Puppy Crates

We are getting a labrador puppy in July, and mainly thanks to this board we are going to try using a puppy crate, we've never tried these with our previous dogs.

We intend to use the crate both at home and travelling. Do you think we should buy 2 crates or transport the same one so it has the same smells, bedding etc?

It's up to you really they both will smell the same so it comes down to do you want to be humphing it from the house to car and back again every time you want to go somewhere.

I wouldn't. You're going to need to buy different crates as the dog grows. If the dog has too much room in the crate (as a pup) it will use the bathroom inside the crate. 

I wondered about the size thing but, a site i looked at said you should buy one with the dogs adult size in mind and block off the crate so it doesn't have the room to pee on one side and sleep on the other...

If you can buy something to restrict the size inside, then go for it. I didn't know they made things to restrict the size. 

Cardboard boxes work just fine to make a crate smaller.

If i was buying i would buy full size you never get any good return on selling used ones.

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Cardboard boxes work just fine to make a crate smaller.

Couldn't a dog just knock the cardboard over? haha

I have to laugh at the comment about the box method to reduce the size of the crate.  My puppy ripped up the box, ate half of it and went to the bathroom on the rest...

Hmm. I have a feeling a puppy would just tear up the cardboard boxes.

With the several dogs my family has had over the years, we've had lots of success with the crate. Just one crate should be fine... unless you're planning on travelling a lot. Those things can be a bit of a hassle to take apart and set back up.

I think if you could find a block of wood the apropriate size, it might be used to block off part of the crate.  Cardboard would be a bit flimzy unless you put something strong behind it.

Good luck on the crate training.  If done right, it really can be a wonderful tool.  it helps to teach the dog to work on bladder control.  It also teaches them that they have a safe place (den) to call their own.  Now the hubby and I are able to give our Shepherd free reign of the house while we are at work without fear of coming home to find a mess.

I guess it depends on the puppy - my family had several golden retreivers, and putting a large cardboard box at the back of the crate worked just fine.

My dog would eat the cardboard.  Of course, he also ate his dog house - and it's not funny!  He's a black lab mix, so be warned!  Of course, it was an outside dog house he could go in and out at will, not a crate, but that dog has chewed through seatbelts, an auto visor, wooden gates!  A nervous chewer if ever I saw one...crating is the way to go, which we didn't figure out soon enough.

As to the posted question...I would just buy one unless you are going to be going somewhere every weekend and leaving the crate in the vehicle.  They are big and hard to move, but they take up a lot of room in the back that you probably won't want dedicated to the dog for infrequent travelling.

Our crate came with a wire divider to block off part of the crate.   

They do have crates that can be sectioned off for puppies.  My daughter bought one and it had a metal grate that was adjustable as the dog grows. 

Original Post by jpoage:

Our crate came with a wire divider to block off part of the crate.   

Jinx!

Hehe!  I think this is the first time I've seen someone call jinx on this forum.  Well done.  That's one I haven't heard in a while.

Original Post by karozel:

Original Post by jpoage:

Our crate came with a wire divider to block off part of the crate.   

Jinx!

 You owe me a coke! 

How much traveling are you planning on doing?  If you're only taking a trip 2 or 3 times a month, I think you'll be fine with a single crate.  Do you want the extra crate in your car all the time or will you remove it anyway when your dog isn't riding with you?

On a related note, I've had two dogs: one we crate trained and one we didn't.  Life has been so much better with the crate training.  No coming home to messes on the carpet, dishes broken in the kitchen, a ten pound bag of potatoes sitting inside my dogs stomach (minus the plastic bag - most of it anyway)...  I don't ever want to go back to the way things were.  My current labrador / border collie mix has learned to love her kennel and goes in on her own to sleep at night or nap away the heat of the day.

I have 2 crates for my weimeraner - he'll be close to the size of a lab when he's full grown. I bought the full size crates and he's never messed in them. I think the key is that a pup can only 'hold it' for a few hours and they will natrually not want to mess where they sleep. We got up every 3 or 4 hours at night to take him out - one of his crates is in my bedroom so we'd hear when he woke up and started to wimper that he needed to go out. We didn't put absorbant blankets down for him either, we got a dog pillow that was somewhat water resistant so it didn't give him a natural tendancy to go.

Good luck!

Original Post by r6riderchick:

I have to laugh at the comment about the box method to reduce the size of the crate.  My puppy ripped up the box, ate half of it and went to the bathroom on the rest...

 Yupp ... typical puppy behaviour. No matter how many toys you buy, they always go for the cardboard .. or whatever they can make the most mess with. My dogs are 1 1/2 and almost 2 now and no matter how indestructable the toy is (supposedly) they just love to rip it up ++ make a huge mess. Can't help but love 'em, can you :P