Crates

I hate the word 'crate' or 'cage' it sounds like a punishment, but anyway we are thinking about getting one for our new puppy which we pick up on Monday.

Our reasoning for getting one is this -
1. he is in a crate at the moment with his Mum and siblings,
2. Our last Staff travelled really badly in the car (monkey noises, over excitment etc..) so we want to start from day one with him travelling in the boot. Bugsy (No 1 Staff!) couldn't start like this as we had a car with a boot at the time and had no option but to have him in with us. Introducing him to the boot of our hatchback wasn't a great move!
3. We would like Sparks to feel he has a place he can go that is his 'safe' place

We would like one that will also double up as a travel crate for him. We have a Rav 4 so the boot is not a bad size. Anyone got any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

Ben and Tara

sorry no i dont no we have a small crate in the car (just enough room to stand and turn around and a really big one for everyday use under the stairs x

Not a clue, have never used a crate and mine travels on the back seat with a belt, sure someone will advise though

We have a crate for Milly and I used to feel bad about it but I am ok now because I no she is safe and so so is the house when we go out. She really loves her crate and often goes in during the day and night even when we are there, it is her own little place. There is a good selection of crates available some of the best I have seen have been online.

I'm like Blaze, I have a small crate for the back seat of the car (small boot, it's a C3) and a large crate for the house, Hollie loves her crates

we have a large one for Billy to sleep in and a small one for the car, which has now got too small, didn't think, so we are now looking into a harness for the car as it is much cheaper, anybody use a harness and can give advise, is it worth it or should we get another crate

If you are worried about the muddy paws getting on the seats. You can either buy some seat cover or they do bars that fit to the back of the back seats. This way the dog can use the boot itself as its cage. There cheaper than buying a cage

I brought one for Cairo and its one of the best things i brought IMO.It helped in the car when we were training her to wait before jumping out of the back,and it also helped during her naughty ''i must chew everything'' phase.Its also great when i go on holiday,as she once chewed the leg of a bed in the caravan we were staying in so in the cage she went,and no more naughtyness happned lol

Hi..my pup is just 8 weeks old and has a large crate/cage at home and also a smaller travel carrier for the car.
She goes into both of them of her own free will which at this early stage i think is pretty good.
We keep both of them stacked up with toys and bedding which seems to be a good routine for her to get used to also if i cant find my slippers i know where they will be...lol

tescotracy wrote:Hi..my pup is just 8 weeks old and has a large crate/cage at home and also a smaller travel carrier for the car.
She goes into both of them of her own free will which at this early stage i think is pretty good.
We keep both of them stacked up with toys and bedding which seems to be a good routine for her to get used to also if i cant find my slippers i know where they will be...lol

They are all the same Tracy if anything is missing check the crate

thanks everyone! =D>
I think we are going to get one crate for now, it will mainly be for home but also journeys for the first few months, then it will be a bed and dog guard for the car.

Will keep you posted

Ben + Tara i'm the same as Blaze big cage for house and smaller for car, i used to have Samson in the boot with dog guard (Honda CRV) big boot but he got over excited and used to do the wall of death round the boot so i recently got the smaller cage its made a massive difference travels quieter and is less excitable at our destination

we have a crate bfor diesel mwhen we got him we made the misake of getting a massive one so he had loadsa space , this is not good when house training to much room , one side for sleep the other for poo, we ended up buying a smaller one for him , stopped weeing in the cage 2nd day , he loves his crate now it's his bed abd chill out place . we have a bigger crate now he is bigger and a pop up travel crate for the car . he loves them both .
To say i never wanted him locked up it's the best thing for him and us .
hope this helps x x x

your doing the right thing. I have a wagon so her large creat fits in no worries at all.. she travels well in it.
i take it everywhere we go ( bbqs etc)
she goes in and out on her own.
travel with her lots and lots.. even just done to the shops and back... just for the sake of driving. Holly used to whing a little but now she jumps in the car on her own and loves the ride.
crates at home for great too for toilet training and also for down time and getting them to sleep thru the night.
Holly goes in at 9.30 and sleeps till 7.30
she loves her safe house

