# Crate size for puppy?



## chirushah86 (Sep 23, 2015)

Now we all know that golden retriever grow fast.... Considering this, what size crate should I get in the beginning. I'll be getting my 8 week golden retriever soon and I've heard that the crate should only be big enough for them to get up and turn around. Considering this, won't I b changing crates quite few times? Is there another way? If not, what size crate should I get and when should I expect to change it? Thanks...... (I might sound silly, but I'll be a new owner soon!)

Thanks,
Chirag Shah


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## melinda8 (Sep 22, 2015)

We got a rather large one that you could put a divider in! That way you can remove the divider as s/he grows.


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## Moonbridge (Aug 26, 2014)

We got a large or extra large vari kennel and were planning to put a box inside to make it smaller. However, our puppy loves his kennel and happily stretches out and likes to have a blanket in one half and the plain floor in the other half.

I prefer the vari kennels because they are much more den like and much less noisey than the wire crates. We have a wire crate and even with a towel underneath the floor pan and being careful with the doors it is just noisy.

Just my two cents.


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## elway (Jan 23, 2015)

You can buy crates with dividers, or, if you're like me and want to save a few bucks, you take the cheapest crate you can find (I got mine second-hand for free) and create your own crate divider. I used a flattened packing box from Walmart (cost me a dollar and change) and folded an edge down to make it the right size. Then I punched holes around the edges and zip-tied it to the crate (only a couple bucks for a pack of zip ties). I turned the ties so they were on the back side of the flattened box and pup couldn't reach them to chew on, and it worked like a charm! I left it like that until he outgrew it (4-6 weeks later?), by which point he was crate-trained very nicely and I could do away with the cardboard divider altogether. If you do this you will want to keep an eye on the cardboard because the goldens I know have all been huge paper/cardboard eaters and my guy did eventually try to chew his way through the divider. But it still worked for me as long as it needed to, and it was much cheaper than shelling out for some fancy crate-divider system. Nothing against those who have the fancy crates, they seem very nice, but for me cardboard was a practical and economical way of doing things.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

We went ahead and used the adult size crate from the beginning and did not use a divider. It was just fine, Casper never had any accidents in it.

Casper was never really fond the officially-correct-sized crate. Later, we bought him a huge wire crate - nearly 3x5 feet and 4 feet high. He doesn't sleep in a crate anymore.

We also have a 2x3 foot Noz-2-Noz for dog school. He will go in there and sleep when he's fed up with us staying up too late at night. But the whole side unzips and it's never closed up.


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

We did progress up with a small crate that I would call cat carrying size that probably lasted for about 4-6 weeks before he needed to upgrade. I had purchased a 36" from ValueCrate.com with a divider (great prices there, by the way), but he preferred the comfort of the smaller plastic crate. We did upgrade to a larger plastic crate but smaller than the 36" crate that lasted him until about 5 or 6 months and now he's finally in the 36" wire crate. I'm toying with the idea of upgrading to a 42" crate for him, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.


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## msheidiann (Jul 17, 2015)

We have a large crate with a divider that we plan to use.


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## Skyedog (Apr 2, 2015)

With our first golden we made the mistake of getting too big of a crate. No divider system back then. This time around I found a small one on a facebook resale page. it happened to be brand new with sides still zip tied down. Otherwise I would have cleaned it with bleach. Anyway he grew out of it pretty quickly..3 months. I bought the larger one at value crate.com. Great prices. I then sold the smaller one for the same amount I paid for it. 

I thought about using one with the divider, but the smaller one worked out better in the beginning, as we moved it often. A larger one would have made that more difficult. 

He took to his crate from the very beginning. We later had an issue when one night he refused...refused to get in. There were tears, pushing shoving..omg it was horrible. Finally settled in. What triggered it was the previous night we had put him in and then left the room to finish something and he just didn't like that! We needed to go to bed! Now he gets his favorite treat as he gets in the crate, a small slice of banana. He loves it. He now gets in as soon as he's ready and waits for us...or his treat. He is big..big sleeper. He doesn't like to get out of the crate in the morning..he will wonder out about 5-10 minutes after we open it. He is also a creature of habit or schedule. He can tell time, I swear! Lunch, dinner etc. He knows!

This pic is the first time he got in the crate..first day home. Is he sticking his tongue out at me..I think so!


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## Lambeau0609 (Aug 3, 2015)

I bought the walmart 42in wire crate and made my own divider. After 2 weeks with the divider in I removed divider when I saw he was doing very well with no accidents ever in crate. He's been a little angel in the crate with no dividers.


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## bixx (Sep 8, 2015)

up until present time, Amber is still using her young pup crate and fits very comfortably in it at 5 months. It's 90 cm (L) x 60 cm (W) x 60 (H).  From 9 - 11 weeks, I had a crate divider in (sold separately). When she's lying on her side with her feet stretched out, it's just about the right size.

Now it's just a wait and see when we need to change it.


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