The puppy now sleeps in a crate/den structure that I temporarily put together out of plywood. I’m looking for something that will continue to serve as her sleeping area/refuge but can be relatively easy transported when I go on road trips with her so that she has a comfortable and familiar place to sleep in new surroundings. I’m not worried about partitioning it for her small size since her current setup is quite large and she has never gone to the bathroom when inside it.
As far as size requirements, she is a German Shepherd. I have a pickup truck, making transportation easier as well. Any and all recommendations welcome…
We have folding wire crates for our two springer spaniels. They’re awesome. You can fold them up for transport, and they also fit side by side in the back of our minivan. Stick a dog bed in there and it’s a home away from home. They love 'em. Crate training rocks.
We also had a larger one for our late German shepherd/lab mix.
You can find them at any pet-supply store. I don’t have a brand name, but as long as you choose a solid one you should be fine, unless your dog is an escape artist. (Our shepherd broke out of a regular crate once during a thunderstorm; we got the folding crate when she was much older and tolerated them better [with the aid of pharmaceuticals].)
Like this, only the door on ours folds up over the top, which is nice because then it’s out of the way when the crate is open.
Folding metal crate with a partition for growth. A crate should never be larger then an area the dog can stand up and turn around. This way the crate will grow with the dog. So buy it for what he or she will be full grown with a partition that is movable. That way they will not soil it.
We had a large, strong folding wire crate – a big one, made of heavy-gauge wire almost like bars, with solidity to it and plenty of room for the dog (note – it’s possible for a crate to be too big for a given dog; choosing the right size is something of an art form).
Along with solidity came foldability – it could be collapsed to about 4-5 inches thick by three feet by four feet (roughly). This heavy slab of metal could be tucked away in a closet or something.
Along with foldability, mass, and heavy-gauge wire came OH MY GOD MY FINGER IS IN THERE! OPEN IT! OPEN IT!!!
When collapsing such a cage, watch your hands. The metal bars can pinch down on a body part like pliers, and the weight of the cage as it folds up will drive the bars together like a steam-driven nutcracker.
I thought I might have to go to the hospital, but it subsided to mere pulsing agony. It’s surprising how sharp and potent crushing injury pain is – my hand immediately became the Most Important Thing in the World and it took my wife a few moments to realize I wasn’t just shaking off a little pinch.
No long-term damage, probably because I reversed the collapse of the cage so quickly. If I’d just let it drop instead of guiding it, I might have had serious finger damage or even loss.
Those crates work well, but watch your hands when folding/unfolding them (and probably when moving them around too, just in case).
.
Hm, how odd. We’ve never had that problem. (Mr. S. points out that we don’t actually fold ours down very often.) It’s a caveat worth noting, though.
We have one similar to this, and it works well. The only concern is that the dog’s tags could get caught in the bars, but that’s easily preventable.
We bought one just like this for our Boston Terrier puppy years ago. It came with a removable partition we used while he was tiny (and stored supplies in the back partition). It’s the perfect size for him now without the partition and since it has doors on both a long side and a short side configuring it in a room makes it easy. I slapped a piece of MDF on top of it and it’s currently serving double duty as a nightstand.
Puck is crate trained and the door remains open whenever we’re home, so he can relax in there anytime he wants. It truly makes taking him new places easy and stress-free for everyone.
Thanks for the all the info.
Any recommendations on size? I’m going back and forth between 42" L X 28"W X 30" H
and 48" L X 30" W X 33" H. This is for a German Shepherd. Parents were on the larger side, but the puppy is a female. Poundage chart suggests the smaller of the two; I have seen breed charts that suggest the larger. I intend to put blankets, padding, etc. inside, so that would take up some space. Any suggestions?