When to go another crate size up?

[bwibwigouza]

Mozart is one oversized sheltie....I got him a L28"xW20"xH21" crate when he first came home at 8 wks old. Now he is 11 months and 19.5" tall. He loves his crate dearly even though he has to lower his head to stand inside it. He usually sleeps on his back with his head turned to the side. A few friends had said it is time to change his crate cuz his is not sleeping stretched out but some friends said it's fine as long as he still goes into the crate happily. Your thoughts?

[2GoodDogs]

I like my big boy to be able to stand up and turn around in the crate. His house and car crates are big enough for that. The fold up crate is a bit smaller, but I only use that for obedience trials where he's only "parked" for a short time.

[bwibwigouza]

In his current crate, Mozart can stand up and turn around just that he can't stand upright without lowering his head. His back is barely but almost touching the roof of the crate. Is that still good then?

[Jess041]

I would say if his back is almost touching, yes get a bigger crate! At least a 36"!

[corbinam]

I think it's fine if your dog has to duck their head a tiny bit when in their crate. They should be laying down when you're gone anyways, so it's not that big of a deal if their ears hit the top.

I don't know if you saw K9Kreationz photo site, but she started a photo site where we sent pictures of our dogs in their crates to help people choose a size.

Here's the link:
http://kelela92.smugmug.com/share/SNCrateSizeFinder

If you go to 15" dogs, you can see Bentley in his crate and his ears definitely touch the top of the crate. But I don't think it's too small for him.

[bwibwigouza]

Thank you Jess041 and corbinam for your input. Mozart definitely doesn't look that roomy in his crate compared to Bentley. Guess it's crate shopping next....maybe for his birthday