The American Beagler Forum

Re-doing my kennels, thinking about putting gravel in them...Any advice from folks who have a gravel floor in there kennels as far as what size to use and how thick it needs to be spread...do the dogs still dig holes even though it's gravel? Just the pros and cons of a gravel floor...Thanks very much for your help...Paul

I have gravel in my kennel and I see no benefit of it at all except that you don't have puddles of pee standing. Yes the dogs still dig. It makes it very hard to clean. Everything is absorbed down into the gravel no matter how hard you try to keep up with it. I used very small chipped limestone thinking that adding lime dust to it that it would harden up close to concrete. That has not been the case for me. I went this route to safe money. Not worth it at all.

if you use something like crush and run (crushed limestone)on the bottom layer and something fine for the top layer it will pack down hard and still absorb the urine and everything will scoop up easy. i have a friend who used this on his newer kennels and it works very well. had them for years and they still look great and you never smell anything. he dug out for where his kennels would sit as well and then put down railroad ties and sit his kennels down on them and fastened them down to the railroad ties. no digging at all.!

I tried it in some of mine. It worked OK the first summer as long as I cleaned it everyday. When spring came it was a mess and very hard to clean. I would never use it again.

I have it amd lile it for the most part.The railroad ties idea sounds good.I put wire down first and then about 3 in, of dense grade then fine limestone tailings.The first one I did I didn't use the wire and they dug like crazy.With the wire they still dig but not bad,I think it makes their toes sore and it is easy to fix when thet do.Seems like they have a real tough foot when they are on rock.I've gotten dogs that were on concrete and they limped around for a few days till they toughened up.

jimb1069 wrote:I have gravel in my kennel and I see no benefit of it at all except that you don't have puddles of pee standing. Yes the dogs still dig. It makes it very hard to clean. Everything is absorbed down into the gravel no matter how hard you try to keep up with it. I used very small chipped limestone thinking that adding lime dust to it that it would harden up close to concrete. That has not been the case for me. I went this route to safe money. Not worth it at all.

All of the above, and more. it's more headache then it's worth.

My brother used ties as borders and filled it up with 4" to 6" of pea gravel.
Used a box stall fork to sift through the pea gravel and pick up the solid waste.

http://www.fleetfarm.com/mff/detail/lit ... 0000044581

Thanks very much guys for the info....I was wondering how hard it would be to clean,,, I'll take anymore commits also and thanks in advance..Paul

Years ago my Dad built a dog pen with a 4inch thick cement footing that came above ground level. He filled it with large Pee Stone. One of the nicest cleanest pens I ever saw.

I put dence grade over bigger gravles one time then poured bags of ready mix over it was hard as cement lot cheaper than pouring a pad

I put down wire and a couple inches of cheap pea gravel over it. Cleans up easy, keeps thier pads tough. I'll never go back to concrete. The older dogs can't take it in thier joints.
Thanks,
Bob

Nothing like using 3/8" chipped crushed limestone for kennel florring. I have used it for years. Packs down and firms just right. Very easy to clean up mess. During hot months sprinkle with a little lime and spray with bleach once a week.