CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The U.S. Navy hired a company this week to build a new military working dog kennel on Guam, according to a contract announcement Thursday.

The $7.2 million project will include 10 kennels, an outdoor obedience course, and an exercise and break area, the Navy reported.

The U.S. military is making preparations for a historic military buildup on the island that includes plans to move 8,600 Okinawa Marines to the island territory by 2014.

“This project is a key enabler to the Marine Corps relocation,” David Bice, executive director of the Joint Guam Program Office, is quoted in the announcement. “Relocating the Navy’s working dog facility from its current location in Apra Harbor will allow construction to begin on improving the wharves and building other waterfront activities needed to support the Marines’ amphibious ship pier-side requirements on Guam.”

The kennels will be built in Santa Rita by a California-based company, Pacific West Builders, and be completed by 2012.