How To Make A Wire Crate Cosey

[Tazar]

Hi,

I know it is summer now but just wondering if anyone has any tips of how to make a wire crate cosey? It is noisy due to the tray banging on the bottom of the crate and drafty despite crate covers. Oh and I have a chewer or two who think I love picking the contents of their bed off the lawn.

TIA :)

[noisymina]

My crate cover is not drafty - it zips up on all sides? What do you have there - Hurricanes?

How does the banging happen?

We have soft mat in the bottom with lots of bedding on top of that. No noise?

Then my dog does not chew - but one can get tough mats for chewers or use hessian bags if need be.

[Tazar]

My crate cover is not drafty - it zips up on all sides? What do you have there - Hurricanes?How does the banging happen?We have soft mat in the bottom with lots of bedding on top of that. No noise? Then my dog does not chew - but one can get tough mats for chewers or use hessian bags if need be.

LOL ..... no not hurricanes but they are out on the back deck which is about a meter off the ground and it can get very windy here so the crate covers flap a bit when it is windy, even though they zip on all sides. The banging happens when they walk in/out of the crate as the plastic tray hits the wire bottom. Yep have hession bags but they seem so, well uncomfortable, nothing like their inside petpods. I do put coats on them at night when it is cold. I am sure they are fine with it all, probably just me :laugh:

[shirra]

The plastic tray doesn't 'hit' the bottom of my girl's crate, but I can imagine it could be annoying if it did. Perhaps put a layer of something underneath? Thin foam or something similar. To make my girl's crate comfortable I bought a 'cut to size' piece of thick foam the size of the floor of the crate and covered it 'pillowcase style' with a strong fabric. She loves it and I'm happy! No cover as yet, the crate is indoors and I throw a small rug over it when necessary.

[Airedaler]

Try putting a piece of carpet under the tray to stop some noise, it it is likely to get wet use the outdoor carpet..

I also have a piece of this in the tray and it is quite snug so chewing it is harder but then mine do not chew.

[Rebanne]

Maybe buy a proper kennel?

[Salukifan]

Take the tray out. Never understand why they come with trays unless you expect the dog to pee in it. A decently thick pad will ensure the dog can't feel the wire.

Clamp the crate cover onto the corners of the tray with plastic clamps from Bunnings.

Personally, unless the deck was very sheltered, I would be using kennels, especially in winter.

Edited December 20, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[Pretty Miss Emma]

I would only use a crate outdoors as a temporary measure. My dogs both have their crates in the house and they have kennels outside.

Even if you tried putting a flattened cardboard box between crate and tray that might help with the noise. Can't help with the breeze, you might need to create solid sides for the crate to prevent that.

[Sandra777]

Throw away the crate cover and buy a heavy weight wool blanket from the salvos shop - it will cover the crate and lie on the ground beside it to stop drafts. I know the noise you mean & it's very annoying - take the tray out and replace it with a sheet of ply, the plastic or metal tray won't stop cold coming up from under the dog in cooler weather.

[Janba]

I use old doonas in winter and sheets in summer as crate covers. I do leave the plastic trays in as they catch dust but do use thick foamed filled crate mats.

[conztruct]

Not sure about a type of crate cover but I'd suggest a heavy blanket unless it would make it too hot....other than that you'd have build a "box" out of ply or someting - might as well get a kennel.

I can definately sympathise about the noise - I had a habitual tap dancer on a metal tray (she'd push all of her ample bedding to one side because I think she quite enjoyed the noise she made), which stopped as soon as I wedged a hession sack between the tray and the bottom of the crate.

Good luck.

[Maddy]

Maybe buy a proper kennel?

I'd agree here.

Even for big dogs, there are some really decent options for kennels. Our greyhounds have Hound Houses (sort of like a cross between a trampoline bed and a tent) and they love them. The mats tie in on all corners (to prevent naughty dogs taking the mats out for excursions on the lawn) and are made out of canvas (but still surprisingly soft) so we've never had one shredded, despite having some accomplished bed shredders here.

If it has to be crates for some reason, I'd second carpet under the tray (if you really need the tray there) and then maybe something like a Snooza Durobed (with some of the stuffing removed to flatten it a bit) and then some blankets.

[dotdashdot]

My wire crate is inside, but I make it cosy by having a nice soft mat in there. It's about 2 inches thick and not snuggly, so not hot.

In winter, I have a snuggly round (leopard print) bed that goes inside (just!)

Being inside, we don't have to worry about drafts, but we drape a light blanket over 2.5 sides anyway to make it den-like.

Can't help with the noise issue, ours is on laminate flooring and Cleo wakes up, shakes, turns and goes back to sleep at 6 in the morning, I know because I hear it perfectly (can't see it from the bed). This is really the only time I notice though. Could take the tray out, but it's easier for me to leave it in.

