Puppy Crates, Wire or Plastic?

[DeeDee and Sheila]

Ok, technically I don't have my puppy yet, but the preparing madness has begun! I looked at PetCo and the crates for mini ALD's seemed so small. Should I just get both a small plastic crate for potty training and a bigger wire crate for her REAL crate? Or a plastic crate and a wire playpen thing? My kitchen is way too big to leave her in it and I don't want her isolated from me while I'm home. Where can I get a reasonable play pen thing? Thanks for your advice.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Guinness is a mini ALD. We started with the medium wire crate with a divider. He never liked it, and always seemed more comfortable in his soft sided travel crate. So we gave away the wire crate and just used the travel crate. When he outgrew the smaller on we got the large size which he used until he was eight months. At that point he didn't need to be in a crate anymore. I got both the small one and the larger one at Petco. We still use the larger one for traveling. Guinness was only crated at night or if we were not at home. The rest of the time he was fine and always stayed wherever I was.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

I had a medium wire crate for Lucca and used a divider for awhile. I also put a flat bed with foam in it (to make it cushier) then the bed that has the sides on it that fits in the crates. I used a plastic crate for traveling in the car. Can you use a baby gate? Or is your space too big.We have a bed in the kitchen for him that he used when he wasn't in the crate. But we also kept the crate door open when he wasn't confined to it and he did go in it to sleep on his own. Lucca was able to wander around the kitchen when we were home (with the baby gate up) and he was crated when we went out. But never for more than an hour or 2 at the beginning. We stopped using everything (gates and crates when he was about 8 months old. Now he sleeps wherever he wants. I always make sure things are picked up so he doesn't get himself in trouble. As to stores, go online and check out the prices and see how they match up.
Don't know if this is your 1st pup but remember to bring him out after he wakes up, after her eats and plays. Keep lots of paper towels on hand as well as Nature's Miracle. Check out using a Potty Bell. It works great!!! Have lots of patience and love and enjoy him as they grow soooo very fast. Good luck.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

I let him out gradually and always supervised. The house is completely "puppy proofed" and still is. He will still eat socks (sometimes) and LOVES kleenex. In fact I bought garbage cans with the foot pedal lids and he figured out how to nudge it open with his nose. Smart doods:) I make sure all the doors are closed when I go out. When he was younger and I went out I put him back in the kitchen and made sure the counters were clear. I gradually left him alone for short periods of time without the gate. I think I got rid of the gate permanently when he was around 10 months old and I felt I could trust him. He also ate the cat poo out of the litter box for awhile...yuk, that was gross. We have dog beds all over the place too but his favorite bed is in the kitchen where we are most of the time. He still gets into things....daily!!! but nothing like before:) They grow fast, enjoy. I can't believe he is 16 months old already.

[DeeDee and Sheila]

Thanks. Carla, this will be my fifth dog, but my others were retrievers. Time to downsize. What both of you did sounds like what I usually do, which is minimal crating after they are potty trained. So I may try the travel crate, since I need one to get her in Maine anyway. And then getting bigger one. I can keep an eye on her, have baby gates, but everyone is talking now like they HAVE to be in crates, so it sort of shook my confidence. I'm an empty nester, so I will time to devote, its the energy level I'm more worried about, MINE! --this will be the first puppy in 17 years. Sounds good, though, I think I'll be able to handle it. This dog is a mini, and the smallest in the litter (Jane,didn't you say Guinness was also?), so she shouldn't weigh much more than twenty. I am worried about her being smaller, but breeder assures me she is fine and healthy. She picked her for me because she is on the mellow side and that is what I wanted this time.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Yes, Guinness was the smallest in his litter, and now at 9 months he's only 16 pounds...a little guy. We're also almost empty nesters (still one 24 year old son at home), and we're no longer working. I think you'll find with a mini ALD (especially a little one) there is not much need to crate while you're home with them. My experience is that they just want to be where you are, and preferably sleeping at your feet or on your lap. We also had much larger dogs previously (Lab, Golden, and Dalmatian), but knew this time we wern't up to training another large dog. Training our ALD has required some work (and a great trainer), but I have to say it was so much easier than with our other dogs. Our puppy followed me from room to room from the day he came home (and still does). He's a character with his own personality, but basically he just wants to please me. He was housebroken for the most part in a week, although we were vigilant about taking him out regularly (and still are). We also used baby gates, but again he really didn't even want to be anywhere that I wasn't. Don't be worried about his size. I know I was concerned at first because I was so used to much larger dogs, but my vet says he is strong and very healthy, and my DK friends told me to "relax and stop worrying" which I have (for the most part). I know you are going to totally love having this little girl, and I'm guessing it will be much easier than you ever expected (at least after the first few weeks).

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

I did the same thing you did. I had a golden retriever and downsized after 12 years. It was a major change but I love the size of Lucca. So much more manageable. We tried crating with our golden and she hated it. Lucca only did it for the short time which was fine with me. You'll love your new little one. When do you pick her up?

[Chelsea and her doodle Piper]

Hi DeeDee,
We have a 4 month old, and we had the same question at first! We ended up getting a smaller plastic travel crate for traveling and to move from room to room as needed for the first few weeks. (We actually still use it in the kitchen for snow covered doodle to dry off in and quick time outs!) It was cozy and the perfect size for sleeping the first few weeks. Once he was potty trained we put him in the big wire one we had for the bedroom (covered with a blanket) and he LOVED it...could stretch out fully like doodles love to do. So, Piper doesn't mind either crate, and I am REALLY glad we got both of them. It will be helpful for the fist few weeks at least! BTW, our house is very open, so hard to gate things off. The leash tied to me was a big help at first. Now we can let him roam free and not worry about him being naughty!...usually!