Soft Sided Pet Crates -- Help Me With Sizing Please?

[MissyBC]

Hi there.

So, I'm thinking of possibly signing Missy back up in Agility, and was wondering which size crate would be good to get her? I'm looking at the 'Precision Soft Sided Pet Crate 4000" or "5000"... just wondering which one would fit her better. She's full grown at 3 1/2 years old and is 40 pounds, but I want to make sure she has enough room to stretch out if she wants to. Her official jump height in Agility is 22" so I'm assuming she is 22" standing at the shoulder.

She has never been in a crate before but with lots of time, patience and training... which I've got tons of!, I'm sure she would get the idea pretty quickly.

I would not only use it for Agility possibly, but if I go visit family or friends with her I would take it with me and use it at those times too!

My questions in a nutshell:

1. Should I get her the "Precision Soft Sided Pet Crate 4000" or the "Precision Soft Sided Pet Crate 5000"?

2. What is the trick to figuring out how big the crate should be, besides making sure the dog can stand up, sit, lie down, and turn around in it... I'd like her to be able to stretch out if she wanted to as well.

4000 measures: 36" L x 24" W x 23" H
5000 measures: 42" L x 28" W x 27" H

If a crate says "Suitable for: up to 40 pounds -- the 4000 would I bump it up to the bigger size as Missy just hits 40 pounds? 5000 is suitable for: up to 70 pounds...

Help?

Thanks in advance!!

If you don't understand something I've written, just let me know and I will try to explain things a little better!

 

[running_dog]

I've not got any experience with buying crates but I would look at the door height very carefully. If the crate is only 23" high and Missy is 22" at the shoulder that doesn't leave much room. Also when a dog sits it's head comes a lot higher than the shoulder measurement. I'd go for the larger size - and even that I'd make sure she could sit in comfortably. Weight measurements can be misleading - Zac weighs only 2/3 of what Gus despite being lighter he's half an inch taller and carries his head much higher.

 

[Evie]

I'll be watching this thread closely. I've been considering getting Evie a soft crate for agility also, however she too has never been crate trained and I have no idea what size to get her ... or if she'll even accept the crate as she's uh.. a bit 'special' sometimes with new things..

 

[srdogtrainer]

http://www.amazon.com/Go-Pet-Club-Crate-32-Inch/dp/B001COV85O/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1400064825&sr=8-11&keywords=Soft+sided+dog+crate

I got a go pet care club crate for River. I think it is a 32 inch...it is huge but he likes that it is spacious. It is easy to set up and I love the design. I only caution that it isn't for every dog. River wont try to get out but I know a collie that tore the same crate after about 5 minutes.

 

[Anneke]

If you want her to be able to sit up, then go for the biggest one. The doorsize doesn't really matter, as long as the crate is high enough. My Jinx goes to trials in a Doggy Ride. She can't really sit upright in there, but she doesn't have to spend hours on end in there. As the day is long and a run takes ony like less than a minute, that leaves us plenty time to go for walks, do some tricks or just hang around(meaning she will climb on my lap and we watch everything around us together) Most important time she spends in her crate is when you have to walk the course.

I don't really see what the weight of the dog has to do with the crate size. It's not like you can lift it up, with the dog in there... and my other soft crate is huge( Cooper and Jinx fit in there together and are able to stretch out completely) It is for a very large size dog, but it took Jinx one second to break through the front...
The middle crate(blue) is my huge crate. See how I fixed the door with ductape? Funny thing is...she won't break out when we are at a trial.

The reason I went for the doggy ride is, that carrying the big crate around, plus the bags with food, blankets and in summer the tent, is a real pain. Often requires mutiple trips back and forth between the car and our spot.
With the doggy ride I can put everything in and on top of it. See the plastic crate to the left? That one goes on top of it(without the dog of course) and all the stuff from two people and dogs goes inside. Leaving us with only one trip.

Not a very good pic, but you can see she is comfortable in her doggy ride

This is the way Jinx likes to spend her day at trial

Our summer set up. Left tent is ours(well the tent belongs to my friend, I have the same tent but in green)

Anyway, this works for us. If I had to buy the doggy Ride specially for trials, I wouldn't have done it. Because they are pretty expensive. Then I would have gotten a crate like the big blue one in the first pic, but one size smaller. And to solve the transport-of-all-the-stuff problem, I would have bought a foldable utility cart like this one
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/folding-wagon/prod3080161.ip