Play pen or crate

[CleverQuacks]

My pup comes home in 6 weeks. I have got her a crate which will be in my room at night. However I am unsure what to do with her during the day.

I work from home so she won’t be left for long but will need to be somewhere safe when I can’t watch her e.g. doing school runs, bath time etc. Should I just put her in her crate or get a play pen downstairs so she has more room? If a play pen can anyone recommend a good sized sturdy one? She is a small breed dog but I don’t want her to be cramped and bored.

Thanks

I used a pen for when I needed to contain my pup during the day. It felt like he had more space than in his crate so I was happier leaving him for a couple of hours if needed. Got rid of it when he was about 7 months as he was outgrowing it slightly.

Mine was about 1 Metre square white plastic. A friend lent it to me but I found similar ones on Argos and amazon.

We just shut ours in the kitchen when we are out, he's not a chewer though.

Our downstairs is quite open plan so I wouldn’t be able to shut her in one room. I am thinking a play pen is going to be the best, just have to find a sturdy one. It’s so hard to judge how sturdy they are online.

My downstairs is totally open plan. The playpen was great in the early months as it meant we could contain him when we went out, or when he was tired and bitey or even if I just needed to cook supper without tripping up 😂

Oh yeah, totally open plan would make a difference!

If you think you need flexibility to move it about get a sturdy play pen. It needs to be sturdy as I had one which mine could push about as soon as he started growing.

If you have a space where you could put a very large crate so puppy could see you as it's open plan you could do that. I had a 48inch crate which was almost as large as a big play pen.

We used both and set up the playpen as a sort of run/extension to the crate and the crate door was always open into the run.
Water and also a puppy pad in the run section.
Can’t remember what brand the playpen was but it was sectional so you could make different shapes out of it and have the door where was most convenient.
This way I didn’t worry about chewing when I wasn’t able to watch dpup like a hawk!

A playpen is an absolute godsend.
I have this one and it's really sturdy.
Comes in sections and really easy to assemble - you can change the formation and add extra sections. I keep on some non slip vet bed to protect the floor.