Hi Guys,

At the moment shadow is crated inside when I am at work (let out every2-3 hrs).  When he gets older we are thinking about building him a secure run outside where he will have more room to play ( we are going to put a sandpit in there too) and ofcourse he will have a kennel in there to sleep in.

My question is do many of you do this? or do you mainly keep them inside?  Is it a good idea to build him a run?This would only be when we arent home.... he will still sleep inside and be inside when we are home.

Each time we put him in his crate he gets a kong, a treat ball, pigs ear, or a bone to keep him entertained, however he seems to get bored quickly and isnt content being in there playing with his toys... we are worried he is getting bored and will end up hating his crate.  His toileting also seems to be going backwards and has an accident in there most days.... He is nealry 14 weeks and he cant seem to hold on any longer than 2 hrs.... is this normal?  During the night though he has NO trouble (but he does sleep in a diff crate in our bedroom so we let him out as soon as he wakes- which can be 4-5 hrs...)

Thanks!

I started using an outdoor dog run for short periods when my older Husky, Brooks, was about 6 months old.  She is now almost 3 and I've never had an issue with her.  My younger one (who is 5months now) will yelp for a short time then calm down.  The run that I bought is actually a horse enclosure, so it is hard metal, has a roof, and a floor that I can hose down.  I always keep her bed and food and water on the side of the run that the door is on.  So if she has to go bathroom, she uses the other side of the run.  That way she can lie down, eat, and exit the dog run (when I get home) without being near her waste.  I keep it under a tree in the shade and it is about 6x10 feet.  She loves it out there.  When she sees me filling up the water bucket that we hang on the side, she just goes in her run and lies down waiting for me. 
When I was introducing her, I would actually go hang out with her in the kennel.  I would go in first, and then call her in there, give her treats and just sit and chill and pet her so that she was calm.  I would say "stay inside" and walk out, give treat, go back in, then come out, close door, give treat with door closed, and then go back in kennel.  I would slowly start moving further away each time.  I dont know if all that was necessary, but she loves her dog run and never howls/whines or anything. 
As far as a 14 wk old puppy, probably too young to leave them for a long time, which you've already stated you know and you watch the clock.  But never too early to introduce them to it so that it becomes comfortable and just a way of life.

Thanks for your reply laurnerox1. We think we are going to build a run with a cement floor, pool style fencing sides and roof.  Part of the roof will be covered the other part wont be so the sun can come in.  So it will be fully enclosed so he cant escape.  But we might have a look at some pre made runs as well.
I agree he is too young at the moment but I like the idea of introducing him to it soon so he becomes familiar with it and we can get him used to it slowly. Last thing we want is for him to hate it and carry on when he goes in there.
What sort of toys and activity type things do you have in your run?

Koda is in his run for 8-10 hours every day and he is fine. His run is half indoor half outdoor with a dog door between so he can go in and out as he pleases. He free feeds so he has his food and water in there and hebis fine. I do the same thing you plan on doing. Whenim home he is inside and at nigh lt he sleeps inside. If im going to be out if town he will sleep in his run. He did find the only time i did that. We are actually in the process of building a nicer one for him.. The one he is in now was a temporary one we had for my old dogs. Here is a link to how my ruin is looking now. 
https://www.itsahuskything.com/t9945-koda-s-kennel-work-in-progress

Eric- Do you think rather than having an indoor section a Kennel would be ok?  we are working with a square shaped area and we would also like to have a sandpit in there for him as well, plus he will need a section to go to the toilet if he needs to.  What would a good layout be?

Laurnerox1- I like your idea of having the toileting area on the other side so she doesnt have to go near it when exiting.  I hope we can do the same for Shadow.

Mine have 5 large kennel runs they sleep in and spend unsupervised time in- when we are home they have the run of a .5 acre fenced yard with a dirt mound for digging, a multitude of toys, and a pool.  There are individual dog houses for them to lounge in or on (more often on than in), it's completely gravel floor for optimal draining, sand based, welded wire grid under the gravel and tied to the bottom of the fencing to prevent dig out, welded wire tops to prevent climb out, and shade tarps over half the run in the summer time-  This photo was from when they were initially completed

^ that is AMAZING Lani!! Your puppies are so blessed.

As far as toys and stuff, I am blessed with a low energy mellow husky when it comes to Brooks.  I throw a few Kongs in there and rubber bones and she's fine.  She doesn't like toys or even pay attention to them.  She kinda just hangs out.
But with Jago...I have a feeling I'm going to be putting a lot more toys in there for fun.  Maybe tie up ropes to the sides (since they're so secure, can be kicked by horses and survive) and other things to chew on. 
Sorry I can't answer that one very well.

We built a kennel for our girls by fencing in a 7,500 sq. foot area and they do fine in it. I do have to check it daily and fill in any holes because one of them is so prone to digging out, but the others aren't even interested in getting out because they have so much space that they don't feel closed in.  If I had it to do over, I would have gotten taller fencing and buried some of it underground to discourage the dig outs.

This is a slightly older thread but I just wanted to say I really appreciate it. My parents have a dog run and when I was visiting them last weekend Jasper loved it, so I started thinking about setting up one in my place, and wondered what others here thought about outdoor runs. I'm glad to hear that several people here have one and their dogs love it. Now just to figure out where in my small yard I can set it up!