The Dog in the House 37 



The object of placing the kennel on a slight eminence is to secure 

 drainage. At any rate it should not be built in a hollow, or the dogs will 

 always be liable to rheumatic and other troubles, induced by dampness and 

 cold. Having selected the location, the next thing to do is to decide upon 

 what is wanted. If the kennel is a modest one of half a dozen terriers, 

 which the owner is to look after himself, a suitable structure would be one 

 of twelve feet square, with an elevation of six feet at the eaves and about 

 eight feet in the centre. This will admit of a centre passageway of as much 

 as four feet in width, and three four-feet-square divisions on each side, or 

 enough to accommodate from six to nine terriers or anything up to setter 

 size. Light can best be obtained by having tilting windows at either end, 

 and these also afford necessary ventilation from the sheltered side in winter 

 or with a clear, through draught in summer. In most kennels the indoor 

 compartments are boarded up for about four feet between the kennels, but 

 we have tried with success good wire-netting, and the dogs seem quieter 

 and more comfortable than when in solitary confinement. Certainly with 

 the netting there is less accommodation for vermin in crevices and cracks. 

 The kennel looks lighter and airier and thus gains in appearance. 



Of course the netting must be small enough in the mesh and stout enough 

 to keep quarrelsome dogs apart, but there is not so much anxiety to get at 

 one another among terriers who see each other all the time. The com- 

 partment doors should either open inward or slide to one side, and for two 

 reasons: not taking any passage space, and never giving way when pushed 

 against by the dogs. We prefer the sliding-door set to run down a slight 

 incline and catch when it runs down. The sleeping-bench should not be 

 too high, and must be entirely detached, so that it can be taken out, washed 

 with some parasite-killer and sun-dried. Bedding is unnecessary in sum- 

 mer, and in winter it is better to have boxes inverted on the sleeping-benches, 

 part of the front being taken off and a strip of sacking nailed along the top 

 front to drop down in excessively cold weather. Such a box, if put on the 

 summer sleeping-bench with a layer of paper beneath the straw, makes 

 as comfortable a sleeping-place for a dog as can be provided, and obviates 

 the need of a fire for anything but sensitive dogs. 



No matter what lumber is used for the sides and roof of the kennel, you 

 cannot get too sound and too good material for the flooring. This ought 

 to be put down to be as tight as a drum and with just the least little bit of 

 incline in the laying of it, so as to have it dry quickly when washed. How 



