Size of dog crate?

[lifestooshortandsoami]

Apologies if I ask lots of questions from now on- border collie pup was born last week so now trying to get organised to have everything on place for when we can have him in about 8 weeks plus time.

We want to try and use a crate in the kitchen for him but do a lot of people have success with using a crate and continue to use it when they’re fully grown? Am trying to decide what size crate to get and obviously if we want to continue to use it we would need a bigger one- but don’t want to spend loads and then not end up using it/ wish had just got a smaller one.

The cost difference seems massive- particularly as there are a lot of medium size cages for sale on local Facebook pages but not any large cages….

Any advice gratefully received

I used a crate with my dog when I first got her at 8 weeks.

I got a medium sized one although she's a small dog, as I didn't like the idea of her being confined in a small crate.

Dog should be able to stand up comfortably, obviously, but apparently there should only be enough room to allow the dog to move around comfortably without too much spare space; the idea being that if they have too much space to move around they might pee and poo in it.

Obviously, they shouldn't be spending much time in it anyway, so it should just be a place to sleep.

My dog had more room than generally advised, as I say, but never used it as a loo, she was particularly easy to house train though.

She ditched the crate when she was about 6 months old. She didn't chew inappropriate stuff so I never shut the door anyway, and she had the run of the house fairly early on.

Unless the dog wants to continue using it as a safe space, with the door open of course, I can't imagine why it would be necessary to continue using it with an adult dog.

We started off with a small for our spaniel puppy as was told like pp said if it's too big they'll toilet in it. She quickly outgrew it and needed a medium crate by about 5 months. She still fits in the small one so it's ideal for car journey in the boot, but she needs more space to sleep comfortably over night. She doesn't use it during the day and isn't destructive so to be honest we could prob get rid but she definitely associates it will bedtime as we cover it with a sheet.

Oh yes, that's a good point Aria20 makes about covering it.

Cover the top, back and sides to give the crate a cave like feel for the puppy.

I know its not what you asked but I'm going to say it anyway. With the proper time and care and attention a crate is entirely unnecessary. A lifelong collie owner I have replaced one skirting board and one door through puppy chewing, no other damage. Dogs have their own bed to sleep in but have the run of the house when I'm not in. Re a crate not big enough so they'll toilet in it - they'll toilet in any size of crate if they need the toilet and they've not been outside enough. If you must, section off a corner of a room with a pen but creates are the go to for bad owners.

Mantelmoose

That's a hell of a sweeping statement to say that crates are the go to for bad owners.

Yes, if you shut the dog in the crate for long periods of time or use it as a means of punishment, or allow the dog to get distressed by it.

My dog never weed or pooed in her crate, even though it was larger than the recommended size, because she was never in it long enough to need to.

When she was in it at night, and at first the door was shut, I would regularly take her out for toileting purposes.

During the day the door was never shut and she had complete run of the house.

I got it because it seemed like a good idea to have a place where I knew she couldn't chew anything when I had to leave her for the short time it took me to pop to the supermarket, that was the only time the door was shut during the day.

As it turned out she never chewed a thing and I got rid of it when she was around 6 months old.

I'm failing to see what the difference is between what I did and shutting off part of a room.

Thank you for all your advice.

We’re not going to be leaving our pup for long periods of time as we work from home but want him to have a safe space which is the idea of the crate. we’ve got two cats who Id rather keep separate from him when we go out for very short periods of time so feel being in the crate is hopefully the safest and best answer for us.
If it doesn’t work we won’t use it, and obviously if he’s unhappy/ distressed we definitely won’t use it.

Tbh, OP if you are going to want to use it when the dog is fully grown I'd just get the large size. As I said before, my dog's crate was very big and it never cause any problems as far as her using it as a loo. It just takes up rather a lot of room.

Would just add that you have to spend time crate training when you first get your puppy.

Tempt him in the crate with treats and maybe try putting his food in there to entice him.

Give him time and he should be fine.

I had two cats when I got my dog as a puppy.

It worked very well. The cats were allowed upstairs so had somewhere high they could go when they wanted so they weren't always around the puppy.

One of the cats fell in love with the dog, the other was fine with her, just not very interested.

Just to warn you, the puppy will try to eat the cats' food and if your cats have a litter tray or use the garden for pooing the dog is likely to try to eat that as well.

When I got her the cats were quite old so we had litter trays as they didn't want to go out very much, it was a perpetual race between me and the dog as to who could get to the litter tray first. Very unpleasant.

@pigsDOfly

Tbh, OP if you are going to want to use it when the dog is fully grown I'd just get the large size. As I said before, my dog's crate was very big and it never cause any problems as far as her using it as a loo. It just takes up rather a lot of room.

Would just add that you have to spend time crate training when you first get your puppy.

Tempt him in the crate with treats and maybe try putting his food in there to entice him.

Give him time and he should be fine.

I had two cats when I got my dog as a puppy.

It worked very well. The cats were allowed upstairs so had somewhere high they could go when they wanted so they weren't always around the puppy.

One of the cats fell in love with the dog, the other was fine with her, just not very interested.

Just to warn you, the puppy will try to eat the cats' food and if your cats have a litter tray or use the garden for pooing the dog is likely to try to eat that as well.

When I got her the cats were quite old so we had litter trays as they didn't want to go out very much, it was a perpetual race between me and the dog as to who could get to the litter tray first. Very unpleasant.

That’s really helpful thank you. Am going to get stair gates to stop pup going upstairs so the cats can go hide. I think one cat is likely to try and play fight him as he still thinks he’s a kitten and the other will definitely just want to avoid him. I’ve arranged a dog trainer to attend classes but also for her to come and help 1-1 at first and she’s been really good at explaining how to get pup to ignore the cats instead of trying to get them to like each other. We’ve got two litter boxes so will make sure I move one upstairs now so they get used to it and will probably move the other upstairs too before pup here as can imagine he would try and have a field day! Will feed them upstairs too to prevent him eating their food. Thanks again

We have a border collie and got a medium sized one. We used it just for nighttime at first. We put a dark blanket over it, we also took blankets when we picked him up to rub on mum and siblings, so he could smell them when in crate. First night he cried 10 minutes, then slept till around 3.30 am. Some people get up every 2 hours or so, but we could hear him moving around so knew he was asleep. Thereafter he happily went in crate at night and even started going in there himself in the daytime. He was a destroyer/chewer, so couldn’t really be left to wonder around. He slept in same crate for a year, then started attention barking in the night, so we gave up and let him sleep where he wanted, which was next to crate. We still put him in there when left alone, just because we felt safer. It was a bit small for him then, but he could still lay out comfortably. He’s 3 years old now and have put the crate away as there is usually someone home.

@Mantlemoose

I know its not what you asked but I'm going to say it anyway. With the proper time and care and attention a crate is entirely unnecessary. A lifelong collie owner I have replaced one skirting board and one door through puppy chewing, no other damage. Dogs have their own bed to sleep in but have the run of the house when I'm not in. Re a crate not big enough so they'll toilet in it - they'll toilet in any size of crate if they need the toilet and they've not been outside enough. If you must, section off a corner of a room with a pen but creates are the go to for bad owners.

Another viewpoint. As a life long collie owner I always crate train my dogs. Collie can sometimes find it hard to chill and relax and the crate is a good signal to them that crate time is chill time.

I work my dogs and they will work all day and all night if given the chance but pop them into a crate(with the door open) and they instantly relax and chill.

The travel in crates in the car and when out on work trips will happily stay anywhere if their crates are there.

Maybe creates are the go to for bad owners but crates however if used correctly are fab

OP I have a large crate for my collies.