My Malinois seems to be very uncomfortable with heavy mud and water build up. Currently the snow has melted and we have been experiencing very rainy days for the past week. She has a great deal of mud and puddles of water in her kennel. She is to the point where she will not even come out of the dog house if she can help it. This morning I called her over to put in the kennel and she went in a down, clearly stressed. I approached her and she rolled over submitting to me. I had to drag her to put her in the kennel. Normally if I start to pull her by the collar she will walk, but this time her legs were not moving. She was clearly not wanting to go in the kennel. I can't say I blame her with the mud and all, but I can't leave her running around the back yard with my fence in its current condition. She is too likely to break a fence board and get out, go after a neighbor's animal or even worse.....and then what....

When the weather is clear and warm, or even if the ground is frozen, she willingly and enthusiastically goes into her kennel, so it is clear to me the mud is the issue. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could put in the kennel to help absorb some of the water and mud, to dry it out a bit. More dirt would just make it worse......I was thinking perhaps wood chips.......

I put about 4 yrds of pea gravel in mine. That's about 3 in thick. I love it. It's easy to keep clean too.Easy poop scooping, and easy to smooth out with a rake.

Sand works great, depending on how large an area you're talking about.

I think sand would make it even more muddy given the current weather and the fact there is a large puddle of water in the kennel. The kennel is 6 feet by 12 feet. It is tarped but the water finds a way to get in. What blows me away is this dog is fearless.....many respectable instructors and judges have commented on that, so to see her nut up about the mud........concerns me.......probably just lady like.

Although it's expensive, a concrete kennel pad in your yard pays for it's self over and over again.
I had one poured in by back yard 25' x 40' for eight kennel runs and I've never regretted it.

If I ever sell this home, the kennel pad becomes a parking pad for an RV or boat - yeah, the new buyers should fall for that story! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Drew, from what you describe, pea gravel may be the best solution now.

What you need to do though is raise the floor of the kennel about 4", so if you put 2x4s along the bottom of the kennel (on the outside) all the way around, cept for the gate, you will make it work like this.

Muck out the kennel some, take out loose ground and some of the water if possible.

Then poor in a ton of pea gravel, make it deep as possible. The kennel and the 2x4s will help you get it up high.


In my climate, the biggest issue is water, and the pea gravel works very well this way. The finished gravel floor of the kennel should be inches above ground level. . .the kennel floor sits above the water. . .ideally the gravel lets it run down to the ground level and out of the kennel. If the kennel is covered it works even better because water running in usually is under the level of the gravel.

If you want to make it even deeper use 2 2x4s stacked all the way around the outside of the kennel. Then fill to that level. The dog isn't going to miss the headroom. . .and you should already have made it so the dog can't climb out.

If you have a problem with the gate closing or whatever, a single piece of wood along the floor of the doorway. . .on the INSIDE of the kennel will help keep the rock from getting in the way of the door.


Use your brain, see what works.

I had nice pea gravel kennels for years and they worked.


An inch or two of sand and then those stepping stones or bricks also work pretty well.

Robert

I have a friend who made his pea gravel kennels the exact same way you described, but he said that he noticed that his dogs teeth wore down faster.......he used to give them beef knuckle bones and the pea gravel would get stuck in the meat part of the bone and he thinks the dogs were chewing on the gravel. Have you noticed your dogs teeth wearing down a little faster with the gravel kennels?

I suppose what I can do for now is to move the kennel onto the concrete patio in my backyard. My wife is hesitant of stains from waste but that shouldn't be to big a deal. I have been reading alot about the bacteria and health issues raised with dogs slopping around in mud and waste. I haven't been able to clean up the waste for a week or so because of the weather. We all know Mals poop loose stools. Add that to melting snow and rain and it mixes right into the mud.......yuck! The dog deserves better so for now, I think the best fix is the concrete on the patio......when spring finally emerges I will look at other options.

Just one more on kennels I put rocks, 10x10x24 around the base of the 6 foot fence.So they can't dig out,or my wife dig in,...The area is about 30x60 with a 16x10 2 level dog house with a covered front porch, that's in case I'm in the dog house. It's really nice.

Drew, you can just put bleach in a pressurized sprayer (if you don't have a pressure washer a garden type sprayer should do) to clean the patio. You can also seal the concrete first. I worked for a vet with sealed concrete runs and you don't want to know all the stuff that I scrubbed off of those walls and floors.

I used to live in coastal South Carolina and pressure washing houses and patios with bleach was done all the time. I thankfully haven't had to clean unsealed kennel runs, but bleach will kill almost anything.

If you do a permanent kennel pad make sure to slant it so that the rain/urine will runn off. The dog should be able to figure out how to use the right corner and you can put the dog house in the higher corner.