Do I Need a Wire Crate for Indoor?
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| What do you mean by a "big box"? A cardboard box?? Dogs love to chew anything paper or cardboard so that probably won't make an effective barrier. A wire crate would be my recommendation. Or an exercise pen (aka ex-pen). You can usually find second-hand crates on Craigslist very reasonable and can just resell when you no longer need them. Seriously, it's a good idea to crate train any pet for their own safety. During the life of your little girl you may need to contain her in this way for travel or in case of emergency. Is your issue with crates one of space? Cost? Feeling that it is cruel to the dog? Keeping your pup safe is the kindest thing you can do so please reconsider the idea of a crate.  |
| The wire crate is a great idea as it is so important to crate train a new puppy. A 42 inch will be way big for her and most come with a divider. I would use the divider instead of the big box you speak of - pups chew through the cardboard and can cause them a BIG problem...Remember to read through the section on crate training...Don't use as punishment. Make it a 'safe" place. If possible keep in your room with you. Don't keep pup in for extended periods of time. Lots of good advice in the "Housebreaking" section of this forum. My best advice...get some sleep now. When the pup comes home you will be exhausted! Keep us posted and Congrads on your new baby! I might add...my dogs LOVE their crate. They run into them to this day and sleep in them - with the door open, in our bedroom with us. they are seven years and five years old! They often go to their crates when feeling afraid or need some security - like in a storm or the 4th of July. Crates can be your dogs best friend if trained correctly and early. |
Maggie McGee IV wrote: What do you mean by a "big box"? A cardboard box?? Dogs love to chew anything paper or cardboard so that probably won't make an effective barrier. A wire crate would be my recommendation. Or an exercise pen (aka ex-pen). You can usually find second-hand crates on Craigslist very reasonable and can just resell when you no longer need them. Seriously, it's a good idea to crate train any pet for their own safety. During the life of your little girl you may need to contain her in this way for travel or in case of emergency. Is your issue with crates one of space? Cost? Feeling that it is cruel to the dog? Keeping your pup safe is the kindest thing you can do so please reconsider the idea of a crate. I want to crate train my puppy for sure! I just don't know what kind of crate is better? There are so many choices!! Metal wire crate, soft crate, and plastic carrier crate..  I've always had dogs (a Maltese named Riceball, a cocker spaniel named Miso, and two Goldens named Bear and Riley) but this is my first time owning a bobtail and any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! |
| It depends what you want to use the crate for long term. My girl started pawing at the soft crate and damaged it within half and hour so I can imagine a puppy breaking out very quickly once they're strong enough. I think that she didn't like feeling closed in as she is perfectly happy in a wire crate. Maybe it's because she can see and it's cooler so I didn't try a plastic crate as while it's stronger I thought she wouldn't like it either. Also a wire crate folds flat for transport and storage and you can buy a bigger size and use a divider when your baby is still small. As I said depends on you long term plans. |
Thank you for your advice! I will keep the wire crate I ordered!  great advice! |
| Absolutely you should crate train your puppy. And a wire crate is probably best for indoors. I believe it should be mandatory for all puppies! It can be a lifesaver, both for you and your puppy. For our first puppy, the crate was on the first floor (bedroom on 2nd), this did not cause any issues. She was only crated at night until about 5 months old, afterwards she was crated whenever she was home alone to nearly 2 years old. In hindsight, I would have stopped crating her when home alone by 1 years old, but she was our first dog ever and we were over-cautious. Not that she ever complained, the crate is not and never should be a punishment (if you need to put your puppy in a time out, tie him on a short leash to a chair leg for 5-10 min or so, not crated!) With our 2nd puppy, at first I had the crate in the same spot on the first floor, but shortly moved it to our bedroom because I thought it would be nice to have her so close (and the other 2 would sleep in our bedrooms too). This didn't work too well, I think she found it too hot and I ended up moving the crate back to the the first floor. She was only crated at night until barely 4 months, and then she decided she had to sleep uncrated in our bedroom too, like the other 2 (yes 3 total, but only 2 puppies, it went puppy, adult, puppy  ), and she was only crated when we were out until about 6 months--she has always been in a big rush to grow up and be a big girl like our other two.  Keep in mind, it takes a fairly large crate for an adult sheepdog, I have a small car, and there's no way I could fit an adequately sized crate in it (not to mention 3!), so you can only realistically have a large enough crate in your car if it's a minivan or SUV or something. I have a couple of folding cloth travel crates which I use when travelling to dog sports etc. I don't actually have the steel crate at home anymore, I lent it to a new puppy owner a while ago. Here is our youngest, Gracie in her crate on the first night at her new home (note I never used a small puppy-sized crate, it was a full-size crate with an adjustable divider inside, so she started with only a small part of it available, and wow, I had to move the divider often! They grow so fast!  ): |
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