# What kind of crate do you use or reccomend?



## Paula Valentine (Apr 17, 2006)

We are building a new house and my husband is insisting on the dogs being crated when i am not home.
They have not been crated for almost 9 or 10 years but when they were pups i remember them busting out of every crate i put them in. 
Does anyone have a reccomendtion of a nice strong crate that isn't going to cost a fortune.
Thanks 
Paula


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

If it were me, rather than crate them, I'd build a good kennel. They'd have more room, be in the fresh air. They'd be secure and fulfill the penned up requirement, when you are gone.

DFrost


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## Paula Valentine (Apr 17, 2006)

David, 
we do have a 2 dog kennel with a top, i could use that but i am concerned with it being too cold for them in the winter as they are both up there in age. also kinda worried about leaving them outside in the kennel with neighbors and kids possibly bothering them. my property will not have a perimeter fence.
Thanks 

Paula


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

Is there a basement, garage or somewhere inside that you could put up a reasonably large kennel? Two crates take up quite a bit of space inside anyway, perhaps you could find somewhere to take up just a little more space with an indoor kennel? remotely possible?
-Kristina


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## Woody Taylor (Mar 28, 2006)

Get one big enough for your husband, sounds like he might benefit from crating up that bug in his rear a few hours a day. Studies have shown a lot of improvement from crating problem spouses.

I like the aircraft-compliant plastic crates (I have a wire one as well on our second floor). I think those are quieter and provide more of a "cave" for the dog. Work better in different situations, IMO...cars/hotels/vets/planes trips. I like the wire one and the one we have is quite large but I don't like how open they are...Annie sleeps in our wire one at night, it's tucked away in a recessed part of our bedroom so she will get a "cave" feel.

Given that it's been so long since they've been crated, another advantage of a more portable plastic crate is that you can get them used to it slowly, and crate them around you and in areas of high traffic. I don't know if your dogs are nervy but that will be an abrupt transition for them and might be kind of rough if you just throw them in a kennel in the basement. Annie always crates within sight of our family and I think that makes it a lot less frustrating for her.

I have a Large VariKennel-type carrier. That fits my 65 lb. dog just fine and will work when she tops out around 70-75 lbs. I would be surprised if an older dog would bust out of a modern carrier, assuming they are not still puppies in spirit and alligators in attitude.

Good luck, my guess is lots of people will have their own opinions on this. It sounds like you have more family-type dogs that are used to being a part of the family...that would make me have reservations about a permanent indoor kennel in the house but away from you.


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## Sarah Hall (Apr 12, 2006)

I usually use the airline crates, but a strong, willfull dog can break out of one of these easily. I then use stainless steel kennels, or put the dog in a kennel in my back yard (fenced). The question is: Why is your husband insisting on these dogs being crated when they haven't been in YEARS?


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

I have 2 big wire crates... my GSD has always been in a wire crate with only 1 "getting jaw stuck in crate" incident which was only possible because the crate door was open... he's never done it since... but other than that I've liked the visibility a dog gets of the house while in a wire crate, was never crazy about airline crates for that reason.... my 2nd wire crate was for my pup, but she's too small, she gets her jaw stuck in the bars when she gets wound up n starts biting them to get out... happened once so far, but it almost happened again today while I was cleaning her plastic crate.

So she sleeps in her airline crate since she can't get her teeth stuck on it, and I've grown to like them. I wouldn't put my GSD in a plastic crate as his primary crate, but I use one when I take him training... and just bought a slightly larger, but still small, plastic crate for the truck so I can take the puppy with me without having to lug crates around everywhere.


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## Paula Valentine (Apr 17, 2006)

Kristina
Good idea, i never thought of putting the kennel in the garage. That might be an option. 

Sarah,
the reason my PITA husband wants them crated when i am gone is he dosent want them possibly scratching windows or doors. I know he sounds crazy but thats the way he wants it.

Woody, 
You crack me up, sometimes i would like to do more then crate my husband. my dogs live in the house all day and night with the family. they will only be crated while i am not home for more then a few hours.


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## Woody Taylor (Mar 28, 2006)

Paula Valentine said:


> Woody,
> You crack me up, sometimes i would like to do more then crate my husband. my dogs live in the house all day and night with the family. they will only be crated while i am not home for more then a few hours.


Just go easy on those cute pits, I remember your pictures of them with the kids...those look like classic buddies to me. Good luck.


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

I like the kennel in the basement/garage idea, too - provided the garage is heated/cooled. You could get one of the smaller chain link kennel in a box things and that would be much better than a crate, IMO. My shepherd pup stays outside in a 7.5x13x6 kennel most of the time, because when he's crated all day, and then again all night, he gets really hard to handle because of his pent up energy. 

I wanted to comment on the plastic vs. wire crate thing, though. Some dogs prefer one style to the other. I used to have a wire crate - that's what I got when I first got my pet dog. I had never owned a plastic airline crate before, because I thought the wire ones were more secure and couldn't be chewed, etc. I was right about that, but when I got Jak, I had to get a plastic crate for him because the wire one wouldn't fit in my car, and it was freaking HEAVY and awkward to move. I discovered that the reason my other dog never slept in her crate once she was housetrained was because she wanted the security of the plastic one! The very night I bought the plastic one, she went right in and went to sleep, and has every night since! Apparently she likes it better than the wire crate, so I sold the wire one and bought her a slightly smaller plastic crate of her own. I have known dogs that preferred the wire crates to the plastic ones, too. The doberman hound mix I fostered two summers ago liked the wire crate better than the plastic one.

For durability, the wire ones are better, IMO. But for ease-of-use and convenience, I actually prefer the plastic kind now!


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

The only time Thunder is crated is in my car. That can be a big part of the day 2-3 times a week on training days. For that reason, I prefer the wire crate. The air circulation is much better.


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## Lou Castle (Apr 4, 2006)

Have you looked at the Ram crate from Ray Allen. www.rayallen.com and then put "crate" into the seach box. I've been using them for a couple of years in the back of my pickup and they're very good.


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