indoor/outdoor kennels, K9 Grass, Anyone?
 

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has ever built or owned an indoor/outdoor kennel for their yorkies (for pet or breeding purposes). The kind that is attached to a building by a dog door and has an exterior run and an interior sleeping space, preferably heated. I saw this design at some animal shelters in rather luxurious set-up, and it looked very nice.

I was thinking that this would be a good alternative to crating and using an indoor pen. Of course, it means a lot of investment, but better than crating a young puppy while I work.

More specific, I was wondering if there would be an alternative to the hard outdoor flooring (usually in concrete) to make a more attractive and comfortable outdoor space for my future yorkie. I understand that grass can be destroyed and turn into mud in such a small area and will be difficult to clean.

I googled up something called K9 Grass (www.k9grass.com) that's an aritificial grass and supposedly "easier to clean and maintain". Does anyone have experience with this? And how do you deal with poop on such a surface? Does the urine really rinse off and leave no smell/stain?

Photos of kennels welcomed!

Thanks in advance!

mbfleur

Welcome to YT :) I don't have any experience with this type of set up but I'm sure someone will be able to help you~

Welcome - you may be able to find some info if you try and "search" some of your key words. There's a wealth of info in past threads. I've thought about the K-9 grass for my boys. They use potty pads and go outside, but they often confuse throw rugs with potty pads. I'd love to get some of that grass and put it in the garage and move their "potty room" completely out of the house. I"m sure this would help their confusion, but I'm single and I work 8-10 hours/day, so I can get away from the potty pads completely. I've done some research online, and it seems a little pricey.

Hello,

Thank you for the welcome and the support.

I ended up googling more, and found something quite surprising:

http://www.petclassics.com/Dog-Potti...-potty.39.html
http://www.composters.com/docs/petdigester.html#pdp

An indoor/outdoor grass potty for dogs!

There seem to be several versions. Most demand that you rinse the grass/synthetic grass to get rid of urine (which catches in a tray/container below, to be emptied) and remove the poop manually.

I think this might be the cheaper solution to building an indoor/outdoor kennel, then!

:)

Thanks again,

mbfleur