project started 2004 --End who knows ??

[Michelle K linnane]

Jinman are you ever really done? And as far me bothering somebody I don't start fights or arguments I just finish them! :laughing:

Here are some pics of when we did framing. My bathroom in the kennel is on 2 x8 to give the height we need to drainage pipes and did not want to mess with the tubing in the floor.

Kitchen is right next to bathroom and the water to apartment are all on that inside wall taking advantage of the same drainage pipes. The manifolds for my pex are in the bath room for the rest of the kennel hot and cold.

So like I said I have two kitchen sinks in the kennel got a butch block counter tops and was always going to install cabinets but have not, wanted to find just the right deal on good used ones.

The French door is between the kennel area and kitchen so you can have the shut but still know what is going on in the kennel. Also lets light in kitchen when lights are off, no windows in the kitchen.

 

[Michelle K linnane]

Well we now have done the liner panels and done concrete and I had cement block wall in the middle of the building with a channel to wash out either side the kennel, so I can wash down kennels in the dead of winter and it will go into septic, I am warm the dogs are warm and save, I can keep the kennel clean in the dead of winter. And in the summer we can have air conditioning. I decided a long time I wanted all indoor kennels I have seen kennels that poeple built that where indoor/outdoor. They had such a heat loose in the winter they aways locked the dogs in the winter and could not wash down the runs. So basically they built kennels that they could only maybe 7 months out of the year. This seem kind of dum to me. I varied the sizes of my runs some are only 3 feet wide and some are 5 wide and my biggests are 10 X 10. On side of the building we spread the pex out a little more for the breed of dogs that really do not like heat I pu them in those runs. Where the pex goes back into utility room the dogs that really like heat I place them there. Next post will be my office

 

[Michelle K linnane]

I decided I wanted pine in my office so I went to curtis lumber one day and got the lumber and at night the guy I had working for me and I put it up was not too hard and if we had a straight run it was fast.
I have always love to duck hunt and been involved in DU for a while and I went to town with DU prints. I love the work of Terry Redlin, many of the prints I have in my house and office are terry Redlin.

here is a link to his collect of work. It reminds me of norman rockwell a little.

Browse By Title

I want my office to have a WOW effect and it does!

 

[Michelle K linnane]

I am jumping around alittle but as go through the pictures I posted them.

Now the I have won the right to open the kennel a while ago and of course it takes a while to build as you all know. Once I won the right to open my kennel and the neighbor had spent all this money and lost he looked like the village idiot. He placed his house on the market. After his taxes went up I still left the sign out along road up for a long time until my uncle want to use the trailer it was attached to. So I finally had a sign made.

This is a chain saw carving sign in that the sign is recessed the letters are not. Then it was blacken with torch. The first year I did not think the letters are dark enough so I painted them with black paint. I thought a chain saw carving sign was nice and in keeping with a rural area.

All 4 signs are each 2 FT wide and 8 FT foot long. They are 6X6 with a 2X4 between them due to the wind being so bad here. I needed a sign for kennel
and there was a number of houses in the area on the market for sale and I want to make sure they knew there was a boarding and game preserve here, I was not going through that again.

I live on a state highway and this is a big area a small sign would not get noticed but this one does. I thought with this big a sign and a different person made trouble the first question a judge would ask is, can you read?

 

[dodge man]

Great story Michelle, I have enjoyed it so far. I have to ask where you are from? I can almost hear an accent in your written words

 

[Combustix]

Michelle Great story, I did the same thing in Idaho tried to open kennel in small town, what a nightmare, but a piece a cake compared to your story, still had lots of hoops and nieghbors half a canyon away who want to complain. The best part was after planting the trees required had a beaver come and start removing them. F&G was no help and we couldn't trap or shoot. (legally anyway)
After about two years we were up and running small kennel 14 runs. Then one of our opposing nieghbors decides to do the same he was up and running in 4 months with 30 runs and finished a month ahead of us. We trained labs for hunt tests. Sold it all in 2000. Wish you the best of luck and keep the story rolling.
:thumbsup:

 

[Michelle K linnane]

Dodge man, I was born in White plains NY and lived in NY till I was in my late twenties. Then moved to CT and lived for 20 years and have lived in NY since 2004. I have spent a lot of time in the south, working and training dogs. But you hear country in my words!

