Travel crate size for puppy?

[Bill D]

My family and I are getting our first dog this weekend, an 8 week-old standard Australian labradoodle. I've already purchased an adult-sized indoor crate with a divider for him. But when it comes to taking our little guy in the car, I am not sure what size travel crate to buy.

Would an adult-sized crate be dangerous (i.e., allow him too much extra space to fly around)? Or should I buy a small travel crate now, and then buy a bigger one when he outgrows it?

[Amy and Annabelle]

I have a mini goldendoodle. She weighed 4lbs the day I brought her home. The first travel crate I bought was small, like about cat size. She used that one until she was about 12lbs. Then I bought a larger one that will be her forever crate. She weighs 16lbs now as an adult. So you may have to have 2 different sized crates for your pup.

[Janet & Jaxson]

We also had several sizes until he was big enough to use a Sleepypod Click-It Sport car harness. Jaxson's breeder supplied his first crate. This worked well. And I can't say enough about the harness. It is one of the only ones safety tested.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I used a small crate for the car for the first several weeks....it just seemed like they would feel more secure.  They do grow very fast though, and when it was time to move him to a larger crate I bought the full size for my standard....we skipped the step of the medium crate.

[Debbie and Toby]

Congratulations on getting your new pup. How exciting! I think to start, I would use a smaller crate, would be safer. You could also put a blanket, sheet or one of the fleece crate pads in just for some extra comfort, as long as you monitor to make sure he/she doesn't chew.  I think the harness is also a very good idea as your pup gets a bit older, I wish we could use the harness, but we had a problem with Toby chewing the harness straps and the seat belt, and would free himself, so you would need to monitor that when using a harness.

[Bill D]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my question! Looks like I will need to have two crates as he grows. So glad I found this site and I'm sure I'll be back on here quite a bit over the coming years!

Bill

[Ginny Nightingale]

You can use a cheaper travel crate (plastic) for the car.

[Boone & Susan]

We faced this dilemma as well. We tried a flimsy pop up crate and it lasted about 5 minutes. He was rolling around all over the back of the car. We knew we needed the hard plastic crate but also had trouble deciding on one for his current size or one for his future size. We eventually opted for one that was about one size bigger than he was at 8 weeks. It has worked out great for the last 4 weeks and I still think he might be okay for another week but that's about it. We also added a rug to the bottom of it to keep him from sliding around on the plastic surface.

Just pick one up at Walmart for as cheap as you can and then buy another one when he grows out of it. You can always donate the small one to a shelter or animal society. I think the next one we buy him will be for his adult size because I think he can handle it now. Plus, I'm hoping when he's bigger, he can just ride in the car without the crate more.