Mel wrote:crates at home for great too for toilet training and also for down time and getting them to sleep thru the night.
Holly goes in at 9.30 and sleeps till 7.30
she loves her safe house

Do you shut the crate door at night? Sparks is going in the crate of his own freewill during the day to sleep, the door is always open, at night we have an enclosure to attach to it so he can come out and go to the toilet if he needs to, but I wonder if this might be too much stimulation as he has whimpered and cried every night since we bought him home.

b and t wrote:

Mel wrote:crates at home for great too for toilet training and also for down time and getting them to sleep thru the night.
Holly goes in at 9.30 and sleeps till 7.30
she loves her safe house

Do you shut the crate door at night? Sparks is going in the crate of his own freewill during the day to sleep, the door is always open, at night we have an enclosure to attach to it so he can come out and go to the toilet if he needs to, but I wonder if this might be too much stimulation as he has whimpered and cried every night since we bought him home.

We shut Millys when we leave her in the day, but she sleeps upstairs at night so I cannot comment on nights

Shut it at night and whenever u go out and leave him in the day. While he is young u could always put a puppy pad in his crate with him so if he is desparate he can relieve himself. Dont leave the pad in their for to long though as the point of having him locked in the crate is to get him used to holding on to go to the loo. If i remember correctly kaos was about 14 weeks when i took the pad out and yes there were a few accidents but by 16/17 weeks he was completley dry all night from 10-7 x

We used to shut the crate door at night & whenever we went out, but we started leaving it open at night about 8 months ago, and during the day about 2 months ago. The reason we left it so long is that BT's are known for chewing anything & everything & there are many around who vets say should have zippers in their stomach because they keep getting things stuck!

He's now mature enough (I hope) to be trusted (famous last words!).

Caryll wrote:We used to shut the crate door at night & whenever we went out, but we started leaving it open at night about 8 months ago, and during the day about 2 months ago. The reason we left it so long is that BT's are known for chewing anything & everything & there are many around who vets say should have zippers in their stomach because they keep getting things stuck!

He's now mature enough (I hope) to be trusted (famous last words!).

Oooh Caryll, your tempting fate

Thats wat trusting , used to leave diesel's crate open in the day and for weeks he was so good and one day we came home to all the wires for tv and allother electricals chewed up , In his moment of staffyness he chewed one and couldn't stop himself lol i was more concerned about him giving himself an electric shock little bugger . He's 17months old now will he ever stop chewing ?

Back to puppys when diesel had a large cage he used to howl all night untill we changed it to a smaller cossier one for him , awww the sleep was great , a new puppy is like a new baby abd it's all worth it in the end .

Good Luck and Enjoy

It's difficult to know when to start trusting. I think you just have to take each dog individually & see what they are likely to do. Nowadays I would never leave a young pup in a situation where it could chew potentially dangerous things like wires. I'd use a crate every time. If they're introduced to them carefully & at an early age they take to them really well & they become like a den to them.

With the type of dog I've got I think if we hadn't had a crate Dempsey would have injured himself, maybe badly, or would have wrecked the house.

A few months ago I met a lady whose Bull Terrier had wrecked her kitchen 3 times! Literally wrecked it. I also heard about a staffy left in the kitchen while the owner went shopping & when she came back the dog had managed to turn the kitchen taps on, block the sink & flooded the place!

When we got Sparks home on Monday, it was about 5 mins before he found the broadband cable and started tugging at it!!

We have a pen attached to the crate so the door is always open and he can get out to some newspaper if he needs to.

I think a crate for when you are not there is peace of mind for you, knowing your house is not going to be wrecked and also that your dog is safe.

I don't know what we do without ours, they are worth the weight in gold

I absolutley agree , Best thing for you and puppy .

They absolutley love them it's like there cozy little bed and safe house , i think diesel will alwasy need his like his little comfort blanket .

