Hello everyone!

I have been a member here in the past, but it has been a long time since I last posted. I haven't had a husky for the past couple years or so, and decided it was time to add a dog to our family. I found the sweetest 5 month old puppy at a rescue center and I am going down to meet him this Wednesday .

I would like to build a dog run in our backyard so I can have peace of mind while we are away. My previous 2 huskies have been the MASTERS of escape and so I want to be more prepared this time. I'm finally in a permanent house and a financial position to put a decent amount of money towards a dog run. I have about a 30 (l) X 12 (w) spot on the side of my house that I'd like to put the run. My step dad set up a makeshift run for our current dog (pittie X german shepherd) and it has worked fine for her since she is not prone to escaping. And honestly at this point she is super trust worthy and we leave her in the house alone all the time (*knock on wood*, I'm sure since I wrote this now the next time I'll come home to a disaster )

I was wondering if anybody on the forum had a dog run set up and if so would you please be able to provide some photos? I'm probably going to end up tearing out all the existing fencing and starting from scratch - I know for sure I want chain link fencing at least on the side where we have the fence separating us from the neighbors yard. I'm considering leaving the side of the house as the fence for the other side - but am open to hearing pros and cons to this idea. Pros for me is it will save some money, cons are what if the dog chews up the side of the house.

I am also going back and forth between the height of the fencing and whether or not to put a roof on. My gut tells me to get 6ft high chain link fence with a chain link roof. By the way, there is a shed that is built in already at the back of the run, but I'm contemplating removing this as well and putting in a different type of shelter. If we decide not to go with the roof, what type of fencing would be high enough? My previous husky jumped/climbed out of a 6ft fence without a second thought and within a matter of seconds. Is 7ft tall enough - 8? If we decide not to go with the chain link fence roof, I'm thinking of having a solid roof put over at least a portion of the shelter for protection from the elements ( this is assuming we get rid of the shed at the back). And then finally, my last question - the base of the shelter. There is currently gravel rock in the dog run and let me just say its a pain in the bum to clean up dog poop with the large gravel rock type we have back there. I'm not 100% sure of the dirt that's there now ......I don't think it's "digable" - i.e: theres a solid base not too far beneath the surface. But I definitely don't want to spend all this time and money designing the best dog run I can think of just to have our new pup dig himself out . So I guess my question is - should I just bite the cost bullet and have cement laid down so they for sure cannot dig out? I feel like cement would be pretty easy to clean/hose off too as far as cleaning up urine and poop.

Oh! One last question, I promise . Since I do have 2 dogs, I'm thinking of having a fence divider half way through the dog run so that they can be separated if necessary. I'd want a large enough gate so that if they ended up getting along together and preferred to be together I could just leave it open. But if there were issues I could have them on separate sides of the fence.

I'm open to hearing all thoughts/suggestions/comments and would love to see what other kind of dog runs you guys have

I used an overhead trolley/runner between 2 trees, about 100' long with doghouse. But, you have to be careful: other animals? Visible from the street? Knows how to manage a line (I have a foster that would either seriously injure or kill himself a line, he clueless impulsive!)

One thing to consider with 2 dogs in adjacent runs is fence aggression. Sometimes just being on either side of a fence can cause aggression.

If a dog can actually climb chain link then no height will really make a difference. My grandma had a dog that could climb it. Just put a foot in a hole and start going up. In those cases you will need a top. I would do the standard 6ft without a top or just spread a tarp over the top for some shade and then see how he does. Every dog is different. Just because your last was an escape artist doesn't mean this one will be. Since your other dog isn't that could put the slow on this dog wanting to. Especially if they get along well and you have them both in there. I wouldn't put them both alone in the dog run together right away. Give them time to get used to each other and see how they get along, then you can try it supervised in short bursts. All 3 of mine stay in the house all day while I'm gone to work. I usually monitor for a couple days for triggers then jump right in.

Thanks for the advice! We have decided we are definitely going to put a roof on it - both for security and protection from the elements. Our current dog does just fine in the house alone, but I'm definitely hesitant to leave a 5 month old husky puppy alone right away. I'm having flashbacks to my old dog and can just see the destruction LOL.

I did think about fence fighting if I put a fence (especially see thru) in between them, so I think we are going to keep it as one giant run for now. Worst case my current dog will have free roam of the house while the new pup is in the dog run. We aren't really gone for more than 4-5 hours at one time during the day (overlapping work schedules), so I don't feel too bad separating them. I would LOVE to be able to leave both of them in the house together while we are both away at work, but we will definitely be taking that one step at a time.

I'm going to meet him tomorrow and if all goes well take him home with me

With only being gone a short time I would seriously consider a crate inside. Save you the money and work of the run and a pup as old as this one once trained won't have any issue holding his bowels for 4-5 hours at a time. They tend to just sleep while your gone anyway and if you worry about him tearing the crate up just carabiner the doors shut and zip tie all the sides for added strength.

Oh, I think we will definitely be utilizing the crate, I'm just not sure if he's had any previous crate training. I did ask the rescue, but they didn't respond to that question so I'm thinking no . I'll for sure ask today when I go to meet him. Zip ties are a great idea!

Ultimately we will need to get the dog run built for days where we both happen to be gone a long time, or if we are having some sort of family party in the backyard. We are also getting some other landscaping done and so need a way to "protect" the nice part of the yard from the dog half