Saturday, March 01, 2008

Containing Dogs in Style

Chain link dog runs/kennels depress me. I know dogs don't care about appearance, they just want to be comfortable, but chain link looks institutional to me. If my dogs needed to be kept in a dog run/kennel, I would like it to be as attractive as possible. I took a quick tour through the Portland Home and Garden Show, and saw Powder River Dog Kennels, WOW, they really looked nice; I will recommend them to my design clients who need a way to contain their dogs outside. The kennels have an optional top...I wonder if it would work as a cat enclosure too? The Powder River Dog Kennels are available through Coastal Farm Supply.

I think our "You are as welcome as the flowers in May" sign, would be a lot more welcoming on a nicer gate!


Our back garden is enclosed by a chain link fence that I have spent a lot of time camouflaging with plants. The fence is sturdy and secure (thankfully the dogs haven't learned how to climb it!), and will probably last forever, so I have learned to live with it. I appreciate the locking gates, they offer a little resistance to a thief and are insurance against someone opening the gate and letting the Min Pins out. However, the gates are ugly, and there is no easy way to conceal them...I did hang a little plaque on one of them, but yuck. At the Yard Garden & Patio Show I saw some great gates from Courtyard Art, they also make panels to inset into a wood gate or fence and panels to use as fencing or to surround decks. The gates can be locked too!

Courtyard Art's "Whidby" gate

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