Facility

DeCoverly Kennels is a 20,000 square foot, state of the art complex situated on extensive acreage for hunting and training. The inside of the kennel is over 3,800 square feet, and consists of the puppy room, the whelping room, and indoor/outdoor training runs. We have a sophisticated climate control and air exchange system which does not recycle air. Rather, fresh air is preheated to 70 degrees and pumped into all living areas, and stale air is exhausted. We average 10 air volume exchanges per hour. This is essential to ensuring that any air-borne disease is not allowed to propagate. Each room also has a secondary system with its own thermostat that reacts as air is evacuated. The result is a 1-degree fluctuation in indoor temperature, and a clean, dry living environment.

All interior flooring is concrete sealed with an epoxy-sand mix to grade water into the drains in each pen. The last layer of epoxy is textured to help with footing and impregnated with an antibacterial, antifungal agent.

Our whelping room consists of three whelping pens, each able to accommodate a single mother and litter. The floors are radiant heated so that the newborn puppies maintain body heat. This room is also soundproofed and secluded from other areas of the kennel, so new mothers and infant puppies have a quiet, restful environment.

The puppy room is most everyone’s favorite part of the kennel, and for good reason. There are four separate 8’ X 8’ pens, that have access to two outdoor runs, 16’ X 12’. Puppies and their mothers are moved here, when the pups eyes open and they are stable. This affords constant contact throughout the day, exposure to sights and sounds, people, other dogs, etc. They are also introduced to an audio tape at this time for gun introduction. Each litter can be let out so they can visit with prospective owners, or we can let out select individuals from different litters. The room allows you to see the puppies interacting with people and with their siblings in a controlled environment where they have plenty of space to play yet cannot wander out of sight. And nothing can lower your blood pressure more than a visit with a litter of DeCoverly puppies!

The indoor/outdoor runs are of two uses to us. One set is for resident DeCoverly Setters and the other is for dogs being trained for the public. Each run averages 25 heated square feet indoors and over 80 square feet outdoors. The indoor is separated from the outdoor by Pickwick doors for bad weather.

Outdoor living areas are designed to provide over 100 square feet of living space per resident. All outdoor areas are sloped ¼ inch per foot into drains that lead to a 5000-gallon septic system, which is pumped several times per year. The outdoor pens consist of breeding pairs, young dogs being held by us for breeding evaluation, and retired dogs.