Tilly Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 I have a tiny car and an XXLarge Crate for my youngest ... I ended up putting roof racks on for when I absolutely must have a wire crate and I have put a grill/barrier at the rear so I can leave the hatch up for more ventilation when I leave him in the car. But there are times when I just can't be bothered securing the crate on the roof racks, so I thought about getting a soft crate ... only the XXLarge soft crates I have looked at are still too big to fit in the car (collapsed) and will still need to be secured on the roof racks - which defeats the purpose of getting the soft crate. I did a bit of a google and found a couple of pop up tent type things ... http://www.mightymitedoggear.com/dogtent.html http://www.petstrends.com/2009/05/17/dog-house-tent-umbra/ Has anyone got soft crates or doggy tents that fold up to a smaller size ... but still decent quality. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake-K9 Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Those tents look like a pretty cool idea, but I'd be a little concerned about how secure they would be. I gather you have large breed dogs by the fact you can't fit your crate in the car, lol I have a folding soft-crate for my malinois when we are at home, so he can come inside and enjoy the aircon during the day while I am asleep, without having run of the house. He is well crate trained and quite happy to just chill out and sleep in there, but I suspect that should there be an intruder or unwelcome person in the house he'd be out in a flash! Anywhere outside of the house he goes in a folding wire crate or solid plastic petpack. Where abouts would you be using your crate/tent? If it's something pretty laid back - say, a show or an obedience trial, a tent would probably do the job just fine, but if you plan on going somewhere more exciting or unpredictable and there is the chance of your dogs getting very excited while tented, you may end up with a loose dog and a wrecked tent (or even worse, a loose dog tangled in a wrecked tent!) I'm afraid I don't really have any useful suggestions, I've always had vehicles large enough to fit my stuff into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 (edited) Hi Tilly. I just bought Kei a new soft crate and had the same problem as you in that I wanted/needed an XXL crate but it just wasn't going to fit in the car. After tearing my hair out for a couple of months on what to do (and with much help from the lovely Meg ;) ) I ended up buying an XL sized crate and crossed my fingers that Kei would fit. He does And it's brilliant Admittedly he is a little tall for it (he stands at 27") and he can't really stand up in there, but as for sleeping and stretching out it's fine. And really that's all I want him to do in there anyway. In fact I can't believe how fast he has taken to it, He absolutely adores it! Here a couple of pics of Kei making himself at home, oh around 2mins after I took it out of the box :D Mine is a K9+ Royale2 http://www.k9softdogcrates.com.au/index.ph...s&sp=royale and http://stores.shop.ebay.com.au/K9-SoftDogC...s__W0QQ_armrsZ1 Hope that helps eta: Waggle have those Umbra tents. They look pretty cool but they're almost $300 http://waggle.com.au/egr-b25/umbra-pet-p352 Edited February 26, 2010 by SecretKei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 I have one like that second one and had it for ages and its pretty good depending on what you need it for and if your dog is reasonably well crate trained. It is now my spare that I take to training when I can't be bothered lugging out my studier soft crates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 No matter how I try - I can only fit a Large crate in the car ... and the little one doesn't fit in that size anymore. Ness - is it the Umbra one you have? What is the quality like? This was him in a large crate at 29 weeks and he is now 47 weeks and bigger... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 SecretKei - they were the ones I was looking at but they aren't any good if I can't get them to fold smaller. Why do I have to own big dogs .... smaller ones seem so much easier!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Hmm mine looks like the Umbra but is slightly different. I suspect its what replaced my model which is now quite a few years old. Mine was called a dog bag and folds up into a backpack. Ah yep just found a website that says The Umbra Pet is the evolution of Pet Ego's famous Dog-Bag. Mine doesn't have quite the external frame that one appears to have so I suspect if anything the Umbra model is more rigid then the model previously. Its certainly not as study as the K9Royale crates but its certainly much more transportable. I have the old size medium and have been known to place 2 BCs inside it for short occasions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 (edited) I had the 4XL soft crate from NFS (122cm x 82cm x 98cm) - fitted it into a Dahiatsu Charade hatch fine - as well as the dog! Edited February 27, 2010 by Danois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 SecretKei - they were the ones I was looking at but they aren't any good if I can't get them to fold smaller.Why do I have to own big dogs .... smaller ones seem so much easier!!! Yeah I know what you mean lol. I think you can get soft crates that fold up like an accordain so the size folded would be that of the front/back of the crate rather than the base if that makes sense. No idea where you'd get them from though?? The tent looks cool but I wonder how strong it would be...?? Sooooo expensive though! Hmmm, I wonder if you could find one cheaper o/s :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 (edited) I have a tiny car and an XXLarge Crate for my youngest ... I ended up putting roof racks on for when I absolutely must have a wire crate and I have put a grill/barrier at the rear so I can leave the hatch up for more ventilation when I leave him in the car. But there are times when I just can't be bothered securing the crate on the roof racks, so I thought about getting a soft crate ... only the XXLarge soft crates I have looked at are still too big to fit in the car (collapsed) and will still need to be secured on the roof racks - which defeats the purpose of getting the soft crate. I did a bit of a google and found a couple of pop up tent type things ... http://www.mightymitedoggear.com/dogtent.html http://www.petstrends.com/2009/05/17/dog-house-tent-umbra/ Has anyone got soft crates or doggy tents that fold up to a smaller size ... but still decent quality. Any suggestions? :D Great Gimmick....it's just a kids tent, nothing special about it. Fabric crates are fine of the dog doesn't chew. I put my Great Dane sized CC crate on the roof racks but have had a soft crate that fits in the Hyundai. Edited February 27, 2010 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigirl Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Buy a bigger car Big dogs and small cars are a headache any way you look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 Buy a bigger car Big dogs and small cars are a headache any way you look at it. Are you offering Everytime I save some money towards a new car ... something always comes along to wipe out the funds Or doesn't anyone want to swap 2 slightly used dogs (1 more used then the other) for a smaller model :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 I slid the folded up crate behind the back of the front seats and it fitted perfectly. What car do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 I slid the folded up crate behind the back of the front seats and it fitted perfectly.What car do you have? I have a 3 door Dahiatsu Charade ... I have the back seat folded down and the dog has the back half of the car. I used to put the large crate behind the seats but the xxlarge just won't fit as the car just isn't wide enough - which is why I had to roof racks installed (so I could visit my parents for Christmas) Where did you put your NFS crate - did it fit behind the seats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitKat Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 (edited) If it's any use i use the 42" softkrate for Bronx when we are out and about and he's got enough room to be comfortable, it at least folds a bit smaller then the 48". I was able to put the crate upright in the back seet foot well up along the backs of the front seats if that makes sense! Or just laid down in the back with the bedding over it and the dogs would lay on it. Shouldn't say 'dogs' - Bronx always sits in hte front passenger seat! Edited February 27, 2010 by KitKat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 Just was checking the measurements ... his XL wire crate is 121 x 78 x 84cm. The 4XL NFS softcrate is 122cm x 82cm x 98cm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zindello Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 How do you secure the large crate to your roof racks? If your using ropes and the time it takes to secure the crate with ropes then you could look at getting some ratchet straps or something like that. Very fast and easy to do up/undo, and you'll be able to get a ratchet strap a heck of a lot tighter than any rope or ockey (not sure on spelling, elastic strap with hooks on either end) strap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 I had a welder custom fit a Ford Festiva with a separator . . . which allowed me to put up to four large dogs in the back without worrying about them coming into the front. No crate needed. No fuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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