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Our Facilities

Judy Dole and her husband Michael Heffron have built new horse barns that are configured and donated for use (during their lifetimes) as kennels for the Great Pyrenees Rescue and Sanctuary. Each of the two barns house eight 5' x 10' indoor kennels, with "big dog" doors leading to 10' x 10' covered outdoor play areas (half cement pad and half river rock for each dog). There is also a fenced 2.5-acre outdoor dog run where groups of up to five dogs are allowed to play for several hours each day. 

Excavation for the new kennels began on November 8, 2014, and fine-leveling was completed on December 6, 2014. Perimeter fence (dog run area) construction began one week later, using materials generously donated by Terry Sapp. To permit easy access for workers, installation of the final fencing (gated front section) was postponed until after completion of kennel construction. Steel Structures of America began drilling pylon holes December 17, 2014 and poured concrete for the main support poles the next day. Except for a few weather delays, construction was progressing quickly. Completion of the buildings was mid-January 2015, two weeks  for the concrete floors to harden, and another four weeks thereafter to finish the interior and complete the exterior fencing--we met our goal of complete relocation by the end of February 2015.

 

Below is our blog journey for the new facilities.

 

June 27, 2015

Rescue pups (better than a pot of gold) at the end of the rainbow. We have 3 available, 3 about to become available, and 3 newcomers.

May 28, 2015

After months of delays, the new PYRescue facility is finally licensed! We are still awaiting delivery of the remaining kennel panels for the North barn, but that should only be another couple of weeks.

May 23, 2015

John, Kristen, and Michael installed the remaining kennel panels in the South barn today. All eight dry-erase name signs are up. Over the next few days we will install the dog doors, dividers (required by Department of Agriculture to prevent liquid flow between kennels), beds, food & water bowls. The inspector will be here in a few days, so we hope to report the new facility is open for business next Thursday.

May 17, 2015

Yesterday, while they were on a rescue run picking up two Pyrs, John, Judy, & Michael picked up four kennel panels from Big R in Falcon & two more h from Big R in Limon to give them enough to complete one barn (8 kennels). John & Michael bolted half of the exterior and interior panels for one barn, as shown in today's photos.
    

May 9, 2015

Today about an inch of fine hail covers almost everything. We may have to wait a few days to install kennel panels.
 

May 2, 2015

All the 43 tons of rock are distributed, plus an 8 additional tons we had to order (about 1.5 inch measurement mistake and/or unexpected settling). The floors & pads of the kennels are sealed. We laid 400 feet of main drip line today (we still have to attach the branch feeders) and we planted about 40 of our 50 new trees.
 

April 25, 2015

Today we filled most of the pits with river rock (about 20 tons). We still have to finish the last few pits and spread another 20 tons over the courtyard. Photos show the Case 440 skid steer we rented to move the rock, the South barn with six-foot tall panels put in place (but not bolted down) to check the fit, and a close-up of a few of the exterior kennels.
 
 

April 23, 2015

Our electrical parts were delayed, then there was emergency gall bladder removal for Judy, but the electrical modifications are done and passed final inspection today, the concrete chunks in the pits are covered with sand, and 43 tons of river rocks arrived for the top 6” of the pits and the top 3” of the courtyard. Next, quality time with a rented Bobcat.

April 13, 2015

Bad & good news: Judy had emergency gall bladder surgery on Saturday, but is recovering well. Today's photo is the pole barn view at night.
 Both kennels failed final electrical inspection today, but over very minor issues that will be easily repaired after the parts arrive on Wednesday.

April 8, 2015

At twilight tonight, we achieved first lighting of the South kennel.  We still have a few outlets to install in the North kennel and we need to check for proper polarity and grounding of all outlets before we schedule the final electrical inspection.

April 4, 2015

 The front fence line is finished, gates are installed on front and sides of common area, and construction debris has been removed. Electrical service passed its final inspection and we are now installing switches, outlets, and lights.

March 28, 2015

Now that no more concrete trucks need admittance, the main gateposts are in, the access gates are installed for each kennel area, and the posts for the front fence line are half installed. The covered outdoor area for each kennel will be half concrete (which the Pyrs prefer) and half river rock. Under 6 inches of river rock will be 6 inches of concrete chunks to keep them from digging. We are still installing the concrete chunks, which will be covered with sand before topping off with river rock. Our 12-year-old Teddy was so excited by all of this he was running all over the compound like a puppy :-)
   

March 26, 2015

We finally have concrete floors!!! We will now update every 2-3 days as we finish the new kennels.


 

March 17, 2015

The new barns passed their "electrical rough" inspection and the interior walls should be finished tomorrow. In a few days, the concrete guys will start building concrete forms and lay wire mesh. Then we have to run #8 copper wire all around the mesh, clamp it to all the corners, and “bond” it to the ground buss in the breaker box. That forms an "equipotential plane" to protect the dogs in case the building becomes energized (due to electrical short, water leakage conducting electricity, etc.). After all of that is inspected, we can finally pour the concrete floors.


 

March 11, 2015

This phase of construction is like watching grass grow. The new meter box is installed on the pole and passed its "rough" inspection. We forgot to tell the inspector the barn floors will be concrete, so he rejected a few things that aren't permitted for dirt floors. We will request a re-inspection for Thursday, when the feed will be run to the new barns. As soon as we pass those inspections, we can pour the concrete floors--then the two-week race to the finish begins, during which there will be so much activity we will be posting every 2-3 days.

March 2, 2015

Mountain View Electric Association installed a new pole, upgraded transformer, and meter box--to which our electrician will connect the underground feed in a day or two. After regional building inspects that work, if the weather improves as forecast, we should be able to pour the concrete floors and be ready for grand opening just a few days later than our last estimate.

February 21, 2015

Regional building approved the buried electric cable on Wednesday, then our contractor filled and compacted the trench on Thursday. We are expecting 1-2 feet of snow over the next couple of days, so the concrete floor won't be poured for another week or so. Those delays put us almost two weeks behind (now second week of March) for grand opening of the new facility. In the meantime, we finished all except the front section (where cement trucks need to enter) of the entire 7-foot tall perimeter fence and divider fence between the two acre-plus play areas. During our snow days we are building 6-in thick rounded "chew proof" dog door flaps and custom gate hardware.
         

February 14, 2015

This was a week of digging trenches, installing floor drains, electric lines, water lines, hydrants, and then backfill and leveling the trenches (except for the electrical trench, which is due for inspection on Monday).


   

February 6, 2015

Metal walls are finally up inside the kennels, the support posts and big dog door openings are now metal clad (to discourage our guests from chewing them), and the buildings are trimmed. We'll post photos next week of trenching and laying underground electricity and plumbing, then we'll pour cement for the floors. It will take two weeks for the cement to cure, but we should be able to walk on the new floors (carefully) after a few days--so we're still hoping to meet our goal for transferring our guests to the new location at the end of the month.

January 22, 2015

On January 12, the exterior walls went onto the South kennel, followed quickly by the exterior walls of the North kennel on January 14. Then we strung the electrical wiring in both kennels on January 18, followed by interior insulation of both kennels on January 19. In a few days, we expect the interior walls to be installed in both kennels.

   

January 8, 2015

Today the construction crew finished the roof and started the wall on one building.

  

January 4, 2015

Construction of the new PYRescue faculties are beginning.