Jamo

We bought a crate for Jethro as he is of a slightly nervous disposition ( to say the least ! ) We got a canopy for the back of our ute as we love going camping and could sleep in the back in all weather.. got a car fridge and light.. hubby spent hours rigging all the wiring up etc..... One day Jethro was in the canopy and there was a sports carnival on nearby ..people yelling through a loud speaker.... In just a short time Jethro had shredded..chewed.... destroyed every wire and gadget he could get his teeth into...We came so close to a divorce that day I can tell you!! Now we have a crate in the back of the ute.. he goes straight in there , has his blanket and a toy.. and we have piece of mind..PHEW!

vanessa wrote:We bought a crate for Jethro as he is of a slightly nervous disposition ( to say the least ! ) We got a canopy for the back of our ute as we love going camping and could sleep in the back in all weather.. got a car fridge and light.. hubby spent hours rigging all the wiring up etc..... One day Jethro was in the canopy and there was a sports carnival on nearby ..people yelling through a loud speaker.... In just a short time Jethro had shredded..chewed.... destroyed every wire and gadget he could get his teeth into...We came so close to a divorce that day I can tell you!! Now we have a crate in the back of the ute.. he goes straight in there , has his blanket and a toy.. and we have piece of mind..PHEW!

They can be testing at times

janey wrote:
They can be testing at times

Caryll wrote:

janey wrote:
They can be testing at times

What an understatement ..hahaha...............

but I wouldn't swap him for all the tea in China !!!!

you are so right

I need a new crate Milly needs a bigger one so just shopping around at the mo if anyone knows of any good ones please let me know.

Tracie-Milly-Moos Mum wrote:I need a new crate Milly needs a bigger one so just shopping around at the mo if anyone knows of any good ones please let me know.

what size are you thinking of getting, it's just billy in a few months i am sure will be too small for him and i would rather just get one that will last

This is where we got ours - a bit more expensive than some, but it has a side door and an end door, and is really solid. It also came with a VetBed fleece (although I notice you have to pay extra for that now) which is normally very expensive. We went for the adult size straight away & just put the bottom of a pet carrier in when he was really small.

http://dogcages.petstore.uk.com/rosewood_dog_cages.cfm

Caryll wrote:This is where we got ours - a bit more expensive than some, but it has a side door and an end door, and is really solid. It also came with a VetBed fleece (although I notice you have to pay extra for that now) which is normally very expensive. We went for the adult size straight away & just put the bottom of a pet carrier in when he was really small.

http://dogcages.petstore.uk.com/rosewood_dog_cages.cfm

Thanks Caryll any suggestions wot size to get that will last her don't really what to have to but another

I got Hollie the Large Pro Deluxe from here;

http://www.cages-direct.co.uk/deluxe_cages.htm

I also got the cage cover and fleece bed as well

debbiewaterhouse wrote:I got Hollie the Large Pro Deluxe from here;

http://www.cages-direct.co.uk/deluxe_cages.htm

I also got the cage cover and fleece bed as well

Debbie will it last her will you not need a bigger one as she grows

I'd always get the largest crate that is recommended for the breed. That way your furkid won't grow out of it! If necessary you can always rig up something to make it smaller for a while - we put the bottom half of a pet carrier in ours until Dempsey grew a bit!

Aww

Dempsey looks so adorable and cosy......

Tracie-Milly-Moos Mum wrote:

debbiewaterhouse wrote:I got Hollie the Large Pro Deluxe from here;

http://www.cages-direct.co.uk/deluxe_cages.htm

I also got the cage cover and fleece bed as well

Debbie will it last her will you not need a bigger one as she grows

Yes, this crate will last her forever

so cute caryll

we have a crate for harvey and he seems to enjoy sleeping in there and hiding his toys as well plus it saves all the mess and stops him being able to destroy anything he shouldn't.

Also i think he feels secure in there as he slept through the first night we had him without any crying well until 8am the next morning!