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Crate size?


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I have a 30"L x 21 1/4"W x 24"H folding wire crate for when we go camping or other trips where I'm taking my car, its the only one of my crates that fits in the trunk.

 

I wound up with a really big one for at home, it stays in the living room, I don't know the dimensions but you could fit a really big dog in it comfortably. This works great for the days that Leila is home when I'm at work or at school.

 

And I have a few assorted sizes of varikennel, hard crates from my days of being a multiple dog/goat household.

 

I guess you can say one can never have to many crates! lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

Carrier?/Crate Size For A New Pup?

 

I am hoping for some advice on crate size for a new pup (8 weeks) to travel in and then hopefully be used for initial "potty-crate" training (maybe a few weeks), as we already have a medium size crate for when she grows into that. Although (fingers crossed :rolleyes: ), hopefully she will not require a crate for housebreaking training by that time.

 

We have to travel a full days drive (600 mi) to pick her up, so need this mainly for the car trip. I am hoping to buy a fairly inexpensive crate/carrier as it will likely be outgrown in short order.

 

I am just a little bit flummoxed at what size an 8-week old BC is. Had them before, but so long ago I just can't picture the approximate size. (heck, she's a week old now and would fit into hampster cage per the photos of her now :)

 

Here are some sizes of one I am considering from PetSmart's website:

 

Small: 19"L x 12.6"W x 10"H (For pets up to 9" tall x 16" long)

Medium: 23"L x 15.2"W x 11.8"H (For pets up to 11" tall x 18" long)

Large: 26.2"L x 18.6"W x 16.5"H (For pets up to 25" tall x 32" long)

 

Any tips for sources to buy from inexpensively will also be much appreciated.

 

Thanks so much for any and all help you might be.

 

Doug

 

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I've driven long distances to pick up pups before. I chose to use a medium crate because it had room for a bed, water bucket, food bucket and some toys, including a chew toy. I just stop frequently to let the pup go potty. I've found it helps to have a puppy friendly, travel savvy adult dog along. The adult dogs know rest stop = potty break. Puppies tend to immitate adult dogs, so seeing one go to the bathroom seems to help stimulate them to go.

 

*When I do stop it is NOT at busy travel rest stops. I leave the highway and find out of the way places where it is less likely that other travelers paused to walk their dogs. I do this to lower the risk of disease exposure, especially to parvo.

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I like Liz's advice. We didn't have a medium-sized crate at that point, but we did have the large crate we'd just purchased (that had a divider), as well as the cat's crate. The cat's crate turned out to be just the right size for our 8-week-old pup for a few weeks (at which point he'd outgrown it). He would have rattled around mightily in a full-size crate, and any accidents would have been hard to contain. Do you have a friend with a cat who could lend you a cat crate for the trip? Many cat owners keep a crate for trips to the vet.

 

We did as Liz suggests: stopped AWAY from major rest stops for potty breaks to reduce risk of diseases. We'd find a side road, drive down it for a ways until we found a good place to park, and then give the pup a potty break. (Don't forget to bring a leash and collar!). We also offered him water at that point. We did NOT offer food as we'd been warned that food might increase the chances of his getting carsick. For that reason, he was not supposed to have been fed that morning (but there was a miscommunication, and the poor pup did end up throwing up on the trip).

 

We didn't have an adult dog who could initiate peeing/pooping.Oh, and it was about a 7-hour trip (there; much longer on the way back, with potty breaks).

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My last puppy pickup run was about 18 hours each way, so I had to feed while driving. Lucky for me that pup was not prone to car sickness.

 

I've never had a pup mess in the crate while driving, other than car sickness, because I stop often enough to let them go.

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Great advice - much appreciated Liz and Alchemist.

 

For an 8-week old pup, how often would you think we should make potty brakes??

 

Finding a side road won't be too hard in barren, Western Idaho and Eastern Montana which is where most of the drive will be through.

 

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