Sep 19 2008
How to Build a Dog Run
Are you sick of walking outside your back door and stepping into a pile of poop? Have your dogs turned your beautifully sodded lawn into a race track? Is it impossible to enjoy your patio set without your dog begging at your feet? Maybe it’s time you separated your dog’s backyard space from your own backyard space. It’s time to build a dog run.
Step 1: Decide which part of the yard you’d like to designate as “dogs only.” Consider the view from inside your home. (You don’t want to look out your backyard to see Fido lifting his leg at every turn.) You also want to consider what gardens you already have in existence. (You probably don’t want to close your pup in with your veggies…)
Step 2: Decide on the style of fence that will complement your home. There are many options available; picket fences, vinyl fences, chain link, wrought iron,
Step 3: Determine the height of fence that you will need. It would be extremely frustrating to spend time and money building a run only to watch your retriever bound over the fence with little effort. Also determine where the gate(s) that allow access to the dog run will be located.
Step 4: Measure out the distance of fencing and purchase the materials you will need. Aside from the fencing and fence posts, you will need a fence post digger, cement, spray paint, level, leveling string, and hardware for the gates.
Step 5: Determine where the fence posts will be located and spray paint their location onto the ground. Use the leveling string between posts to ensure that you have created straight lines.
Step 6: Start digging! The depth of the holes should be between ¼ and 1/3 of the height of the fence posts. Pour the cement mixture into the holes, insert the posts and use the level to ensure they are upright and straight. This is a good time to take a break as the cement needs about a day to dry with the fence posts in it.
Step 7: The next day will be like connecting the dots. You will connect the posts with the fence lengths, attaching the lengths to the posts with the hardware that is appropriate for the fence style you chose.
Step 8: Install the gates in the desired locations, using the hardware purchased.
Your dog run is ready to be tested! The only other thing you might want to consider is the surface of the ground inside the dog run. You want something that will be easy to maintain, soft on the dog’s feet, but also easy to shovel poop off of!
This article was provided by pet-super-store.com which is an online pet shop that carriers the pet industries leading manufactures: PetSafe, Innotek & Dogtra