Kennel refurb

I thought you might like to know what's going on at LL HQ at the mo - we're having a bit of a refurb in the kennels, mainly the floor but a few other bits and bobs.

I've been concerned over the last couple of years that there was a residual smell of pee in the kennels, even though it gets cleaned out at least twice a day and I had a sneaky feeling that pee was getting trapped underneath the rubber stable matting. So we are in the process of removing all the (really heavy) rubber matting and laying down some more concrete to give the floor a steeper gradient, then putting ceramic tiles on the top of that.

Of course, nothing is ever simple in our world, so we have to have special "anti-pee" epoxy stuff to put over the concrete and under the tiles and "pee-proof" grout between the tiles and around the edges so they stay sealed and don't lift. When I say "we" it's actually nowt to do with me- I'm the tea lady - it's our wonderful local handyman Edward Johnson who's masterminding the operation with help from Kieron our resident kennel hand and Alex ( No1 son) who's popping over when any heavy stuff needs doing........so many, many thanks to them for doing such a dirty, smelly, noisy job as we still have a few kennel dogs in situ.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to the wonderful people who've donated the money for this to happen - you know who you are

Whilst this is slowly happening (the weather's not been too good for drying out concrete!) Edward and his helpers have been making new beds for the kennel dogs- more lightweight, so we can clean around and under them easily, but the warmth from the heater will permeate up through the slats of the bed. plus we can put an extra plastic or raised bed underneath if needed, as the heaters and wiring are caged in. We'll be using the thick blue vinyl kennel mats on top of the wooden beds as there's a lip to stop them sliding off (with an anti chew strip at the front!).

We were looking at getting different divider panels for the kennel runs too, as we've had a few incidents of dogs being bitten through the metal bars as they jump up. Then, of course, as they pull way when they go back down to the floor, it becomes a rip wound, rather than a puncture and bleeds profusely. But we've decided to try fencing them off using the existing barred kennel panels and adding some sturdy weldmesh along the tops, fixed along the ceiling on batons and fixed to the bars. Fingers crossed!

Hopefully when the weather's a bit warmer, we'll be able to put a splash of white paint over the ceiling to reflect the light a bit and maybe along the corridor too. We have to fit doing all this around the residents who can't be moved into foster homes, so it all takes time.

So this is what's happening at the mo and why we can't take in the gazillions of dogs that we're asked to on a daily basis. Hopefully in another week or so we'll be back up to speed though