using x pens or ex pens or however they are spelled

[Laura Deutsch]

Quick question:

Molly, our 6 month old goldendoodle is 35 going on 50 pounds. We do not like to keep her in the crate when we're home, as we both work full days (don't worry, we have a dog walker), but she is in the stage where she eats everything she can get her mouth on and is really quick. Keeping her on a leash doesn't work for things like paperwork and housework so we are thinking about getting an x pen so she has more open space. I am wondering about how sturdy they are and whether her jumping will knock it over...I'm assuming not, but never having used one we are totally ignorant. Any quick help would be much appreciated.

[Dori & Rua]

I'd be interested in what people think about the ex-pen also. Rua, though, is only 7 lbs, so I don't have to worry about Laura's issue with Molly being able to knock it over. I have seen plastic ones or the metal ones - both with pros and cons. I would probably be looking at a 30" high one - suppose to be 4" larger than your dog, but heck, they are puppies right now, so I am going with what I think should be OK for later. For Molly, I'd think about the 42" - 48". I am leaning towards plastic because my kitchen and entry areas have hardwood floors and I am afraid the metal would scratch. I tried looking in craigslist, but haven't seen many in my area. How about where you live?

[Linda and Murphy]

I used an xpen for Murphy occasionally without a problem. I just fostered Charlie and tried using it with him. He was about 50 lbs. It was the metal kind about 42 inches tall. He knocked it down. But he was a 7 month old wild child.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We have one that we used for our girls when they were puppies during the day if we couldn't be watching them constantly. We have also used it when Sophie hurt her leg and had to be confined for about 6 weeks (Lucy would even want in with her). However, they didn't seem to want to jump out of the pen or on it. I don't think it would work very well for a large dog that wants to jump up on the sides. Our girls would jump up if someone came over and they wanted to say hello, but that was about it. We have more than gotten our money out of ours!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE x-pens!! We don't have Tara's set up anymore but we used it ALL the time when she was growing up. She is a mini and as an adult she is 16 inches tall and we have a 24 inch pen. She never jumped out of it. We have hardwood floors too and we had a metal pen. The metal pens have plastic or rubber bumpers on the bottom so they don't scratch. We had a crate in the pen and she took her day time naps in there and she ate in the pen too. Also it was a safe place to leave her on the rare occasion that we went somewhere that we couldn't take her. It confined her but she had more room to move about than she would have an a crate. She seemed to like her pen and would go in there on her own to play or just rest. We put an old comforter down as a "floor" since it was on hardwood so she had a soft surface to lay on. We also used it for "time outs' during the puppy madness time but even so it did not make her dislike the pen.

Tara was much lighter in weight than Molly but she could jump on the pen without knocking it over. I really don't know for sure if a heavier dog would be able to knock it over or not. Also she stopped jumping on it because she didn't like the sound the metal made when she jarred it so it kind of acted as its own deterent.

I would give it a try. Maybe you can buy it somewhere with a return policy so you can take it back if it doesn't work out.

One thought about the paperwork time might be to use it as a practice training time for down/stay. This was something I did with Tara. I kept her on the short leash, laying by my chair as I did paperwork or was on the computer working.

[Pat and Traveler]

I had great experiences with the 'puppy pen,' as we call it. I don't have it up now, but still set it up when there are visiting dogs that are getting wild or if I want him to see the action but not get in the middle of it. Trav is about 50 lbs and I used the 3' metal one with rubber knobs on the bottom of the legs. He doesn't try to jump out of it, maybe because I used it when he was little and he's used to being inside it. It's the most valuable piece of dog equipment I ever got. He too likes to go into it, and seemed to feel it was a safe place. I almost left it up just so he would have this place of his own, but it's a 16' circle, so took up a good sized chunk of real estate. I think it would be worth a try, and like somebody else said, maybe you could check with the pet store about returning it if it doesn't work. Good luck!

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

We, also, used a pen for Sedona as a puppy. It was where she went when we weren't able to keep our eyes on her 100% plus it was where we fed her the first month or so she was with us. We made it a fun and inviting place to be so she never resisted going in. Since she was so little when we first used it, it apparently never crossed her mind to try to jump out of it. Now, on those rare occasions when we need to use it (e.g., visiting at someone's house and we don't feel comfortable giving Sedona free run of their house while we go out for dinner), she'll stay in it even though she could easily knock it over.

By the way, the carpet was a cheap scrap from Home Depot with a sheet of heavy plastic under it JUST IN CASE!!!

[DeeDee and Sheila]

I used two x pens, one outside and one inside and found them invaluable. However, I always supervised or was near and here is why. Sheila tried to escape and got one of her puppy toes caught while climbing, then ravity pulled the rest of her body to the floor. Luckily I was close so when I heard the SCREAMING it grabbed her right away. Being there had two purposes, first being that she was not injured one bit and the second was that Sheila was rescued to fast she didn't become afraid of being in the x pen. Sure taught me a lesson!! I cringe to think what would have happened if I was not right there. Just watch her closely, you'll see if she challenges the pen. Six mos is a little late to start. Sheila was out of her xpen by then.

[Rory]

I just started using a 42" tall metal ex-pen for my 6 month old , 21" tall, 40 lbs doodle. It is attached to her crate, so when she is in her crate she can choose to go into the pen (or not). Being attached to the crate, it is also pretty difficult to knock over. She loves it, and will often play in there voluntarily while I am home. It has worked out great for us, I highly recommend it.

[Laura Deutsch]

I'm grateful for all of your comments. Until Rory , I was assuming it was too late to start Molly. We'll visit the pet store and see if we can return it. She's pretty strong, so my guess is she'll knock it over, but the idea of attaching it to the crate (have no idea about that ) sounds like a good one. Thanks again.

[Rory]

Here is a link for an ex-pen - it shows it attached to the crate. http://www.americas-pet-store.com/midwest-550-series-black-e-coat-e...

I have a 2 door crate so one door (the side door) is always open, leading to the ex-pen, and the other I close when I am out of the house or unable to supervise. It is definitely worth a try

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

My concern would be how sturdy they are when the dog becomes older and stronger. We purchased a baby gate to place between the living room and kitchen doorway. It is permanent. It remains strong and this way the dogs have the entire room when we need to separate them from something, i.e. the sweeper, company at the door, cooking, the cats when they are trying to eat their dinner, etc.

The pen may be good for only a few months where the baby gates would last longer and be more functional??

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

We used an x-pen with Dexter until he was old enough to be trusted in a larger room when we were at work. It worked really well for us. He was a big puppy and never knocked it over. Good luck :)