Sorry, couldn't really find a better place to post this <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I am debating putting wood shavings down in my kennels...are dogs prone to eating it? I wanted to use pea gravel, but I figure they'd eat that too! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

The shavings sounded like a nice alternative to more concrete pavers that I was about to put up. Absorbent was a big plus for me, especially in this chilly weather. I spray down pavers and the entire dirt area around the kennels is wet for three days lol <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I never had a problem with them eating the shavings. They did DIG though.

My kennels are 15 X 9 and I put 6 feet of square pavers down on one end (on sand, easy enough project) to have their doghouses up on and then the other part of the run was the wood chips from home depot. This is also what a breeder friend of mine did. I've sinced move and now that the two runs are secondary (just on grass not hardly ever used) I will probably put wood chips in them again.

Like I said, digging was a huge issue with my dogs. I had to bury cinder blocks down the middle pannel because they continually wanted to dig towards eachother. Then my male settled on making a crater right in the middle of the run. Constant battle to keep it level.

I've also considered using gravel in the run this next time around but the thing I liked about the shavings was every 4-6 weeks, you take a rake and trash can and toss them in the yard waste and lay fresh ones. It took about 2 bags to lay a nice layer in the 9 x 6 unpaved area and they cost less than $3 a bag.

The only problem I have with wood shavings are that I see more problems with bugs when I've done wood chips.

The dogs will probably eat some of it in the course of regular eating. Probably not a biggy, unless it's treated with nasty chemicals.

I like pea gravel better, I don't think the dogs eat it. . .much. LOL (My dogs are notorious bowl throwers. They knock their bowls over and eat off the ground. If I affix the bowls to the kennels, they pry them off and throw them around. So they eat off the pea gravel and probably get a few extra minerals in their diets. It has not negatively affected them, nor to I see tooth problems.)

I have two 6'X12' dog kennels, attached to each other that have pea gravel for the flooring. The problem I have is that my female(that happens to be related to one of Roberts dogs) is a non stop dog and always has to be busy. Thus, she continues to dig out in the summer months. I have opted to go concrete this next summer(spring) as soon as I can pour some!

Thanks for the quick replies!

The one thing I didn't like about the idea of pea gravel (besides them eating it, lol), was the clean-up...how easy is it to scoop poop off that stuff? The weight of it would be nice, no potential of it blowing around like shavings.

The convenience of the pavers is that I can feed them in their kennels so no worries of them ingesting anything.


The digging is going to be a problem for mine...the suggestion I got was to lay down woven wire (or chicken wire?) in the very bottom to discourage the digging. My main diggers are my setters, and they are not persistent enough to continue if they hit the wire. I worry about the strength of it though, and how am I going to lay it down (across the kennel) without any part of it bulging up. Don't want to trip and fall on my face at night when I'm in there cleaning, ha. Is there a safe way to anchor it down? Large metal pins or something?

I love the pavers...we cannot lay concrete down here and they're the next best thing except for the mess after I spray them down. And we do not have a huge place, so it's draining into either my neighbor's yard or our backyard where the kids play. I was going to put a section of pavers down in the back, as Dana said, to put a doghouse on for them. I am also planning on putting a "border" of 2-3 pavers high (they're only 12"x12") that the kennel itself would sit on top of. They're heavy and I think it would create a border of sorts to hopefully contain the shavings or gravel.

Hmm...lots to think about!

if you are still wondering about the wire on the floor, dig the entire kennel floor about 2-3 inches deep then lay the wire down, you can use tent pegs to hold it down then put the dirt over the top. it should hold down good with the weight of the dirt and if you go to your local farm supply store they can get you some strong wire. the tent pegs are really cheap to buy and you can get them at wal-mart. i hope this helps...

OOH Yes it did help, thanks!!

Tent pegs...adding to list... hehe <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

FWIW: if you go the wire route, don't use "chicken wire" or you'll be replacing it in a year. for long-lasting wire i'd recommend, at least, woven-wire (heaviest gauge you can afford), or hog fence (again, heaviest gauge you can afford).
another option to prevent digging out, is to install the fence vertically, 3' down (or more), but again, use heavy-gauge, closely-spaced wire. NOT chicken-wire..that stuff will disappear in a year.

hope this is some use to ya (and remember, wire gauge is the reverse of what is intuitive-the smaller the #, the heavier the gauge).

i hope i'm spelling "gauge" right, i just don't think i am.. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> but i hope you get my drift... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

We use pea gravel here at the kennel. It is no problem to pick up poop. For diggers, we have dug the kennels down about 12-15 inches and put down the 8 guage fencing. Then we put large rock on it, maybe 3" in diameter for drainage. Otherwise stinky kennels. the pea gravel goes on top, about 5-6 inches. If they dig we have concrete dividers/curbs to keep the gravel in, and a couple of swipes with a concrete rake smooths it back out. Most of the rescue dogs that dig only try once or twice. I think that the big rocks just stink to dig in.