building a new dog run - any advice?

 You seem to be pretty set already.  How tall are the panels?  If they are a standard 6 feet, make sure that the doghouses are on the solid wall or in the middle.  Mine, at least would just stand on them to jump over even an 8 foot fence. 

 I think they're 6' tall, pretty sure. I think I will do that though, just in case they feel adventurous in there!! lol

If these are large dogs I'd pass on pea gravel...too small...get's into the feet and will track into the house and yard etc. River rock is IMO a better option. Makes for LOVELY tight feet as well. Lay chicken wire if your pack digs.

     We're going to be putting up a new run towards the end of the summer, one that's heavier and can sustain the weather & the beating the dogs give it better than our current run, which is 6 x 10 x 6. I have come to HATE chain link!!! We've had to secure it on the bottom with those plastic ties so that the hounds can't simply push underneath it. That has been the main problem with our old kennel ... the Beagles would rather squeeze through keyhole spaces and dig rather than climb out. There are also some sharp pieces especially around the gate, which is too far away from the post of the side panels of the run for my comfort. So I'm going with the modular type kennels the next time around. They're more expensive, but I think worth the extra $$$.

     The old run is on concrete ... but I have four panels of kennel decking so they don't have to lay on the hard surface. When I first put it up, everyone was singing the praises of pea gravel. It was cheap enough, and did clean easily, looked nice. I had 6 inches of it over the concrete, and good Lord, the Beagles ate it compulsively They all had "gravel poos" - thankfully the stools always passed, but they would strain to get it out, and I'd find pieces of poo literally filled with more gravel than poo. So we shoveled up the gravel after 4 months, and gave it to a few of the neighbors for landscaping purposes, lol. No more gravel for us! I also agree w/ RWbeagles ... dogs kept on gravel tend to have elongated toes or splayed feet just as they would if kept on wire. 

    

 ok i def dont want them eating it!  and the splayed toes thing makes sense..........so the rock place locally has this.

Drain Rock
A construction rock, also know as round rock primarily used for drainage. We carry 3/4” and 11/2” sizes

or this..........

Crushed Rock
A construction rock, used for driveway areas. We carry a 3/8” and 3/4” size

do you think the 'crushed' kind would have sharp edges?

they also have this.

Cobble
Cobble is a round construction rock. Small cobble is approximately 2-4 inches; random cobble 4+ inches. Cobble is used for drainage, creating river beds and in water features.

what do you think?

originally I wanted to use something like this...but I think it might be too expensive.

http://www.floorscore.com/superdrain.html

i also might look into how much composite decking might be.

 

This is what I have...

ROCK LINK