Kennel or Chain?

[cattrak]

Where does eveyone keep their dogs when at home? Kennels? Chained? I am looking for ideas.Right now 3 of mine are chained and the rest are in a fenced yard. I am thinking of putting them all in 2 dog kennels 5-6 feet wide and 10-12 feet long. with concrete floors. Post some pics of yours.

[mulesNdawgs]

Mine are in kennels I actually have a two dog kennel it's 10x10 with a divider has two doors so it's 5x10 it works out I had to put a sheet of plywood on the divider to keep them from fighting during feeding time and they are on concrete

[twist]

Chains or kennels are both fine but concrete in my eyes is not good. May d be easier to clean but terrible on dogs. Andy

[Diana]

My experience over the years has been that a vast majority of dogs are happier on chains. They can't see their prison & you can pet them & interact with them as you walk by unlike kennels where you actually have to walk in to touch the dog. If it is legal where you live, it is a lot cheaper to keep dogs on chains, it is easier to take care of them & they seem to be happier (with a few exceptions) IMO. Plus, a chain gives a dog a lot more space if you calculate the area of say a 10' chain vs. a 10' kennel.

[pegleg]

I rarely keep hounds on chains. it can be a real pain. there's several problems I've noticed with chains that aren't as likely to happen in kennels. although by kennel i'm speaking of pens 20X25. i generally keep more then one dog in each pen. if your not afraid to open your kennel door and get in and interact with your hounds when your not hunting it seems to keep them happier. i also have a lot less face barking problems then when you chain young pups up and they become bored. anyway that's just part of it and chain versus kennels has been discussed quit a few times in depth in the past on here and some searching would reveal more threads

[kiwi]

I have 3 in kennels and 2 on a long wire run. All the dogs get let out every day for a run .
And they go back to where they belong for a feed.
The wire is the length of the block of land on 1 side and half the width of the block of land at the back .
Plenty of trees to lay under, Young dogs start in the kennels

[LBell]

I prefer chains, it makes things easier. I have 1 on a cable line and honestly when I have enough space thats what they will all be on.

[robert54843]

I used to think kennel but as my pack got bigger I built houses and chains for the other ones, the dogs on the chain seemed to bark less as they had more room to move around, plus makes for eaqsy cleaning just take the rake and a shovel and your done

[MThound]

I keep my hounds in a large kennel approx. 150 x 200'. It has a good mixture of brush and trees providing good shade and ample room for them to roam. I believe it's good for a dog to have the chance to live the life of a dog. Who would want to sit on the end of a chain or live on a concrete floor their whole life? Mine are constantly wrestling or playing throughout the day. They can dig holes, bury their bones, chase each other, or do whatever dogs do. They enjoy the companionship and all get along fairly well. My kennel is large enough that I never have to pick up "waste" from them, they all go in the far back. My kennel is a three split rail fence with mesh wire 48" high. I run an electric wire on the bottom and top inside and had it plugged in for the first week or so. Ten years later I never plug it in unless a new dog is thrown in.

[scrubrunner]

I just wrote about the same thing MThound just wrote and submitted it but I don't know where it went! Only my pen is 50x100, used 4ft. Hog (wire) with ele. Top and bottom. Biggest problem I have is with this sandy Fla. soil when I get fleas in it, it is a PROBLEM!!! Old timers around here called that set up a dog yard. I know this would not work with the gritter lines of some big game hounds but works good with 8 to 15 running walker fox/deer hounds.

[jasongNV]

I've got a 60 x 40 lot for the dogs to stretch and run but after trying everything in the last few years chains has been the best for them and me, couple of them could jump/climb/dig over 6' fence no problem, for awhile it was a call from neighbors or animal I control 1x a week. Since chains haven't had an issue, barking, fighting or anything. They can interact with each other and have their space, 10' chains and community water tubs. Its just a place to rest when not hunting!

[Jkohnke]

I got them on dirt pens some on concrete and some on chains. All my young dogs go on a chain at 6 months old or so. Chain works good on a young dog to settle him down a little. My running walkers are not the easiest to handle to begin with. I guess it's what ever a fellow can afford. After 32 years of having dogs I'm gonna build me some nice pens. One day lol.

[jcutler]

If your options are chain vs. small kennel I would say chain. But if you have the land to build big pens like described above I think that's the way to go.

[scrubrunner]

Just wanted to add using an ele. Wire top and bottom like I've got some young hounds raised inside it will not even go through a barbed wire fence hunting. Some will figure it out on their own but some you have to teach.

[muzzy]

as some have said concrete is really bad i dont know much but i do know that been there done that it will ruin a dogs feet faster than broke glass big kennels are expensive so i use long chains about 20 feet gives each dog a forty foot circle and they bark less at night