Exercise Pen and Dog Crate ...

[Joann Valerio]

I was wondering if anyone uses a dog Exercise Pen with a Crate inside the ex pen for
their puppy? I was planning on doing that when I get my GD puppy next year.
Feedback please!

[Sarah Trott]

I didn't use one when I got Wally. I could be wrong but I think with young puppies crate training is better. Their area shouldn't be much larger than them or you risk accidents. Now that Wally is a bit older (5 months) and hasn't had an accident in quite a while, I'm considering getting one so he's not stuck in his crate while I'm at work... I'm curious about others experiences as well!

[Joann Valerio]

I would be putting the Crate in the ex pen. I'm retired so I wouldn't be leaving her alone for long periods.
I live in a one bedroom and thought that the Ex Pen would give her more space when she wasn't in her
Crate.

[Jenny and Cooper]

Hi Joann, I used a crate until Cooper was fully potty trained. Then I moved him out of the crate to the play pen so he can have more room when I do need to leave him for a few hours. I didn't use them both together. Cooper was also much more willing to go in his play pen than his crate at the end of the day. :)

[Beth & Cheddar]

My brother does this with his 12 week puppy while at work and it works for them. He keeps the crate inside the xpen perimeter. They have been mostly accident free once the puppy figured out it was his home space. I have a crate and xpen at my house too but have them separate. I use the crate when leaving the house and nighttime. And the xpen more for during the day. My 12 week old puppy loves his xpen and will go inside to take naps all the time.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We used an ex-pen to limit Ned's area when we were working on potty training. We were usually with him.  Separately we used a crate when we had to leave him alone and at night. We began leaving the crate door open at night when he was about a year and phased it out totally.