Collie KennelThe only way to raise collies, I believe, is to raise them as part of the family. My collies are all raised that way. Each is treated as an individual, living in a group situation. They are never kept in cages, but may have to be separated in certain situations. On nice days they have a fenced area where they are kept. Every evening, and during incumbent weather they are brought in and kept in the shop.
There are always a couple of dogs sleeping on my bed at night. This way of raising collies, I am told, makes a difference that people say they can see in their puppies. This way of raising my dogs has worked out for many years, but now, because I keep all my retired dogs, I have too many dogs for this current living situation. I needed to create a dog home instead of a kennel with cages. I do call it the kennel, but it has one 3 sided section in which the dogs will be able to go to get out of bad weather, and will have about a half acre fenced for the dogs to run and play when able. The rest of the building will have a storage room, and an attached greenhouse.
By building this new building and fenced area, the old fence which is attached to my house, will be torn down, and in a couple of years will add on to my existing small home. The basement of my new home will be devoted to the dogs, with an outside entrance, their sleeping quarters and badly needed grooming area.
I am building this new kennel from scratch, sawing all the wood from my sawmill, so progress is a bit slow, but hopefully will be done by the Fall of 2008. Pictures will be updated as progress is made.
Christopher Zane Nestor
Master Craftsman
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