Crates - wire or plastic - and what size? Plus extra tall dog gates

[Solo2]

Which type of dog crate would you recommend - the wire sort or the plastic sort?

Also, which brand would you say is best - eg longlasting, sturdy, good quality, liked by your dog?

Finally, what size crate should I get for a golden retriever puppy - who will obviously be going to grow? Should I buy one just for now and a bigger one - if necessary - when he's older - or get a 48 inch one now and try to cordon off a smaller area for when he's a puppy?

And also....we need a gate to stop our new puppy (when we get him) from coming out of the kitchen but we also need one that is tall enough to stop our cats going IN to the kitchen (we currently just close the kitchen door to stop them).

Can you get v tall gates or can someone suggest what to use for the upper gap to stop the cats but still allow the puppy to see out and easy access for people in and out?

Doghealth crates - half the price of Savic ones and excellent quality. They used to include a divider in the price, not sure if they do now, worth sending an email to see if they still do. I'd get the 48" and a divider. :)

We've got a wire crate, can't remember the make. My only piece of advice re: crates would be to get one with a plastic tray rather than a metal one - the floor of our last crate rusted because of spilled water from her water bowl. The plastic tray is much better.

Dog gates - yes, you can get one at argos here or there are plenty online.

When we first had ours we had to raise it on a plank of wood to make it about 8 inches higher as our springer could still clear it. ONce she got used to not attempting to jump it we removed the plank and put it lower again.

Another vote for Doghealth - they are much better quality than any others I have seen.
We have the large one with a divider, but tbh I can't remember ever using the divider

Many thanks. Hephaestus, I've looked on the Doghealth website and, assuming it's a wire crate that's best, (is that the case?), then which should I go for: The Professional 3 door one or the Two Door Silver? The silver one folds down and I assume that's helpful - but is it better to get the Professional one - ie is it loads more robust??

I can't see any crate dividers on their web site though.

Would I put soft cushion in the wire crate for a sleeping area?

With the dog gates, would these be high enough to stop a cat jumping over it?

Mmm. Just looked on the doghealth site - they don't have the exact model we have (had it 5 years ago) but ours is like the professional without the third door.
I'd check with them cos I'm pretty sure (from the pics) that the professional will collapse and fold flat as well.

Ours is up permanantly, and is being used by a third dog and still looks as good as new. We put a dogbed inside the crate and all our dogs (and the cats) have chosen to go inside.

We ordered the crate divider, but never used it even when we had a new puppy.