Is this crate ok? Can I even crate train?

[PicOlio]

True Confessions:

I have never kept a dog in a crate.... I enjoy having the dogs roam around at will and feel a bit more protected if they have free roam at night so crating never really made sense to me...

Trinity, the upcoming puppy, is going to need to use a crate so I've been reading and trying to adjust my thinking lol. I think it'll be much safer for her to be "protected' from the other two thugs if we are sleeping etc and when she does get spayed, again much safer for her...

They all look like wire cages to me... I've seen some nice looking "closed side" type crates for smaller dogs but when I get to the large breed sizes (Rottweiler and up) we're back to wire and frankly I really don't know what I'm looking for so price has been much of my deciding factor...

I'm fond of this one because it has the side door and it's cheap and the seller appears to be getting good reviews...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...PcY_BIN_Stores

Is there something wrong with this one?

Is there something better out there that I'm just not finding? Even if it costs more?

And finally, is it possible to crate a puppy while the other two dogs are out and about?

[Scarlette]

I prefer plastic crates because they are cheaper and more enclosed so it feels more like a den to the dog. If your dog is a chewer, then it's probably better to go with wire....however, my cousin had a Dalmation that could actually escape from ANY crate but those houdinis' are few and far between.

I just bought another plastic crate because I'm sick of hauling my one crate back and forth from Jeff's house every weekend. It had FREE shipping and the price was pretty reasonable.
Bargain hound carrier I bought the next to largest size for Riley, you would probably want the biggest one for a Rottie.

Quote: And finally, is it possible to crate a puppy while the other two dogs are out and about?

Yes it's possible!

[PicOlio]

Wow that does seem cheaper... but the biggest isn't big enough it doesn't seem?

I ?think? I need 48 long/deep minimum and 33 high... Not sure how wide it needs to be for these "wide bodied" dogs to turn around... but I'm assuming close to the 30 wide range?

I'm best guessing Trinity will be between 90 and 110lbs... her mother is about the size of Polo now (95lbs) and her father is about 120lbs....

[PicOlio]

These look really nice...

http://www.midwesthomes4pets.com/Pro...es/BI-1800.asp

But again, not sure their biggest is big enough...

They'd likely get chewed through anyway lol

Gosh.. this is hard lol. I dunno what I'm looking for

[jmb9101]

My moms dog prefers a plastic crate...very dark and Im assuming soothing for her...My dogs like the wire crates though...At least they seem to always go in them first when we had both. We ended up giving the plastic crate with the Pit, Sasha, we rescued this summer to the family that took her. She seemed to like that one more. Max and Har both have huge wire crates. Harlies is big enough for a Rottie (I actually have had her and Audrey, my moms Rot both in there together before) Max's crate is big enough for a St. Bernard. Its huge!! I could sleep in there! Lol...I think the type of crate they like depends on the dog. I think mine just like the wire type because they are nosey and like to watch your every move...lol. (My moms Rot is a houdini...haha...she has busted out of wire crates, plastic crates, and even the room that my parents built her...she ate through the wooden door!!! )

[Jade]

Deb, from what I understand, if you start out with a crate that's too big, a dog can and will get confused as to den behavior. At any one point, you want it basically big enough to stand up, turn completely around, and lie down in. This way they won't use one end as a potty area and one end as a sleep area. You might start out with a large plastic crate while she's young now, and move up to a wire one. If you find that she doesn't tolerate the wire well due to the openness, they make covers for them.

[DirtySouthChins]

We have 3 of ours that stay in crates while we are either away or sleeping. Gidget has one that is just right she has just enough room to move around and lay down and that is all, to this day if we go any bigger with her she will use it as a bathroom and she is over a year old. Jessie the 5 month old pup is in one now that is good for her sitting, laying, standing, etc...it seems a bit big, but she does well with it. Beau is in a larger one, he does well in his, but he is a big boy too, so he just has room to lay down, turn around, somewhat sit, etc.
We have 2 metal crates with a slide out bottom and 2 hard crates, sometimes tabitha will sleep in one, but it's rare. I like the metal one's only because they are easier to clean and more ventilated IMO! We found that the metal one's are actually cheaper than the hard plastic one's as you go up in size. We only paid $55 for Beau's crate which is big enough for Dakota our 120+ pound rottie.
Jade is right they do make covers for the wire crates, We moved Jessie into the hard plastic one the other night as the weather is getting cooler, and with her being so young I wanted her to stay a little warmer, but she doesn't tolerate it well at all, I think she likes the metal one better because she can see everything around her
The only problem we have ever had with the wire crates, is when we had Reagan our foster GSD he actually pushed the top up enough to bend the bottom of the cage and got out with the door still locked......but he did well in the hard crate, guess he didn't like the wire one much

[Jenn]

When Simon was a small puppy he had a plastic crate and it worked well. I know many crate their dogs more than I do, but I only crate him when I have to leave and can't take him with me, and no one will be home AND/OR I want to sweep the floor. (he can't resist chasing the broom ie:helping mommy)

Simon has been growing like a week though and I soon had to get him into another crate, again another plastic one. That lasted about another month. I ended up getting him the crate you have listed in your first post the big wire one. I am really happy with this crate and I think Simon is too. I bought the one for 100-120 lbs dogs? I think that was what it was. it ran about 100 or so bucks. The crate is well made, sturdy and easy to clean. When I first had him in the crate I put a towel on the top of it to make it more "den-ish". I have since removed the towel and the cats decided it was an invitation to lay on his crate with him in it, and it drove him and the cats into a barking hissing match. I leave his crate open during the day and on occasion he just goes in there for a little snooze. It's a hair big for him now I think he is about 80 lbs, but as fast as I was going through crates I decided to estimate his adult size and go with that for this crate.

