Hi everyone

This is my first post so please forgive if I get something wrong. I'm soon to realise a long-held ambition by getting a flatcoat. Our puppy will be ready to come home at the beginning of next month and I am starting to gather equipment. I am going to crate train him and wondered if I could have some advice on the best sort of crate to buy. There are more makes than I'd realised and I would prefer not to make an expensive mistake!

Many thanks for your help!

Hi and welcome,

If you get a chance to go to a Championship Dog Show you'll find a few crate stockists there for you to compare price and quality.  The prices at shows are usually pretty good and I'm sure you can speak to a fellow flatcoat owner to ask what size they recommend.  Many stockists give quite good size guidelines on their faq pages if you need it though.

I've had several crates in the past and all have been OK.  We bought a Savic one for our youngest when he was little as I wanted a temporary one for the puppy stage; it had a top opening facility which is helpful for small puppies.  Our pup slept in our room for the first week or so and it was nice to drop a hand in for comfort (even when I was mostly asleep!!).  We used this one in the car too as a small crate helps with travel sickness - our boy could brace himself for corners and it minimised the swaying if he stood up.

Some of the bigger crates have dividers to grow the space with your puppy - I've never used one but I can see the benefit.

One of the cheaper ones (coloured) I bought off eBay is good quality but the door opening is smaller (narrower and higher up).  It's ok for my older dog but the youngest used to catch his toes on this lip when he used this crate and it isn't as easy to get into when you need to clean it.  It may be worth double checking opening size before buying.

All of my crates have had metal trays.  I was thinking of changing them recently to plastic ones, the dogs don't chew, to make the crate lighter when I want to pull it out to clean behind.

If you don't want to buy a crate yet you may find your breeder has contacts to borrow one.  I lent our puppy crate to someone in the next litter as it is only needed for a short time.  You can also try freecycle as people often get rid of their crates when the dog has matured.  Good luck with your puppy - you must be very excited :)

Firstly, congratulations on choosing such a fantastic breed! I had yearned for a flatcoat for many years and now have my lovely boy, Murphy, who is just a year old. You are in for so much fun :) I'm excited for you!

I crate trained Murphy and started off with a 36" crate. I suspected that he would grow out of it and sure enough he did, so when he was about 6 months I had to go up to a 42". Both of those I bought from 'dog health' (they have their own website but also an ebay shop where the crates are cheaper). I have the 3 door dual coated galvanised ones and have been very pleased - they are really well made and very strong. Their service is excellent too, arriving in a couple of days. The 36" cage is on ebay at £45 plus £7.50 delivery and the 42" for £49 + delivery and that includes a piece of vetbed (or similar) and two clip on bowls. Really good value.

http://www.doghealth.co.uk/   - their ebay shop is doghealth stocknutrition

I have a dog health crate too although it's a car crate and would thoroughly recommend them, very sturdy and well made. If I needed a new crate for the house I wouldn't hessitate to buy one from them.

One thing for crates for my preferance is the latch.  Some you will find are spring latched but after time springs do get damaged and worn!  So go for a "bolt lock" type.  We have two crates in our house both which are older then 10 years and going strong! (although they don't look the best!)

Don't be tempted by a soft crate yet either, claws can and do go though them making a big enough hole for even a fully grown setter to escape!
p.S glad people are saying dog health is good as I'm looking at buying a puppy pen from there!

Congratulations and good luck with your new baby. I bought my 3rd flatcoat home about 2 mths ago and he is FANTASTIC (sorry didn't mean to shout but he is). Back to crates I don't know about brands but I would get an extra large or giant both with a divider. There is no need to buy a smaller one to start with just use the divider then you can make the crate bigger as the pup grows.
Enjoy your puppy!

Nothing to add to the good advice given but congratulations and good luck with you baby. I dont have a flatti just now as I can only have one biggish dog at a time so have my other favourite breed a gsd but will have another flatti in the future (oh gosh that isn't meant to sound like I am wishing my dogs life away).
You have choosen well ,be prepared for a life of licky kisses and lots of helpful people here for you !!

Just to add I also have Doghealth crates, 2, one upstairs from when he was a pup and shut in at night, and one downstairs. Brilliant, they are the 3 door version, have bolts not spring catches and have the advantage that one of the doors is an 'up & over' which means it can go where a side hinge cage door would not fit.
Chris
ps got mine off ebay too

Congratulations! We have 2 flatcoats, the pup is 3.5 months and is in a 36" crate but when he lies fully stretched out is almost as long as the crate now! I don't have room for bigger crates, so when he outgrows it he will have to join the older one who used the same crate when he was a pup - I just removed the crate and put his bed in the same place and he was fine, like the transition from cot to a big boy's bed :-)!

