Help! Crate Size and Puppy-too big

[Claire Scruggs]

Need advice on should I get a smaller crate? What size?

I just picked up a free crate a friend gave me yesterday and got it home and it is HUGE.- 36"l x24"w. It is way to big to fit inside his pen area where he'll be staying. I got him a very nice pen  that let's me give him a 6x6 foot area, attached photo. Never mind the rug- that's getting rolled up and a sheet of 6ft by 12 ft linoleum is going down to protect the carpet.

I was thinking of putting the crate in the pen, but that won't work with this giant pen.

The other problem is that giant pen hardly fits in my bedroom, we'd have to do some serious moving around. Ideally I'd like a smaller pen that could fit in there and I can move it from the pen in day to my room at night.

A note about the pup. His mom is a 35 lb Standard Poodle and Dad is a 55lb Goldendoodle.

I really hate to spend more money on another crate, but...I want him to get used to crate training. My friend thinks the pen is adequate but I think he should just get used to a crate.

- Should I get another smaller crate that'll suit him for the first few months? How soon is he going to outgrow a smaller crate? SIze reccomendation?

I can always resell on Craigslist.

[Pilar, Sophie & Rico]

Claire, the large crate will come in handy. Until the puppy grows which will happen quickly divide it. I created a divider with cardboard and put it in the middle using tie wraps. I was given a huge crate and I'm glad that I kept it. My 15 month doodle is 27 pounds and loves to hang out in it. Plus they are expensive.

[Claire Scruggs]

What size is your crate? I have the divider, it's more of a problem because the amount of space the crate takes up. If I can get one a little smaller, it would make a big difference in terms of where it will fit. I just don't know how much smaller I can get away with - ideally if like it to work fr the next three
Months. Then I can go up to the bigger crate. I'll have more time to figure out where we can put it, and a smaller crate might fit in his pen so he could hang out in it when we are home. That's not an option with the giant crate. I was just at petco and they thought the smallest I could do would be a 28" long crate. I can get one for $40 here in LA factory direct-Petco is OUTRAGEOUS!

[Pilar, Sophie & Rico]

The large wire crate is 22 x 35 the smaller one is 20x23. The smaller one is being used by my 15 week pup and he's already getting too big for it. I had it for 15 years and its been used by 3 pups! Probably will put him into the bigger one and Sophie will lose her den hangout. Only until he's fully trained. Sophie uses it to take naps. I do crate her when she becomes a little destructive. I also had a traveler one which is smaller (plastic) and I used it when Sophie was a puppy. Maybe that will work for you. Thes pups grow very fast!!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

My, that's the strangest looking doodle  I've ever seen!  LOL... just kidding...

When both my doodles were puppies, we had an XL crate downstairs (with a  partition) and a smaller crate upstairs. I'm glad I kept the smaller one after Lucy, because it came in handy for Oscar 3 yrs later. Both my doods are standard size and it sounds like yours will be 40-50 lbs.  Both mine are about 50. We went with the XL crate (about 24" x 42" x 31 high). I am so glad I went with this size, as my doodles love the extra space. They will stretch out, with nose to toe touching each end. The smaller one we used upstairs was a Medium size. Sorry, I've forgotten the dimensions, but smaller than the one you have. I think yours is considered a Large. We didn't keep the puppies upstairs for more than the 1st week, so the smaller crate really wasn't necessary after that. Where do you live? We have the smaller crate available (I doubt very much we'll be needing it again for a long, long while).

Is that where the pen will be when the puppy comes? I'm a little concerned about the draperies I see inside the pen area.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

When I say, "We didn't keep the puppies upstairs for more than the 1st week", I'm referring to nighttime only. Its not like we kept them upstairs all the time... lol..

[Claire Scruggs]

I live in Pasadena, California.

Yeah, that's the area where the pup is going. Thou I may not put the pen to the wall like that- I might just make the crate a full circle so it's a smaller area at first. The drapes just hide our ugly closet doors, I was either going to move those to the outside of the crate area or take them down all together.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Sorry you're so far away from Portland, Oregon. Good idea about dealing with the drapes.

[Tina]

I have a pen and a crate. I put the puppy in the crate when I go to work with a puppy pad, bed and water bowl. It's enough room for him to have a little self contained area. I work 12 hour shifts in the hospital so I felt bad if I put him in the crate that long. So when I am working my night shift, he's in the pen. When I am off, he sleeps in the crate next to my bed. The puppy pen has been a life saver for me especially when he was younger. I could be at work and not worry about what he was getting into or what was I going to do if he had to pee or poo. Just FYI, I think it's a bit harder to potty train with the pen than with the crate because they have more room to do their business; whereas with the crate, they adapt a little bit faster as they don't want to sit in their mess. That's just my experience. Amazon has a puppy pen made by iris, I think that is inexpensive and probably smaller. You can buy extra panels to add on. That's what we have. I think I paid $30 in total and I love it! The extra panels are $15 to $20 more for 2 of them.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Is it possible to put the crate in the doorway of the pen and that way he has access to the pen and the crate? At least for the daytime and then crate him at night?

[Claire Scruggs]

yes, I was just thinking that might work.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

The crate opening facing into the pen opening sounds like a good idea- but for down the road.  Too much space is going to make it tougher to potty train. We started out with a smaller crate for sleeping at night and being a safe place.  Once he started to grow, and was fully potty trained, we went to a XL that he can move around in for when we are not home. He sleeps with us now, or in the shower!  It's cooler there or on our bathroom tile floor.   

[Claire Scruggs]

I was thinking of the pen around the crate door last night actually. I'd still close the door at night and when we leave the house.How old was your doodle when you switched to the XL crate, and how large (the 40" or the 42")? Do you know what size the smaller cage was? How big is your doodle now, is he full grown?