Best Kind Of Crate?

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Hi all,

We have a ways to go, but hopefully puppy standard schnauzer will be with us in August and we are preparing...

Which type of crate is best for crate training at home? The square wire box, or the one with solid plastic sides? Anyone know the best place to get them too?

Thanks for any help, I'll probably be asking lots of silly questions!

[LuvMyCav]

Hi all,

We have a ways to go, but hopefully puppy standard schnauzer will be with us in August and we are preparing...

Which type of crate is best for crate training at home? The square wire box, or the one with solid plastic sides? Anyone know the best place to get them too?

Thanks for any help, I'll probably be asking lots of silly questions!

I have one of each. Wire for summer (but I still cover one end to make it den-like) and plastic for winter. Wire is collapsible which is handy for travelling, plastic is usefull if you ever need to fly puppy anywhere (assuming it's suitable for flying). Bigger pet shops sell them. Good luck getting your new puppy. :rolleyes:

[Luke W]

I use a Vari Kennel for short term confinement and a wooden baby pen for longer term confinement.

So I've got the vari kennel inside the wooden pen...

My pups now 12 weeks old and I leave the vari kennel door open most of the time. He's happy inside it anyway and sleeps the night away inside his little den. He cries when he wants to go to the toilet.

[Garloch]

Hi Redmum - No such thing as a silly question!

Our darlings deserve all the education we can acquire.

If your breeder shows, they may have some, and I'd expect they'd be happy to give you advice.

Otherwise, if you are in a big city, phone the local dog assn (ie DogsNSW) and ask where and when their next big show is on. They have showvans there and you can buy just about anything your little ones heart will ever desire.

I have a couple of crates in varying sizes. The bigger permanent one I got from "The Warehouse" - used to be called Clints. HaveAHeart I think was the brand. Its classed as "drop-pin construction". That means that there are little loops on each side of the crate, and to put it together you have to "drop" the "pins" (metal stakes) supplied down thru all the holes to keep it all together. Need 3 hands to put them together, but its a very secure stable crate, and the medium size was $45.

Petshops I find are useless (here in Canberra anyway - but I would SO love to be proven wrong). They don't carry the range, and as crates are reasonably expensive, they don't make a lot of money out of them, so tend not to stock them.

My wire crate is one of the black collapsible ones with a plastic handle on top. Word of warning - the plastic handles ALL break, so don't go carrying crate by handle when dog is in it. (You'd have to be he-man anyway.) I got this from a showvan and it was about $65ish. I have scotties, so it'd be considerably smaller than what you'd need.

By way of size guide, the full grown animal needs to be able to lay down flat in it, and turn around, and stand up without their ears touching the top. Its more economical to buy the proper adult size, and put a couple of thin boards thru the wire gaps to make it small and cosy when they are little, and remove as they grow. If you have a huge crate, they could/will toilet in the opposite end of where they sit/sleep.

If you are going to use the crate in a vehicle, may I suggest ones with a side opening as well as a front opening, both with 2 latches. My little white crate slips a latch (cause its a bit loose) when my car's moving, and you open the back of the vehicle to find the dog is actually loose! Nice surprise. 2 openings allows you to face the crate either sideways or lengthways in the vehicle, and you always have access to a door, without having to turn the crate around.

And you can buy crate covers to make them cosy and cave-like, or make one if you are handy with a sewing machine. Take a pattern and keep it though. Mine get a bit chewed if I have pups around. They generally have no respect for gorgeous sewing!

Hope that helps.

[jason84]

i brought one off ebay. a wire collapsible one, 2 doors front and side, for my pup that arrives in 1 week. yay !!!!

exact same as my local pet store but half the price , and that was with postage..

Edited May 23, 2008 by jason84

[aquaticmalamute]

I also bought mine off eBay, the seller I used is allpethomes - excellent price, super fast postage and they sell very sturdy crates to boot! Alot of crates that I have seen, such as PetOne, are flimsy and over priced. The crate that I have is escape proof and excellent quality, however that also means that it is very heavy (I have a 48 inch XXL), it has a metal handle so no breakages there It was also half the price of the lesser quality versions that you see in pet shops. The only other place I have seen my style of crate for sale is at dog shows, but again, more expensive than the same crates off eBay. Persoanlly I prefer the wire crates (two door) as opposed to the plastic ones, mainly due to durability, portability and air flow. Another thing to consider is the tray in the bottom of the crate, I prefer the plastic liners over the metal (metal leaves black marks on my dogs elbows etc) however that said, plastic ones are destroyed easier

[NoodleNut]

I also bought mine off eBay,

Ditto ... black wire crate also bought from Ebay mine was a great price and I also bought a crate cover too. I was able to pick up too from the seller I had (close to me and in Melbourne ... let us know where you are and then it is easier to direct you to the right place) so saved on the delivery costs. I also bought a few other things from this seller .. all good quality and no problems at all with the transaction. The buyer I used was 'PuppyPower'

