Crates: Wire Vs. Plastic

brody_smom

brody_smom

Experienced Member
Any opinions on this? We won't be using it for transport, just quiet times and night times. Brody has been using a giant-sized plastic Vari Kennel my brother had for his Leonberger. It is way too big, but since we don't know Brody's full breed history, I didn't want to buy one that would be the wrong size for him once he stopped growing. It will have to stay in our living room, behind the sofa, so I am leaning toward the wire, since they are a little less visible when they are not covered. Do some dogs feel more secure in the more solid sided plastic crates? I just think they are hideous and would end up covering it with something. I know there are designer ones that look like furniture. They are out of my budget, and we are not really fancy people, anyway.
 
Mutt

Mutt

Experienced Member
We have a (black) wire crate. The benefits are that it looks nicer and they have two gates so you can chose which side you want to be open for the dog (the long or short side).
Dogs tent to prefere secure spaces (like a hideout), but unless you are dealing with fearissues an open/wire crate is just fine. If you really feel like your dog needs an hideout you can trow a blanket over it (temprorarely).

We took the wire one because, the plastic one is soo big and obvious (also the reason why we chose black).
 
brody_smom

brody_smom

Experienced Member
Mutt said:
We have a (black) wire crate.The benefits are that it looks nicer and they have two gates so you can chose which side you want to be open for the dog (the long or short side).
Dogs tent to prefere secure spaces (like a hideout), but unless you are dealing with fear issues an open/wire crate is just fine. If you really feel like your dog needs an hideout you can trow a blanket over it (temprorarely).

We took the wire one because, the plastic one is soo big and obvious (also the reason why we chose black).
Click to expand...
That's what I was thinking, too. It seems the plastic ones are meant to be outside or used for transporting the dogs, so they don't try to make them look nice. The wire ones sort of disappear if they are not covered up.

The next question is what size. Brody has gotten used to his giant crate. He stretches out fully and rolls around in it. I hope he won't mind a cozier room, because you could fit four of him in the one he has now! Sometimes he's inside and I don't even see him tucked way in the back all curled up!
 
Mutt

Mutt

Experienced Member
At this site you can find the right sizes for a crate:
http://www.apdt.com/petowners/choose/cratesize.aspx
As long as the dog can stand in it and turn around easily it is fine. If the sog lays down, there should still be some room left.
Assuming that your dog won't spent the majority of the day in it's crate those sizes are fine.
We only close our crate when we are gone for a longer time and nobody is home (which doesn't happen very often) and at night.
 
648117

648117

Honored Member
Holly has a black wire crate.
It's in the corner of our lounge. She sleeps in at night and is put in it if no one is home (not very often) because she's still a bit distructive at times. She has a blanket over it and we use the gate on the long side. Her crate is actually bigger than she needs. Here's a pic:



I think it looks pretty cosy.
Before we got Holly our two Cavaliers (both were bigger than Holly) shared the crate and there was plenty of space.
 
Dlilly

Dlilly

Honored Member
I have a GIANT wire crate, I call it 'The Cage', for Rory. I prefer having a giant cage so he can move around and strech. The small crates look really uncomfortable to me. (The dog will be in there for a while…..)

I've never used a plastic crate because my dogs are too scared to go into it. I just have wire crates. Them being portable comes in handy a lot too. I think the difference between wire and plastic crates is just looks.
 
Amateur

Amateur

Experienced Member
I have two big Furrari Plastic crates where my dining room table should be at the moment . SOmetimes they are tucked into a corner or beside a couch in the living room .. doesnt really bother us - we are a dog household -- we are use to it

They like their plastic enclosed in crate - Hank is often in there - he is no longer crated but we keep it because he likes it
and he's my boy so it stays even though its a big thing in the middle of the room

If you live in a really hot area I would get the the wire for more air flow
 
moky adam

moky adam

Active Member
I bought this for our schanuazer/terrier mix for a recent trip we were taking. We flew and I needed something that would easily fit in a carryon so we could save some extra money. This crate worked very well for nights, he didn't fit all that well into it (my mistake on measuring him). Nice and sturdy, easy to work with. We also have a larger version of this at home and love it.
648117 said:
Holly has a black wire crate.
It's in the corner of our lounge. She sleeps in at night and is put in it if no one is home (not very often) because she's still a bit distructive at times. She has a blanket over it and we use the gate on the long side. Her crate is actually bigger than she needs. Here's a pic:



I think it looks pretty cosy.
Before we got Holly our two Cavaliers (both were bigger than Holly) shared the crate and there was plenty of space.
Click to expand...
 
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