[Tazar]

Hi,

Thank you all for the tips

I have put cardboard between the tray and the crate and it has worked well, will upgrade to carpet when I come across some. I could use it to line the walls too once the winter comes.

Will also pick up some blankets, then put the crate covers over the top which should stop the flapping noise and keep them waterproof. I will stuff the hession sacks and tie them into the crates.

I have new dog runs but they seem so large and not cosy at all. They are also about 50 metres from the house and I like to be able to hear them which is why they sleep under the ensuite window. I would love to put them in kennels only but live on a few acreages and have farms around so I sleep better knowing the boys are secure at night (not that they can leave the property but you just never know what escape plan they may hatch in the dark!).

Thanks again and

[Rebanne]

Hi,

Thank you all for the tips

I have put cardboard between the tray and the crate and it has worked well, will upgrade to carpet when I come across some. I could use it to line the walls too once the winter comes.

Will also pick up some blankets, then put the crate covers over the top which should stop the flapping noise and keep them waterproof. I will stuff the hession sacks and tie them into the crates.

I have new dog runs but they seem so large and not cosy at all. They are also about 50 metres from the house and I like to be able to hear them which is why they sleep under the ensuite window. I would love to put them in kennels only but live on a few acreages and have farms around so I sleep better knowing the boys are secure at night (not that they can leave the property but you just never know what escape plan they may hatch in the dark!).

Thanks again and

when I said a proper kennel I meant a proper dog house- a kennel, usually wooden, available on ebay, all sorts of sizes. Much better for permament sleeping quarters then a wire crate however much you dress it up. You can put one in each dog run and also put one under the ensuite window and if you need to keep them in that area you could put a small fence around the kennel. Easy to do.

[Sandra777]

when I said a proper kennel I meant a proper dog house- a kennel, usually wooden, available on ebay, all sorts of sizes. Much better for permament sleeping quarters then a wire crate however much you dress it up. You can put one in each dog run and also put one under the ensuite window and if you need to keep them in that area you could put a small fence around the kennel. Easy to do.

Not exactly sure how a kennel is a better bed than a well set up crate - which is all it seems OP is talking about. As a long term containment method yes a kennel and secure run is better than a crate. Our dogs have runs with kennels where they are during the day when there's no one home or when they need to be separated. At night, they're crated on the patio (or loose inside). They can't be crated inside the house because there's not enough room. Makes no sense to me to set up little kennels up on the deck for night time use when they have perfectly good kennels and runs out in the garden. They can't stay in the outside kennels at night because we have cane toads, mozzies & LOTS of bats, so come dusk they're put to bed surrounded by mozzie coils, bug zappers and tucked up under blankets. The crates are on ply so the cold/damp doesn't come through the concrete under them, they have different bedding according to their chew-factor and until they're old enough to hold on all night they have a very small area of a play pen at the front of their crate for midnight accidents. They're let out to pee before we go to bed and out again by 6.30am, so it is definitely just for sleeping. Putting kennels and actual escape proof runs on our patio would be nuts in our situation - escape proof runs for Staffords means Fort Knox :laugh:

[Rebanne]

when I said a proper kennel I meant a proper dog house- a kennel, usually wooden, available on ebay, all sorts of sizes. Much better for permament sleeping quarters then a wire crate however much you dress it up. You can put one in each dog run and also put one under the ensuite window and if you need to keep them in that area you could put a small fence around the kennel. Easy to do.

Not exactly sure how a kennel is a better bed than a well set up crate - which is all it seems OP is talking about. As a long term containment method yes a kennel and secure run is better than a crate. Our dogs have runs with kennels where they are during the day when there's no one home or when they need to be separated. At night, they're crated on the patio (or loose inside). They can't be crated inside the house because there's not enough room. Makes no sense to me to set up little kennels up on the deck for night time use when they have perfectly good kennels and runs out in the garden. They can't stay in the outside kennels at night because we have cane toads, mozzies & LOTS of bats, so come dusk they're put to bed surrounded by mozzie coils, bug zappers and tucked up under blankets. The crates are on ply so the cold/damp doesn't come through the concrete under them, they have different bedding according to their chew-factor and until they're old enough to hold on all night they have a very small area of a play pen at the front of their crate for midnight accidents. They're let out to pee before we go to bed and out again by 6.30am, so it is definitely just for sleeping. Putting kennels and actual escape proof runs on our patio would be nuts in our situation - escape proof runs for Staffords means Fort Knox :laugh:

gets a bit cold here at night in Vic in winter.

[Sandra777]

gets a bit cold here at night in Vic in winter.

Bit cold so dogs are better off sleeping in a kennel & run instead of a completely covered up crate?

I've lived where our hot water system reguarly froze solid overnight & we had snow at sea level - now that's cold :laugh:

Edited December 24, 2012 by Sandra777