Until I get a place with a yard, my pup will be in a crate a few hours a day. <BR> <BR>She's getting too big for her current one, is it bad to just get the biggest possible crate? I don't want to spend another $100+ for something she'll outgrow again, but I know some people say having too much room in a crate is bad. She won't use the restroom in her crate, so I'd rather her be able to spread and sprawl out. Good/Bad idea?

get the big crate. stick a box or something large in there to take up extra space if you need to make it smaller for a little while. sounds like she's past that though.

i agree with salty87, get a big one and just block off space. we have an American Bulldog puppy arriving on Monday, and we're gonna do the same thing.

The guys above had it right. Get a big crate and throw a box in there to make it a smaller space. We did that with my lab when he was a pup.

We got one with a divider that you can adjust as the dog grows

thanks! I put a pillow/box in the current crate when we first got it before she grew into the crate, that works well. May be a dumb question, but aside from possibly messing in the crate, what's the advantage to reducing the size? I just feel I should give as much room as possible, and the largest at Petsmart is enormous, but could be her size down the road. <BR> <BR>Little show and tell for ya<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/4387/769838.jpg" alt="Upload">

FYI, petsmart's prices are pretty high on crates. Wal-mart has good prices on new ones...or check craigslist, if you really wanna save some $$$.

Another idea would be to just get one of those child proof gates and put her in the laundry room or another smaller room. Thats what we have done with our pugs for as long as i can remember, and they love it. Especially when the washer or dryer is on and they can lean up against it for a little massage. <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/4387/769872.jpg" alt="Upload">

We've done a ton of research and the crate should only be large enough for the dog to walk in, turn around and lay down. Not only will this keep them from messing in the crate, but the crate should be seen as a reward, not punishment. At night we put our puppy in her crate with a chew toy and not one single problem. During the day when we're not home, she has a small "play pin" with another crate in the pin. This lets her sleep in the crate and play in the other part of the pin...worked so far...

Get the biggest crate and put a divider in it. As the dog grows, move the divider back. <BR> <BR>Our crate is 4ft long 3ft wide and 3ft high...it's a beast. It was more expensive, looks bad in our house, but we wanted our dog to have as much room as possible when he was fully grown. <BR> <BR>Our dog is a 75lb. 8 month old chocolate lab. He LOVES his crate as he was put in it from day 1. Whenever he is tired he just walks into it and goes to sleep. Just recently we have put in a dog door from the garage to the back yard so he doesn't spend as much time in his crate (mainly just night when he sleeps).

we went from the initial puppy crate right into the huge monster crate. 3 years later that is his room in our room. never had 1 issue in the crate training process buy going big right away.

Great looking dog? How old, it's head looks huge compared to it's body.

Very cute puppy! <BR> <BR>We tried gating off our Pug mix in the kitchen when he was a puppy and he chewed apart our baseboards. <BR> <BR>After many ruined pieces of furniture, clothing, shoes, etc.. we decided to crate train with the next dog. We now have both dogs in a crate during the day while we're at work and we've had no problems. Their crates are just big enough to stand up and turn around and that's been fine. <BR> <BR>Since your dog is still growing, I'd definitely go the route of a divider. <BR> <BR>Am I the only person that lets my dogs sleep in bed with us at night? <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>

Thanks, she's 4 months in the picture. She now sleeps on my bed most of the time, which I know I shouldn't allow but still do it. <BR> <BR>Looks like I'll save up for the mammoth crate

a-dub your pic kinda trips me out. my yellow looked exactly like that at that age. this pic is a little older... <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/4387/770172.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR> <BR> <BR>our dogs sleep in our bed too. king size bed with no friggin room! <BR> <BR>(Message edited by salty87 on January 21, 2010)

Our dogs love their crates. Its their little sanctuary!

If you are only going to use the crate for a few hours at a time. Pup should not have any issues going in the crate. I have crate trained 3 of my dogs. Works great. The crate is not a play area so if she can lie down and turn around with food and water not getting in the way... it's big enough. If you have a utiliy room to put the crate in I would try that. <BR> <BR> <BR>One thing to think about when blocking off a larger crate is that boxes and pillows can be great chew toys!

Lizzyb - no you are not the only one that lets your dog sleep in your bed. We have 4 dogs. We moved up to a king size bed because one would get up on our bed in the morning while the other 3 sleep in our kids rooms. With 2 kids now away at college, we now have 3 dogs in our room. One on the bed all night, one in her crate, and one that gets on the bed in the morning. I am not sure what is going to happen when our son goes to college next year. Yes, we have created bad habits. <BR> <BR>By the way - I think crate training is fantastic and highly recommend it - you just need to stick with it.

We also created some bad habits. We started letting our lab sleep on the bed when she was about a year old. That wasn't bad, then we got a Golden Retreiver. He was great at sleeping on the floor, but has slowly started slipping in between us about 3 am. Talk about tight, two 70+ pounds dogs in a bed. There are times I think about sleeping on the floor! <BR> <BR>Weeks, good looking dog. Can't go wrong with a lab. I ended up just buying the largest crates I could and letting the dogs grow into them. I also bought a 6x6 chain link dog run and set it up in by basement. My golden (7 months) stays down there all day with no issues, as I'm scared he might eat through a wall if I let him stay out. He is just sneaky like that.

Check these out: <BR><a href="http://www.skymall.com/shopping/dept.htm?c=10700" target="_blank">http://www.skymall.com/shopping/dept.htm?c=10700</a> <BR>Yeah, I was actually browsing the Skymall mag on the plane a couple of weeks ago.