[puppiluv]

I just got one from Deals Direct, absolutely the cheapest I found anywhere. It's a wire style with the plastic tray. It's not strictly the collapse/fold and carry style, as it goes together with 4 pins but does fold down and is really pretty easy to put up. It was the XL size and a mere $60 including shipping anywhere in Australia. Less than a third of the price of the ones in our local pet shops!!! I think it'll be cool for summer and for winter I'll just put a blanket over it or buy a cover for it

[Miranda]

If I were you I would purchase a wire crate, plastic crates can be chewed and are usually too hot in summer. Whatever you do don't buy a soft crate as they are easily damaged and harder to clean which makes them unsuitable for most puppies.

[Papi_Searcher]

That's really interesting cos I nearly bought a soft crate - glad I didn't now! Although I must admit I just bought the bargain basement one from "The Warehouse" cos I figured that it was the right size for crate training (I have a tiny little papillon) - I could always upgrade when the pup gets bigger.... If needs be!

I realise that most dogs will not fit into those crates even as puppies....

[Miranda]

That's really interesting cos I nearly bought a soft crate - glad I didn't now! Although I must admit I just bought the bargain basement one from "The Warehouse" cos I figured that it was the right size for crate training (I have a tiny little papillon) - I could always upgrade when the pup gets bigger.... If needs be!

I realise that most dogs will not fit into those crates even as puppies....

Soft crates are fine for mature dogs that are already crate trained, but puppies chew and have accidents and the soft crates just aren't designed for that sort of treatment. I once saw a puppy completely destroy a soft crate when its owner went to the toilet at a show, shredded the front and sides of the crate with its nails in less than 5 minutes. Wire crates are by far the best crate for puppies and they're easily cleaned as well.

[pennyw74]

I asked the same question before we got our puppy. I was advised that an open wire crate was best for air flow, especially if you use it in the car.

We bought one from Pet Barn. There is no way I'd be able to pick it up and put it in the car, anyway but it's been good for our girl, plus it came with a divider, so when she was really small, we sectioned it off and have just moved it along as she's grown.

[valby]

I just got one from Deals Direct, absolutely the cheapest I found anywhere. It's a wire style with the plastic tray. It's not strictly the collapse/fold and carry style, as it goes together with 4 pins but does fold down and is really pretty easy to put up. It was the XL size and a mere $60 including shipping anywhere in Australia. Less than a third of the price of the ones in our local pet shops!!! :rolleyes: I think it'll be cool for summer and for winter I'll just put a blanket over it or buy a cover for it

Thanks just bought one!!

[Flaves]

Redmum, there is a hop on ebay for petstation.

Will find you the link

They have fantastic prices for crates.

I got a 42" one for my gsd for $95, in the shops they were well over $200\

[Flaves]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/XXL-48-DOG-CRATE-CA...1QQcmdZViewItem

The other place is in Kew - Pet Station i cannot find a link for it though

[poodlefan]

Petshops I find are useless (here in Canberra anyway - but I would SO love to be proven wrong). They don't carry the range, and as crates are reasonably expensive, they don't make a lot of money out of them, so tend not to stock them.

Petbarn has Varikennels.. I got mine cheaper than anywhere I could find online once delivery was factored in.

[Poodle wrangler]

Just remember for crate training, you need a crate that can "grow" with your puppy.

I had one with a divider so you could make it smaller or split in 2.

Other advice I got was to put a large box in the crate when pup is still little.

If crate is too big, pup will just wee in the opposite end, defeating the whole crate-training process.

[NoodleNut]

I also bought mine off eBay,

Ditto ... black wire crate also bought from Ebay mine was a great price and I also bought a crate cover too. I was able to pick up too from the seller I had (close to me and in Melbourne ... let us know where you are and then it is easier to direct you to the right place) so saved on the delivery costs. I also bought a few other things from this seller .. all good quality and no problems at all with the transaction. The buyer I used was 'PuppyPower'

Here is my crate and the crate cover that I bought .. took some shots tonight to show another DOL (different thread)

[NoodleNut]

I use a Vari Kennel for short term confinement and a wooden baby pen for longer term confinement.

So I've got the vari kennel inside the wooden pen...

My pups now 12 weeks old and I leave the vari kennel door open most of the time. He's happy inside it anyway and sleeps the night away inside his little den. He cries when he wants to go to the toilet.

I did something similar when Noodle was little .. here is teh set up I had with a pen inside and the crate door open also.

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Thanks so much everyone for all the links, advice and pictures! I think we will get a crate large enough for the fully grown dog, but put a divider and/or box inside to make it smaller at first. Might try to make the cover though.... hehe.

Now we need to decide between deals direct and ebay.... have to read them to see the differences for the big price difference!