Whatever was I thinking when I decided to do this project?
For a brief time I also had a very wild hare to do all of my kennels. That is NOT going to happen. As you look at the photos, you'll see another kennel behind the dirt pile. That will be NEXT spring's project. But, I will make some modifications. The first one is that I'll hire someone to bobcat out the dirt. I don't mind hauling the sand...but the dirt was the killer.
What happened to prompt me to do this project was that Ms. Asti (BIS Puppy Ch. Clansmen 'n' Amethyst Hi Ground) and others decided to "dig" and excavate the kennel area. Most of my kennels are filled with pea gravel. When this kennel came to us from my ex-MIL we just pretty much put it on dirt and then some pea gravel. So, I decided that I really didn't want to pour concrete as it's rather hard to keep clean, so I took a suggestion to lay 4" concrete block. That is pretty pourous and has drainage. So....the weekend of October 20, 2007, I started digging. I hauled 30+ loads of dirt out of the kennel to level the mess the dogs had created.
Then I had to add 2-3" of sand to the area. This was about 1/3 yard of sand, but I needed to get more to finish that last few blocks and to bank the kennel with it.
I laid 2 x 4 sections that the local lumber yard cut for me so that I'd have some sort of a guide. For those of you who are professionals at this...you can turn away now...it's not perfect....but it's pretty good and is working for the dogs!!
Who would ever think that a 6 x 12' section of kennel would take 80 4" concrete blocks...YIKES. I was almost done, but was shorted one block and I needed more sand....so I had another 1/3 yard of sand delivered and one block. I still need to finish banking the outside of the kennel...and I hope to do that in the next few days.
The dogs are enjoying the kennel and so am I.
So between the Gordon Setter National Specialty and this project...that's where I've been. More on the GSCA later. Amethyst Gordons were VERY well-represented there.
