The making of a kennel

Sweet!

Team THREE BLUE EYES prepped a dog yard this weekend!

My 5 pups from Rita Wehseler's kennel will be boarding at the amazing homestead of Claire Seekins and Chris Johnson. Together with Claire, Chris, and my hubbie Randy, we readied a beautiful spot where the 5 canine athletes who'll form THREE BLUE EYES will live this season.

Here's how we did it:

Truth be told, much of kennel was really already there. It was just needed a little "pruning" to tame the hardy Minnesota wildscape that had taken it over ever since a big storm knocked down trees a while back.

So our job was to rescue the dog houses, find the hardware, clear out the greenery, level the ground, repair a few broken legs on the houses, reposition the house, and voila! -- a new dog yard is born!

So, I forgot to get some real "before" pictures, but this is an example of the wildscape we needed to take to build the dog yard.

Claire works her magic with the amazing Positrak, which turns a mortal human into a superhero with super powers! 

Oh yeah, Claire rather likes her Positrak!

While Claire clears out the wildscape, Chris taught me how to use a buzz saw-like thing so I could cut legs for the dog houses (which are cozy 55-gallon barrels). She also showed me how to use a power drill so I could attach the legs to the houses. I LOVE power tools! Randy was an ace builder, too.

Jake kept a close eye on Claire -- and did some nice supervising of our work. She also made sure no single drop of sweat trickled down to my eyes. She give great doggie facials!

Chris worked her tail off, in spite of having had shoulder surgery recently. She's amazing! But I don't condone that kind of behavior!

Randy helps spread gravel that Chris has brought in. We don't want water pooling in low areas either during fall storms or spring melts.

Axels and bowls we recovered from the overgrowth, then replaced after we cleared out the yard and repositioned the houses. 

We attached chains to axels, which we pounded into the ground. Each dog will have a 12 foot circle next to neighboring dogs. They'll be able to meet and greet each other without getting tangled. And they'll each have a big bucket of water nearby and a cozy house with fresh straw. They're personal yards are "scooped" each day to remove any of their "deposits."

The yard gets some nice afternoon shade. Claire plans to add sand so the area is easier to scoop. And houses will get plywood lean-to's for a little extra shade. The houses are configured in a circle, so the dogs will be able to see each other. An Claire has room to drive the 4-wheeler into the middle.

And now we just need . . . the pups!

Stay tuned!