We're looking into getting a outdoor kennel for our 6 month old husky.  We feel she is starting to outgrow her indoor crate.  It's fine for sleeping, but probably not for when we're at work or long hours when we're away.  We want her to be able to stretch out =).  

Anyone have any suggestion on kennels to be used outdoor? We're looking for something spacious, but also safe from her destroying or getting out of. We've seen some nice ones for $700, but that is currently our of our price range.  Something below $500 and closer to $300 would be preferred.  

We have both grass and concrete that we can put it on.

Thanks!

Adult dogs are generally fine for 8-10 hours in a crate at a time. Not a fan of outdoor Kennels. It is too easy to fall into the rut of having an "outside dog". Not much different than having one tied out all the time, IMO.

My two are crated all day while I am at work with no issues.

Not tryin to debate...just givin my viewpoint. lol

So there are no issues with them being crated for 8 hours while you sleep and then another 8-9 hours while you're at work? With a 1-2 two hour gap in between?

We work incredibly close to home and let her out on our lunch break for 30mins to an hour, but for the most part she is in the crate all day until 5pm.

I don't know how much it would cost but I found a video on husky proofing a kennel.



My biggest worry with an outdoor kennel is that people might be able to mess with your dog and I don't trust the general public.

I hope the video helps.

Have you considered maybe hiring a dog walker to come in during the day? Or thought about putting her in doggie daycare?

Do you walk her or exercise her in some way before you have to go to work? If so, putting her in the crate shouldn't be an issue, especially if you let her out again on your lunch break.

I wouldn't feel safe leaving my husky outdoors all day without supervision, in a kennel or not. I wouldn't want to take the risk of someone taking her or her escaping and getting hurt or me never finding her. There are so many lost huskies on Craigslist and Facebook, I would hate for you to be one of them. I would reconsider the outdoor kennel.

mine are crated at night then taken out in the morning. Usually out no more than 10 minutes in the morning. Back in the crate from 7:30-4:30. About a 30-45 minute walk in the evening and 3-4 hours of play time. Back into the crate for the night. What is funny to me is that often when they are out of the crate in the evenings they will voluntarily go lay down in the crate. They seriously do not seem to mind the time they spend in the crate at all. The only time we have messes in the crate is if one of them gets sick.

Weekends and holidays are a bit different of course. More exercise and playtime.

I know a lot people are against them. But i do a out door kennel. When im home koda is with me. When im not he is in the kennel. Its half in door half out door. I think if you have a husky that tries to escape then this wouldnt work for you. But koda never even leans on the fence. And he only digs in the holes were my previous dogs dug, which isnt even by the fence. I feel he is happier in his kennel than in a cage. Another thing i do is free feed koda which most people also probably think is bad. But koda is a good weight. I leave his food in his kennel with him. We are actually in the process of building him a newer nicer indoor/ outdoor kennel that i already started a thread on a while back (i will try to find it so you can check it out). I havnt updated it in a while though. I think if the kennel is built right, and your dog isnt a crazy escape artist, most huskies are from what i hear though, i think its fine. I go and inspect the fencing almost every day to make sure he is not digging by the fence.

Here is my kennel thread. Maybe ill try to take more pix tonite and post them to update


https://www.itsahuskything.com/t9945-koda-s-kennel-work-in-progress

Hayden_69 wrote:

Have you considered maybe hiring a dog walker to come in during the day? Or thought about putting her in doggie daycare?

Do you walk her or exercise her in some way before you have to go to work? If so, putting her in the crate shouldn't be an issue, especially if you let her out again on your lunch break.

I wouldn't feel safe leaving my husky outdoors all day without supervision, in a kennel or not. I wouldn't want to take the risk of someone taking her or her escaping and getting hurt or me never finding her. There are so many lost huskies on Craigslist and Facebook, I would hate for you to be one of them. I would reconsider the outdoor kennel.

She use to go to daycare twice a week, but after the special ended we are now only able to afford once a week.

On a week day she gets a 1 mile walk as soon as we wake up and then hangs out for usually about an hour before we put her back in the crate.

3-4 hours later we come home and let her out for about 30 minutes and then she is in the crate for about another 5 hours or so.

Then in the evening she'll get either another 1 mile walk or 2-3 mile run and isn't put back in the crate until bed time, unless we need to step out or something.

I wouldn't leave her outside either, there are too many people who steal dogs and sell them.

You can always try not crating her at night if that makes you feel better. I don't crate my husky at night and she is only crated when we leave. Do you make sure she has water, food, and maybe a kong or two to keep her busy in case she gets bored? As Kelly said as long as she is getting enough exercise there shouldn't be a problem.

We went to a fencing company and purchased chain link fencing to build our custom 10'x25' kennel runs. We buried welded wire cattle panels below the pea gravel flooring and secured those panels to the bottom of the fence every 6"-8" with metal wire clips to prevent dig outs. We used welded mesh horse fence secured to the top, which I'm actually planning on changing out to cattle panels as they go on sale this spring, to prevent climb outs. They are secure and have had no escapees since completing the build. We are very happy with the results, we've added 2 custom built dog houses per as we house 2 dogs per run. Of course living out where we do I have little to no worry about people messing with my dogs or our set up.