What Size of Crate???

Hi Guys,

After a VERY restless night of whimpering, howling, barking and scratching at least once EVERY hour last night and a rather battered looking kitchen door, puddles and cottonwool over my floor - I have decided to start crating my 6mth old whippet x, Willow.

How do I decide what size of crate to get her. Obviously I want one to get one that will last for a long time. She is now 6mths and weighs 11.3kg.

What size of crate should I go for?

the largest one that you can fit in! Seriously, she needs to be able to stand up, turn round and lie down comfortably and if you are going to leave her in there overnight then she needs to be able to do all that with a water bowl in there. Sol weighs 17kg and is 19 months old but when I brought him home at 8 weeks I put him in Deef's old crate which is 42" so fairly large. It is miles too big for him even now but he likes it and eats in there, he only stands 19.5" at the shoulder. Personally I think you are better off getting a crate that is a little larger than you need than one that is just the right size. What is willow crossed with? Or is that unknown? How tall is she at the moment? when she stretches out how long is she? You need to get a crate that will accomodate her adult size or it will be just a waste of money. Twin doors are also a good thing, not all crates have them. This is the cheapest site I have found for crates although I have never used them myself

http://www.doghealth.co.uk/

I have used doggie solutions for other things and found them quite good, never bought a crate from them as all mine were second hand although finding them this way is really hard.

http://www.doggiesolutions.co.uk

Doggies solutions suggest a 36" crate for a whippet but if she is larger than a normal whippet it wouldn't be big enough for her

Hi Evie this article on crates by Shadowboxer may help you...
http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=15552

...I should have also said remember also the general anesthetic will have affected Willow and she will have some pain and bruising from the operation, so expect a change in behaviour.

Thanks for the info guys.
These are the two crates I've been looking at;
www.argos.co.uk

I've been measuring her for her winter coat and her back is 19 inches, weight 11.3kg. We don't know what her cross is, but I'd guess a collie perhaps.

I guess I'd be best going for the larger cage here?

Thanks for the link to the article, Mini, I will start reading up on it now.

I think the crate might be in her best interests, there was so much scraping and banging at the door last night - it can't have doen her leg any good!!. The external fixators are well wrapped as well, so no worries about them getting caught on a crate as I had worried about before her op when considering one.

Hi,

I popped into town and collected the large crate from Argos. I brough it home, had it up in two seconds and Willow climbed straight into it before I got a chance to put it in place.

I got her out and put it where I wanted it and she is now away in for a sleep. Having lived at the vet's for three weeks must have given her a taste for life behind bars. So far, so good.:smt001

How's this for size?


Mummy, put the camera away, can't you see I'm trying to sleep?

Looks fine.
My JRT has a 36" long x 24" wide x 28" high. Gives him room to have toys and food and play.

She looks very comfy and obviously likes it!

Last night we had alot of protesting at the start of the night; but in the end she settled much quicker. She woke again at around 4am and gave out stink then again, but eventually settled. I came down this morning to a soggy blanket, oops.

But what annoyed me even more was the state of the crate!!!

I would NEVER recommend buying one from Argos to anyone. The front bottom wires were all bent in and one of the roof ones at the back was broken and hanging in dangerously to the crate. Thank goodness she didn't injure herself on it!!

So I marched back to Argos today and got a full refund. Headed down to Jollyes after that and bought one there, hopefully it will last longer that one night!!

Will put up pics of Willow in her new crate shortly.

Just wanted to add;
Bear in mind the crate I got Willow was made to house even bigger dogs than herself. What on earth would a bigger and stronger dog than herself had been in it last night?! Def not fit for the purpose it was built.