Combustix I have about 25 runs and have not even setup all I could. I used to train labs for field trials, when I had more time. Have not run in Field trial now for 5 years. Had an american field champion FC Esprit's Cool it (Chill) and a Candian Amateur Field Champion CAFC Stonewall Sweet Smell Sucess (Bud). Both of them are gone now they never live long enough. The dog with Glass is Chill and one with ribbons is BUD. Have a male dog call blue who is breed from both of my Field champions love those lines and always want to have them in my kennel. As you see from the shape of my ponds they are for dog training concepts. In the pics of my office are some of my dog's blue ribbons from past field trials.

When I have to guide I use a Llewellin setters for game preserve. Much saver for me and the dog to use a pointing dog once the dog goes on point i get my hands on her collar and I make the hunter flush their own bird. For the guys I know we use my labs. I have gotten so I can tell on the phone how big a butt hole someone is. If they are really big it does not go any farther. When I have to guide and use my dogs I look everybody right in the eye and say, "there is no bird in this world hurting somebody over. If you hurt MY dog you will never leave here". Now do we understand each other? The only response I have ever gotten is YES MA'AM.

Have actually gotten to love the setters. Will always have a lab and a setter. They have such gentle souls. Hunt all day, yet gentle and sweet dogs. And of course I think Rubi my setter is very pretty. Training labs is like working with Marines. Training a setter is like working with a flower child.
Glade you guys are enjoying the posts. Thank you for the kind words.

 

[Michelle K linnane]

I built an airing yard (a place for the dogs to go the bathroom and I did not have to walk them). I wanted it secured, lighted, water and eleltric. I did not shovel from snow in the winter the dogs feet do not get dirty or muddy. I just walk them down the end of the kennel and let them out side. There is not door to the outside so they can never be let out by accident. All my outside doors have auto matic closers on them so nobody can ever accidently let a dog get away.
I have 8 inches of shale in the airing area and 4 inches of crusher run. Very hard for dogs to dig out.
I do not have to work dogs reducing my labor and also increase my peace of mind they can get away from me.

I pick up the poop and take a watering can with 1/2 bleach and 1/2 water and spray the area down 2 sections each 10 by 12.

First picture on the left.
When the shell of the barn we complete it looked like the
Last picture on the right
Construction photo
Second picture from the left
Inside photo of airing area
Third picture from the left
Finished picture.

 

[Michelle K linnane]

I thought I would post some pictures of the some of the dozing and rock picking work. Taking out some of the hedge rows has really made a difference espically to my views.


The picture on the left was taken the first spring in my house. The picture on the right I just took today. By taking out hedge row it enable me to see my ponds from deck and gave me a much nicer view beyond.

We used the rocks from the stonewall fence to fill in my parking area. It used to drop off from the corner of the barn. There is 8 feet of rock and fill and clay. I bought a dump trailer and I had a guy come in with a tracked loader and slowly we cleared the stonewall fence foot by foot. In this area is where they used to empty the stone boat and the stone where 10 foot wide oh man what a mess.

 

[Michelle K linnane]

here are some photos take off my deck.

The picture on the left is from the first winter.

The picture in the middle is the first summer. The picture in the middle has a red arrow pointed at a tree and that is the same tree in the picture on the right.

The picture on the left I took today.

I decided I wanted a little pond next to the house for a few different reasons.

• One I wanted a pond just for bull heads.
• Two I want to use this pond for dog dock diving events in the future.
• Three with a pond this close to house and barn if there was a fire maybe everything would not burn to the ground before the local fire company could get it out.
  
  My dogs enjoy it also they do not have to far to go to cool off. I need fill for the rock walls we had placed in the parking area. So I had a dump truck and backhow dig pond in a day or so. It costs me less then a $1000 for and will end up saving me money in stone for parking area. The pond is not deep and the sides are straight down to avoid weeds. There is a spring in the pond. Even in the dead of winter I am afraid to take a snowmbile across it.
  
  I think the pond is much nicer to look at the hedge row.