I'm doing 6 outdoor pens 20' x 40'. I don't know yet what to use to cover the ground (clay). It is not 100% flat so it might move a little.
Sand, river pebbles, mulch?
Can you share your experience?

We have 6 outdoor pens. We used pea gravel in them. Where the gates are I put down concrete blocks so that the pea gravel would not gather there and I could open the gate easily. Gravel does spread around and I have to replace the gravel at least every two years.

I am very interested in your post, as I have also been thinking of the best way to do that.
I would think that not only is the gravel cheaper, but also maybe better than having the dog on concrete for the entire area?
How do you clean up the area with the pea gravel, just hose it down so that the gravel acts as a filter?
Pardon if this seems like a dumb question, but I was wondering if you wound up scooping poop and gravel together.

I also saw an ad in which concrete blocks were laid around the perimeter of the run, with grass in between. Has anyone tried that?

My husband is building a kennel extension for a friend. She already has indoor/outdoor runs but for years had 5 freestanding outside runs with peastone "floors." She used shade cloth in the summer and couldn't use the runs in the winter due to snow. Well this summer she has decided to dig out the peastone, build a granite wall, put in and pack gravel, pour a concrete slab on top, then put up a frame and metal roof. When finished she will put in 5 chainlink runs that measure 5x10 with a water outlet built in. She hated the peastone. It flew out, got scooped along with the poop, and had to be replaced every year. Plus in the summer it stinks.

I have 8 runs . Yes , they are on concrete, with a kennel building attached, so they are indoor/outdoor runs. I use them rarely, I have 2 , 1 acre grass paddocks.
Before this very convienient set up , I had pea gravel runs. For all of you that think concrete is worse than death, put your dogs on pea gravel and get ready to be invaded by flies, I mean your dogs will be eaten up alive !! It is torture for them to be in those pea gravel runs, they reek of urine, and flies love that ! You cannot get them sanitized, and NO THEY DO NOT DRAIN ...BLAH BLAH BLAH, thats all a pile of rubbish ! Flies everywhere !
Spend your money on fenced paddocks with lots of grass, plant a tree for them and pavers at the gates. Get your dogs out of kennels , they hate it , it drives them mad !

We had pea gravel for a small run and it had been the worst idea ever. It smelled, the poop was hard to get out, and it made the dogs coats stained etc etc.

If you don't have the 2 acres for grass paddocks, I highly recommend that you put in concrete and buy the dogs beds to lay on, or if you don't want concrete, I would dig about 1/2 foot down, and replace the dirt with mixed sand - with proper drainage, and then buy horse stall mats to put ontop of the sand.

Either option works best for ya!

Have fun!

I love my pea gravel runs. No smell or flies or issues other than if we had concrete runs. Go figure.

What does everyone think about kennel decking? Who has it that likes it, supposed to be better on joints and doesn't harbor insects and easier to clean than concrete. I am thinking about trying it, it is more expensive. My dogs are only kenneled about 3 hours a day, then have run of the grass yard and patio, and put to bed in house in crates.

Both of my kennels have kennel decking. I like it because it gets the boys off the cement. I have them joined together in short panels so that they are easy to lift to hose off and sweep and hose down underneath.

There are different styles and companies that make them. I bought mine from Cabella's.

We have gravel runs and they are fine.

First we build a perimeter of landscape timers 2-3 high. Then we put down cattle panels on the ground.
Erect the kennel runs on top of the landscape timbers.
Fill the areas with 2"-4" of gravel and we are done. The dogs can't dig because of the cattle panels. Yes, a little gravel comes with the poop when we scoop but not much. We disinfect with a bleach solution using a hose end sprayer. Spray for fleas the same way.

If we move we can take all of our kennels with us as they are portable (free standing - not in concrete). I have 2, 10'x20', 6, 6'x14' and 2, 3'x30'. We also use heavy plastic 55 gallon barrels for dog houses.

The gravel has a little "give" to it so we don't have a big issue with elbow callouses.

Most of the time the dogs are in the house with us, but when I need them to be kenneled this works great.

I think it really depends on where you live. But to each their own :)

I have two 4x8 kennels under a roof. The kennels are attached to the dog yard. I use shavings on one end of the dog yard that they use as the potty area. I like the shavings as it keeps the smell down easy pick up and the shavings are free as we have a few saw mills that I can get good dry and clean shavings for free.

Thanks to all for your answer. I think I'll go with Gravel Gertie's idea for my new pens. I've used sand before, but it drives me crazy the sand inside the house. It keeps the dogs clean and show ready at all times. I love that. I guess gravel would work the same.
Thanks.
Any new ideas please post.

just priced out 4 runs from Mason kennels.
nothing fancy, 11 guage chain link 16 x 9
$4000! ouch!

will start calling fencing companies, I think it will be better to have them built on site.

Concrete. Easy to clean. Easy to sanatize, use bleach. Use cedar chips around outside to reduce flies and odor in summer. Remove solid waste hose urine.