Crate Size

BarbV

BarbV

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My pup is now 16 weeks old and I think he's already outgrown his crate!

I bought a soft-sided crate designed for dogs up to 25 pounds (medium). I went with the soft-side because it's light weight and I bring it upstairs every night and back down again in the morning, and in the car every weekend to the cottage.

But now this little guy has gone into a major growth spurt and now when he sits in his crate his head touches the roof. He still has room to sprawl out when he's sleeping, though I wonder how long this will last?

Do I need to go to a large size crate?

At some point, I will loosen up on crate confinement....e.g. still provide it as his bed, but allow him greater freedom during daytime and nightime hours. Is there any point to getting a bigger crate now?
 
Congrats on the new pup! When Ripley was a puppy I decided to get a crate big enough to fit him as an adult. While shelties weigh somewhere around 25 lbs, it seems that most crates made for that weight are much smaller than an actual sheltie. At least in Ripley's case, he's 25 lbs, but pretty tall and would look like a sardine in a crate made for his weight. My boyfriend's Dachshunds weight about 22 lbs and they're tiny compared to Rip!

The crate I bought for Ripley is sold at Petsmart and it is the Petmate Portable Kennel, Intermediate size (25 inches high). Since Ripley measures 18" at the shoulders, the 25" height gives him enough headroom so that he doesn't touch the top, but not so much that the crate is too big. I think it sells for about $69, but the crate is super sturdy so it's totally worth the investment. This one is hard plastic, but I believe the company also makes soft sided crates in the same size.
 
Personally, as long as he has room to lie down comfortably I wouldn't worry about upgrading his crate yet. Now if it gets to the point that his shoulders are nearing the top of the crate and he is forced to hunch over and be uncomfortable when he wants to sit up, thats when I would upgrade.
 
If he can lie down comfortably and has room to turn around then I wouldn't upgrade yet. Only if he's hunching, like Tehluhlah said.
 
Thanks everyone.

I'll hold off for now.

It's just the amazing growth spurt that he's going through. He's grown up high, but that seems to be stabilizing....now he seems to be growing long!
 
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