[Jenn]

Quote: Originally Posted by PicOlio True Confessions: I have never kept a dog in a crate.... I enjoy having the dogs roam around at will and feel a bit more protected if they have free roam at night so crating never really made sense to me... And finally, is it possible to crate a puppy while the other two dogs are out and about?

I like having the dogs roam at will too and my confession is that I also let them sleep in bed with me when they want, usually they come up and snuggle for a bit then jump down to stretch out on the floor. It does get a bit cramped on the bed with the two of them now.

Also, sometimes I crate one or the other and it's been fine. I'll crate Simon sometimes to let Cookie have a bit of peace while eating, and sometimes I crate Cookie for a bit so Simon can have some peace from the puppy.

Having said that, they often go and lay by the other's ones crate when I do this and since Simon's been at the hospital, Cookie has been laying next to his empty crate.

I think the crate is handy and I have used it enough that they don't stress too much about having some down time in it when they need to. Although at first it's like not exactly their first choice of places to be....Simon now goes in his crate when asked to get into it. Cookie is still working on it and has to be led into the crate with the door quickly shut behind her, and some creative trickery (toss a treat into the back of the crate and close it before they realize you are going to close it)

[Chrisanne]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jade Deb, from what I understand, if you start out with a crate that's too big, a dog can and will get confused as to den behavior. At any one point, you want it basically big enough to stand up, turn completely around, and lie down in. This way they won't use one end as a potty area and one end as a sleep area. You might start out with a large plastic crate while she's young now, and move up to a wire one. If you find that she doesn't tolerate the wire well due to the openness, they make covers for them.

Jade is soo right here. A crate too big will almost always lead to pottying in one end and sleeping in the other. The idea is to use the natural denning instinct.

You can however get the biggest one they make (no sense in continually upgrading.. that gets expensive) and block it off using cardboard. That way it is easily moved, and replaceable.

I prefer the enclosed crates for several reasons. Cheaper is a good one, but not my biggest one. The wire crates are collapsable, and while that is ok for a little dog... a big dog could cause itself harm if it were to get trapped. Some of those wire crates are not made well, and collapse with no ryhme or reason as well. My big issue is, I've seen those used and the dog back up and do its business outside of the kennel, then go lay back down to sleep. Kinda defeats the purpose.

Whatever you decide, make sure you research. Whatever you decide it will be the right choice for you and your family.

[CuffnStuff]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chrisanne Some of those wire crates are not made well, and collapse with no ryhme or reason as well.

When Master of Disaster Regan escaped the wire cage we had for him, I had to take wire ties to secure the front and back closures to ensure that it would'nt fold on him.
I would suggest the wire type cages, only because they are soo easier to clean and can be broken down for road trips and can be easier to divide off the inside for the growing puppy.
Also if you get a wire type with the plastic bottom, put a towel under the plastic tray between the tray and the cage so that the puppies walking on the plastic will be muffled. (nothing like hearing your rottie pace back and forth at 2am) :hpydance:
Good luck!

[Chinchilla_Girl]

We've always prefered the plastic crates. You can get the XL size and block it off like Chrisanne suggested. Wire crates have been known to collapse and kill dogs when they get their heads stuck. It's not a pretty sight Also, like Chrisanne said, they have a tendency to pee out the sides...not good for your walls I've had ill rescues with explosive diarreah before and if it weren't for the plastic crates, you can just imagine the mess it would have caused! One last thing about wire crates and large breeds, they are NOISY!!! The slightest movement and the metal is banging around. Not good if you want to sleep at all

[Sasami]

I use plastic crates for my two dogs, mainly for the two reasons that Chinchilla Girl stated.

[PicOlio]

The wire crate does come with the divider which is what I was planning to use to ensure the size is appropriate for Trinity as she grows.... the dogs are also never left alone so I'm not as concerned about a "head stuck in crate" or 'crate collapsed' situation but geezzeee what a scary thought!

I like the plastic crate idea depending on how the divider ideas work (I don't want to buy a new crate every two weeks for the first year lol). I assume even a large block of foam with a thin layer of paneling or cardboard to separate Trinity from the foam would help to fill the "unused space" and prevent Trinity from pushing down the divider or chewing through it...

I like the wire crate idea since it has more doors (Easier access), ventilation, and a "built to fit" divider. I can of course cover it for privacy/den environment...

I really didn't think I'd have such a difficult time choosing a crate lol. I'm tempted to go to home depot and start a project with my son to build our own... then we could design it however we want with the only problem being our poor carpentry skills