I have a decent quality one but can't remember the make, and got a cheaper one off ebay last year which is adequate for the money, but neither of mine have tried to chew them.

I have never used a divider, just put a soft bed at one end and newspaper the other when they're really small, then change to a full size squishy bed that fills the crate.

If I was to buy another crate I would definitely go for an up and over door, as the doors do get in the way and limit where you can put them.

Surely an up-and-over door would mean you couldn't use it in the car?

> Surely an up-and-over door would mean you couldn't use it in the car?

I've got a thee doored crate from them in my car, the ordinary door & up & over door at each side & the long side door acts as an escape hatch at the front. I cannot under stand why you would think an up & overdoor wouldn't work in the car.

If used indoors the up & over door can be left open all te time

>I cannot under stand why you would think an up & overdoor wouldn't work in the car.

I imagined that the door would be prevented from going up because it would hit the roof of the car. Simple when you think about it.

got a hampster-basket crate for the car (citroen estate) the tailgate opens upward and so does the crate door, crate came with a little wire gizmo that screws onto the inside of tailgate and crate door hooks on to keep it open, works fine. use it for dog most of time and then on Fridays it keeps the savage shopping contained after sainsburys :-D
Chris

> I imagined that the door would be prevented from going up because it would hit the roof of the car. Simple when you think about it.

Only if you wanted to leave the door fully open & that would negate the effect of having a crate in the car in the first place, my crate fills the middle part of the car & I have no problem opening the up & over door to let the dogs in & out

Can you in effect put something inside the crate to give less space for a puppy, I want to buy a large crate for my pup i'm getting inDec  but can't find any decent ones with dividers. 
Hope that makes sense.

You could always put a cardboard box inside - but beware of limiting the puppy's space too much if he's to be in it for any length of time (unless you mean for travelling in the car, when too much space is dangerous).

Thanks. breeder suggested crate for toilet training.

Doghealth have good quality three door crates that come with a divider, crate dishes & vetbed, fast delivery & excellent quality

I have a doghealth cage with divider - if I remember rightly they come included in the package if you order from their ebay shop, but you have to order as an extra if you use the normal shop ;)

From the website link

3 door 42" DH up/over cage. £60.00 + £7.50 p&p  (includes free bedding bowls & divider)

Oops :) :)

I bought my crate form e-bay, it was an extra large one and was about £45 I think. There are plenty out there to choose from but I think e-bay must be one of the cheapest places to buy them. I have a smaller one for the back of my jeep for when traveling, which I've now covered in a sheet to try and help Bailey with her travel sickness.
I also bought some vet bedding to go in the crate so if she did have an accident through the night it stays dry on top. I didn't use a divider, one half has a big squishy bed and the other half is vet bedding and her water and a couple of toys.

Good luck with your pup, it's hard work but worth it :)

I have got all but one second hand from friday-ad. I have saved a lot of money this way and can go and view and collect the products directly.
Most of mine have ended up being Savic, 2 door crates of varying sizes. Average cost for a large crate has been £30. This actual size suits my Bernese for their beds.
Not had any problems with ours apart from the one i placed in the car, my older boy decided he wanted to travel in it, have no idea why as its too small for him, he moved about as i was driving and it collapsed on him, luckily i was in a quiet road and stopped straight away - you'd think he would of learned by now, but he keeps going into it.

Thanks so much for this. I shall get onto ebay! I'm getting very excited but also a little apprehensive - turning a virtual dog into a real puppy is quite a step!

i got my 48'' crate for £30 its huge, didnt help for the first few weeks or so for toilet training as she would go in one corner and sleep in the other (i knew she would) now she is over 15kgs and growing fast so i didnt want to get a smaller one and have to replace it. We only put her in when were out so she doesnt chew or get herself into mischeif, as she does enough of that when we have her out. I got it from ebay so id recommend trying there first. Our adults can fit in it too just, so if they are ever on box rest it will come in handy, it folds flat so can slide by the side of the fridge.

Ive got 4 crates at the moment a small one when they were pups, one huge in the truck (for when covered in pooh). A huge 48" for Jake in the kitchen and one slghtly smaller for Whistler all with end door and side doors. Jake uses the side door he's a BC so quite big, Whistler cocker, end door all are slip bolts.
They are "Fully wall to wall carpeted" with vet bed ontop of that, as small pups we used a smaller piece of vet bed and noting in the other half bar a tow or two. All have removable metal trays for washing and disenfecting.
I think I paid about £60 for Jakes and around £48 for the Others and £35ish for the baby crate.
Good luck with your new baby.