Guys, wondering how long most of you leave your dog in the kennel during work? I have my Boykin in a 10 x10 kennel with a shade top elevated by wood decking about 8" of the ground. I sometimes am not able to get home for almost 10 hours and he has never gone to the bathroom in the kennel. I am wondering if he is in pain and not going and if it would be better if part of the kennel was in grass? Thank you for your insight and recomendations.

Give him some grass.

Not a hunting dog, or an outside kennel, but my pup will sometimes go a couple days when the weather is bad/cold. She is a sissy, dont like the cold or the rain, just runs and gets in her crate when I try to let her out. I kinda feel bad about it, but I'd have to assume if she was in pain, she'd go. That being said, I think he's probably ok. I don't like leaving mine locked up that much, but it happens, and I really don't think she minds.

If you can give him grass, by all means, go for it, but he's likely okay waiting for you as long as it isn't an everyday kinda thing.

Concrete. No digging, wears their nails down. You can bleach it to et rid of any germs/parasites periodically (or after you dog gets some like giardia).

My dogs also hold it for 12 hours at times. Dogs do not want to go to the bathroom near where they eat/sleep/etc. I've heard it's an evolutionary thing so that predators cannot find them as easily. Or maybe they just don't like to wallow in their own filth like cattle.

10 hours is not a problem for them at all. I think ten hours is actually common for most people that work 8 hours a day with travel time. My old golden seemed almost like a camel! That is unless he had a stomach ache and then NASTY!!!!!! Happened a few times over his life and I barely could hold my lunch cleaning it up!

If he holds it in a 10x10, he's fine. There's plenty of room in there that he'll go if he needs to. My parent's labs as they got older stopped doing either in the kennel while they're in it. It's 8x12 I think. Occasionally they'll pee, but it's rare, and they've been there for 12 hours before when I watched them while parents were gone and was working about 45 min away. Dogs will do their thing.

Basically you have a dog who has some sense if he/she doesn't shit or piss in the kennel