How to Build & Run a Dog Kennel

Running a dog kennel is a great occupation for anyone with a love for dogs and good organizational skills. Whether you are interested in private kennel operation to raise your own dogs for showing, training and sales or to board or train dogs for other people, a dog kennel operation is always interesting, and constantly challenging because you must deal with different animal personalities (and those of their owners or your buyers). Building a dog kennel for any type of operation requires a great deal of thought and planning to avoid some costly problems from developing.

Things You'll Need

• Pen and paper for careful planning
• Phone number of your local zoning board and building contractors

Instructions

Building a Dog Kennel

1. Hire a contractor to build a building of the appropriate size for your operation. If you are going to board/train other people's animals you should have an office and reception area where you can take in animals, make appointments and keep your records. In either type of operation you'll need a feed room where meals can be prepared, complete with a water source for both mixing food, filling water dishes, and cleaning all food bowls at least once a day. You can set this up outside of the main kennel area if you want.

2. You can build indoor runs that are made of commercial kennel panels or made with concrete blocks for the sides to keep occupants from having contact with each other between the walls. Kennel fronts should be a chain link gate door that allows you to see in the run, and enter for feeding and cleaning purposes. For a commercial boarding or training kennel, small feed doors are useful so you need not open the entire door in order to place food and water dishes inside runs --- this is especially helpful if the run houses an aggressive dog. If kennels are placed on each side of the building it is important to have a spacious aisle down the middle of the runs for feeding and removal of animals. An additional room for grooming is an excellent extra if you have the room and the finances for it.

3. Outdoor kennel runs are best constructed of either commercial or handmade chain link panels. Covering with chain link is a good idea, especially if you're boarding/training other people's animals to prevent the possibility of escape. There should always be a door incorporated into each individual kennel run on the outside for ease of entry to clean, or remove an animal if necessary. If you are housing other people's animals and you are in a high-traffic area you might need to consider locking the outdoor run doors to avoid the possibility of theft or malicious release of the dogs.

4. Allow an opening for a dog door in each kennel run to go between the indoor and outdoor area. The opening should have a door that you can open or slide shut to keep dogs in or out when you clean. You can use a simple pulley system to make sliding doors open and close from the outside of the run.

Operating a Dog Kennel

1. Develop a budget for advertising and a business plan to determine costs and expenses. A business plan will help you realize how long it will take your business to become self-sufficient as well, and to know how much money you will need up front to get it running.

2. Make arrangements with your local veterinarian for any emergency situations that can arise.

3. Consult a lawyer to have legal documents drawn up for customers to sign when leaving their dogs in your care, or to draw up sales contracts.

4. Consult your property insurance company and have your business insured against loses as well as litigation.

5. Realize that owning a live animal operation of any type is a 24 hour a day business 7 days a week and that you will either have to personally be available for feeding and care or hire others to be there.