/exco/thread.ph ... did=470804

What a beautiful set up TC! when I originally built mine it was for cocker spaniels so, I only have 1 indoor run and 3x3 pens on the inside for sleeping. I definately need to change that at some point. The dogs are happy though. I use a window mount A/C for summer but, because we poured the foundation up 4 feet it stays pretty cool in the summer. its totally finished with sheetrock and insulated on the inside but, I wish I had made it wider like yours. Hindsight and all ;-) I'll get some pics when I get some time.

Leah

The main thing is shelter and safety for the hounds! That was our priority when building our kennel. It is not quite completed, but all in due time.

Thank you for the complement, the inside pens are 5X5 it is perfect for a couple dogs per run, they have plenty of room inside to play and still be out of the elements. In the winter though we will have to do something different for them in order to keep them warm. That is where the boxes built like a welping box will come in.

With the pens we still have room to work with the pups or the big dogs with out being outside in adverse weather. This makes it nice also.