You come home from work one day to find your wife sitting on the couch with two little puppies that have big, brown sad eyes and your wife saying "but honey, they looked so lonely." You can't tell her she can't have them, but you don't want them in the house, under your feet constantly and chewing on your poker table. What do you do? You build a chain link dog kennel in the back yard so everyone will be happy.

Building a chain link dog kennel is not very hard. The first thing you want to do is to decide how big you want the kennel to be. Will the dogs be small in size, or will they grow into a small version of a Mac truck? Are they small enough they won't jump over a four foot fence, or will they grow to the size that a four foot fence would be like stepping over a stick?

You next need to decide what you want to build your chain link dog kennel out of. Chain link fencing no longer comes in one size fits all. Do you want small holes in the wire, or will large ones be okay? Do you want 100 feet of chain link fencing or do you want 50 feet? Does it need to be 4 feet high or do you need something taller like 6 feet or 10 feet? Choose your fencing wisely so that you don't find yourself rebuilding your chain link dog kennel six months down the road.

There are several different kinds of posts that you can use for your chain link dog kennel. Most people prefer to use landscape timbers because they are sturdier than some boards and don't necessarily have to be concreted in like the metal poles. If you need posts that are shorter than the standard length of landscape timbers, simply ask the store to cut them down to size, or measure them and cut them down when you get home.

If you have the time to build your own chain link dog kennel, it can be cheaper than hiring someone to do it or buying one already made. Just imagine the rewards you may get when you tell your wife "okay, honey, we can keep them; they do look kind of lonely."