We are hoping to get a Golden Retriever puppy mid October - we are waiting until then as we have a family wedding at the beginning if October and want to wait until we have a clear 6 months without any commitments so we can concentrate on our new arrival. I have been advised it is a good idea to have a cage to help settle a new puppy in, also we have three (very placid) cats, so it will help with introductions!

Please does anyone have an idea what size cage I am best to get - I looked on Amazon and there are so many sizes! I would like a big enough cage for an adult dog in case there is ever a need to use it then.

Stephanie

I used a crate for the first time with my current golden retriever, the previous ones made do with the utility room. I found it so useful and made toilet training much quicker then in the previous puppies. Also it meant she was safe and sound at night or if we went out during the day, no chewing things she shouldn't. Also a very useful item is a stair gate keeping her in the kitchen/diner meaning I could keep an eye on what she was up to without her vanishing into another room. In your case, it would be a good as an escape area for your cats.
As to size, well I was given the crate and it seemed very large to me. I don't have it now, but it wasn't long before she was filling it even though when she was first bought home at 8 weeks there was loads of room. I suppose it depends how long you envisage your dog staying in the crate. I only wanted my dog to get to the point when she was thoroughly toilet trained and unlikely to chew the wrong thing. She stopped using it when she was just over a year old. She could probably stopped earlier then this, but I needed to feel confident too.

I use a 4ft crate for Chihuahua puppies.

I'd say you would want the 42 inch long one, but at the very least 36 inch one that is 24 inches wide and 26 inches high.

I think we had the 36x24x26 one for ours. Plenty of room for one GR. We used to put a towel on top and make it like a little den.

36" x 24" x 27" high for GSD.............got it when he was a pup, could probably be better with a bit bigger but he is now 8yrs next week and is still quite comfortable using it as his bed.
One tip, get one with an 'up and over' door, takes up far less floor space than the conventional side hinged door needs

We use a 36 inch one for our Elkhounds as otherwise the ears are squished, but it then fits two.

I have 3 different size cages.  I have had them for 30 years.  All my dogs have accepted them except for my present one.  I have always recommended them but be prepared that you might have the dog that is claustrophobic when the door is shut.

Some people will advise getting a small one because that gives a puppy less space to mess in.   I don't contribute to that for a moment as if the puppy has a need to empty, and hasn't learnt about not going in his crate, he will and be forced to lie in it if in a small area.   My crates were always big enough to last into adulthood.   And for most of mine, 36" was big enough.   But for my bigger boy hounds, and the one I have right now, I'd buy the next size - 48"?

My Whippet has one of the 36" crates we have, but when she curls up at night in there (the only time I still use the crates) she takes up probably 1/8th of the space available.  

With my Bassets, I used to have the crates on their sides as they didn't need height, but length and width.

My crate is 24w x 36l x 30h for my 68 pound Lab and I wish it was a fair bit bigger so he could stretch out better and move to find a cool spot once his body heat warms up the spot he is lying.  Common knowledge at the time dictated you put dividers in the crate to make it smaller when puppy was little so all puppy could do was stand up, turn around and lie down again.  I will never, never, never do that again.  I will leave it full size so that inevitable time when puppy pukes, pees or poops he isn't forced to sit/lie in his own stinking, wet, waste.  Unless you have no demands on your time like traffic, work, family the time Will come when you just don't get there in time to let puppy out.

Actually, I did not leave puppy in the closed door crate for very long at all anyway.  I put the crate with door open inside a bigger pen or most recently in our gated kitchen.  That way puppy can move his joints, stay out of his pee, and engage a bit more with the household from a still safe spot.  My Vet believes too long crate time contributes to UTI, joint issues and neuroses.  It would make a good study for a Vet student.  Puppies can wreck kitchens, we were lucky, ours did not chew cabinets or walls or table legs.  My sister's puppy permanently re-modelled the canon ball feature on the legs of her kitchen table.

Thanks for all the replies and tips! I will be doing some price comparisons, there seems to be a huge difference in price - Ebay seems reasonable.

EBay is great I got all of mine off there one for £5 and one for 99p and it was in the same town.the other wasn't very expensive .the biggest is 48" for a gsd

I have bought the Ellibo ones, cheap and perfectly OK

> EBay is great

Be careful you don't buy one of the lightweight metal crates being sold on there.  Check before buying.

Another vote for eBay from me. Brought mine from there and I had one with a metal base/tray not the plastic ones which can be chewed or cracked. Good price as well.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Door-Heavy-Duty-Dual-Coated-Galvanised-Hammerite-Powder-Doghealth-Dog-Cage-/230932048804?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item35c49f6ba4

these are brilliant, they are good solid ones with decent bolt type catches and a 3rd up and over door, which is far more convenient to leave open if using as a 'come and go when you like' type of bed

Wow they are a god price, though they only seem to have the 24 and 48 inch ones.  As you say the up and over doors are really handy for use as a dog den, with door open.

Wow they are a god price

Thats what I thought when I got mine, about 7 ½ yrs ago - obviously they have gone up since then - but I have 2 one downstairs and one upstairs in the 'spare' bedroom (no bed, used as my workshop!). Zuma often lies in it when I am busy up there as well as sleeping in it some nights.

The downstairs one has a wall one side and at the back and a cupboard the other side so almost enclosed, we have made a wooden lid that sits on top - and is a repository for all sorts of 'useful' stuff !!!
This is the one where he takes anything he has picked up - ie stuff he shouldn't really have - to swap for a treat. It has twice included a LARGE hedgehog which was innocently strolling round HIS garden