I am looking to replace my bitches crate and wondered which is the best one....are travel crates ok to use, they look much more comfortable to me !

She normally isnt crated at all but as she has just come into season and am having to crate her overnight and if i have to pop out which is not long as my entire male is not happy at all and he has been attempting to open the crate door at night, I had put him in my room at nights for her last season but would wake up to a chewed shoe or two and I dont want to lose anymore foot wear. =[

Im off to PAH in the morning but just wondered on peoples opinions on a travel crate, do they fold up and store easily or is it best sticking to a normal crate ?

Many thanks.

No disrespect but I think you need to shut your boy away from her while she is in season. Poor lad will fade away if he has to be in the same room but seperated by a crate!!! Can you not put him in a different room? I'm not surprised he damaged your footwear?
Aileen

Agree with Merlot, they need to be totally separated, preferabley separate buildings if not room.  Where there is a will there is a way, you could still very easily end up with puppies ;-)

Theres a big run in the garden with kennels which i have been leaving him in it if i go out in day but I refuse to over night Im afraid, this is the last season it will happen as my bitch will be 2 in august and I will be getting her done.

He didnt eat my shoes cos she was in season now did he !

Not sure what you mean by a 'travel crate'   Maybe something particularly small or the airline type solid boxes?

Any indoor crate IMO needs to be of sufficient size for the occupant to have room to stand up without having to lower the head, turn around comfortably and lay down at full stretch plus, if being used for more than very short periods, be more of an enclosed 'pen' rather than crate.

As for crating during seasons, this is not a fool proof method of avoiding a misalliance - bitches have been mated through cages before and no doubt will in future.  Ideally, it's best to keep the different s@xes apart entirely in the household using double barriers such as a baby gate on each of two doorways the dogs may need to use. 

If using an indoor crate for short term periods is essential and the uncrated dog will have access to the same area, then IME it is better to crate the male than the female to reduce the risk of accidents through the bars!  Moreover some males will settle easier if able to still see the object of their desires rather than being kept entirely segregated if they're used to playing 24/7 at all other times :)

HTH, Teri

What do you mean by travel crate? A mesh crate would be worse than useless.

Ideally she needs to be in a different building to your male, but certainly not sharing a room. That's just asking for trouble - dogs have been known to make through the mesh of crates, so don't assume she's safe inside it.

Why not crate her in your bedroom then the dog can be loose in the kitchen. Your shoes will be safe as well as your bitch!

>He didnt eat my shoes cos she was in season now did he !

He ate your shoes because he was bored and frustrated. So close, but so far away ...

Tbf if a shoes about he will have a go...as did my old dog and he was never round a bitch so my point is the shoe thing didnt need mentioning, its irrelevant.

Thanks for the opinions (I think) i shall just keep her in my room over night and deal with the blood.

Crate is the right size for her but not for him and as hes never had one and hes 2 Im not going to inflict one on him.

Dealing with the blood is the price we pay for the love of a bitch LOL ;) ;) ...
Aileen

> Dealing with the blood is the price we pay for the love of a bitch LOL

Too true, one of mine is horrendous and it ends up in a constant round of cleaning for four weeks. The other you hardly ever see anything she is so clean.

Yeah I guess, I was just being a bit selfish in my thinking on that one cos i have a cream carpet in my bedroom but I have just remembered I have quite a bit of cut out left from it in the attic so Im guna put that down in my room now and put her bed in there and just throw the crate out.

It was one of the fabric crates i was thinking off and yeah, the mesh wouldnt of really been much use, thanks.

He He!! If he ate a few shoes just think what he could inflict in a fabric cage!!! Like having his woman gift wrapped LOL...
Aileen