Suggestions for crates for a mini Goldendoodle puppy?

[Lucas Luxton]

Hi all,

We've finally decided on a breeder and will be going to pick up our little guy tomorrow morning. One thing we have yet to decide on is a crate.... I know, I know, pretty important but we just haven't been able to find one that we really like and is a good combination of looks and functionality.

We would like to get one with a divider and would preferably like to get one that doubles as a travel crate. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on size, brand or a specific crate?

We're in Toronto so anyone with suggestions on where to buy would be great as well.

Thanks!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Looks?? You need to find something practical and worry about looks later--you might find after the first 6 months that you no longer need  the crate, so do not spend too much now. Lots of people use the plastic travel crates that are for airplane use for the first 4-5 months and a small one would be fine for a miniGD--the breeder should be able to tell you what size to get--and the pup needs to be in it in the car too, so a lightweight one makes that easier. They are also less expensive so you can have one in the car and one in the house or tow in the house in different places...

Good luck and enjoy your new puppy!!!!

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

We had a much, much smaller crate for the first 6-7 months so we had a solid NO PEE IN THE CRATE sized space.  we upgraded to a luxurious turn around once he was solidly peeing only outside.  Housebreaking should be your first priority, in my opinion, then work on looks and roominess.  Ginny is spot on, as usual.  

Meantime, have fun and enjoy puppy hood! 

[Willow and J]

Willow was out first dog, and I did not know about DK yet, and I did not like the all wire ones nor the plastic travel ones. I guess I was also going for "looks". :) We got a used one that looks like this in blue : http://www.amazon.com/Pet-Gear-Other-Fleece-30-pounds/dp/B0015MEP3K . It served us okay, and I said "okay", because Willow quickly learned how to free herself from the crate by pawing a particular corner and make one of the doors open. Smart puppy! We solved the problem by putting the crate against the wall so that the corner that opens up faced the wall.

When Willow grew, we had to upgrade to wired one: http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Stages-Double-Door-Folding-Inches/dp/... (the largest size: Willow is 65 lb.). Surprise! We thought that she did not like crates, but she walked into her new crate even before I set it up. I have no clue why: did old crate have previous dog's smell, even after washing it out with breach and soap a couple of times? Did she like more space in the new one, even if body-crate ratio was about the same? Did she like better visibility from more open wired one???

We stopped crating her around 1 yr. so it's now used as her toy storage. It's fun to see Willow spends minutes sticking her head in there to pick out a toy every evening.

Good luck, and enjoy your puppy!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Well, I am probably not the one to talk to about crates because I don't like them.  We have had crates for traveling and for the puppies to be in in the car until they get over the chewing stage, but I don't like the looks of them in the house.  Therefore, for each of my puppies, I got a baby playpen and that was their place in the house until they were totally house trained.  You can see my latest playpen in the photos on my profile page. It is on page 4.  The first puppy even had one with a vibrator that I could turn on and it would put him right to sleep.  The second doodle (the tall guy) could just step or hop out of his playpen so we put a piece of wood over the top with bungee cords to keep him in at night.  The third puppy loved his playpen and was happy to get into it at any time of the day.

Here is what I do.  First thing in the morning, I pick up the puppy and take him outside to the place I want him to eliminate in and place him on the ground.  If he runs around a little, that is fine, but after he goes, I pick him back up and take him in the house.  If one of the older dogs wants to play a little outside, that is fine, but I don't allow the puppy to wander around in the house unsupervised.  I "cuddle and carry" to go outside and to bring back inside.  I have never had problems with house training and the older dogs are definitely a help in that area.  My first two doodles were also too large for a crate.  I think you should have one for the vehicle when you take the puppy in a vehicle, but in the house, I prefer a playpen.  Just my prejudice, but it has worked for us.

[Diane Winters]

Lynda| did you use a playpen with a soft bottom raised off the floor? I found a used one for $15 today. Was thinking about using it for housebreaking but it would mean having to lift the puppy in and out every time it's time to go out. Seems like this would be a downside because the dog becomes conditioned to needing to be lifted up vs walking outside as part of the "go outside and pee" pattern.

[Star and Goldie]

I have a mini goldendoodle. I went with the Midwest icrate and selected the size that she would need at full grown. They come with a divider. You can buy nice crate covers. Those serve two purposes: they make it nice and cozy for the pup because it feels like a warm den and second, they make the wire crates much less of an eye sore!

[Lucas Luxton]

Thanks to everyone for the great responses! We decided to go with the medium sized iCrate from MidWest. Cooper cried quite a bit the last two nights and I imagine that will continue for at least a few more days/weeks. We've adjusted the divider to give him about 1/3 of the total space so he can comfortably lie down spread out. He hasn't soiled in his crate as of yet either which is great. 

Thanks again!

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

 

I found that my puppy cried less and was more secure when I covered the crate with a sheet and made his "den" more cozy.  The other thing that was a life saver was putting the crate on top of a vinyl tablecloth in case Stanlee were to have an accident.  This made for an easy clean up. 

 This week is our first week of letting Stanlee have free run of the house while no one is home.  Yesterday he shredded a paper towel.....that's it!  Of course he's a year old and not quite as rambunctious.  Good luck and hope to see lots more of you guys.