Thanks for all the good advice about buying a crate. I now have a splendid one from doghealth under the stairs waiting for its occupant who will arrive tomorrow! The problem is that it's far too big and heavy to be easily transportable (and, judging from the amount of time it took me to get it together in the first place, I don't fancy my chances of taking it apart and reassembling it quickly!). Can anyone recommend a smaller and lighter model that I can use when away from home? I shall need one when I visit my daughter and family (to keep puppy and babies in their own space when necessary) but the puppy won't be spending very much time in it. Would appreciate ideas asap, please!

Great excitement here as P(uppy)Day nearly here!

Thank you

Kanelch

This probably wont help all that much as i cant remember the manufacturer name, but i had a crate that used to collapse in on itself. All the sides were attached to each other so all you had to do was pull it up and clip the two ends in place. Literally took me seconds to put up, and comes in a range of sizes to suit small to very large breeds. I saw them in my local pet store years ago, and they still sell them now. If i get a chance before you find one or someone else replies i will see if i can get the manufacturers name.

Hi Kenelch,

petplanet.co.uk have a really good range of portable/collapsable crates. And reasonalble prices too.

The come in varying sizes and shapes. I got my puppy's car crate from there, which I have used a lot for when we have travelled to visit friends and family. He loved it too as it was like a little home from home for him, especially when we went somewhere new.

HTH

I would look on ebay I got a couple of nice ones there. Not sure how you go about getting on thats portable I gave up with that idea as I have got a large dog/crate and left one at my sisiters to use when we were there.

Have a fantastic time with the new fur baby

I haven't found any of the metal ones particularly easy for travelling, as they are all a bit cumbersome.  Some are definitely lighter than others though so you can look for one with a smaller gauge of wire.  The ones with plastic trays, rather than tin, are much lighter in weight too.  As someone else has said you could buy one to leave at your daughters (or try Freecycle)

When your dog is older a fabric crate can be useful but aren't terribly suitable for puppies - they don't cope with wee or chewing very well!

You might find it easier to manage separation with baby gates instead?  You can always get these on Freecycle too

You must be very excited - my youngest is 2 today and I can still remember exactly what it felt like to finally be bringing him home - have fun :)

You must be so excited :) You are in for such fun!

I have a dog health crate for in the house and when I first got my flatcoat I also bought a doghealth lightweight cage for in the car. He soon outgrew it as I only bought the 30" one as a temporary measure. It was very different to their ordinary cages but was fine for in the car, and definitely much lighter and more manageable. It might serve it's purpose just for going away. They do it up to 36".

What did you have to assemble with your cage? When i bought mine I just pulled it out of the box and opened it up and clipped the ends together :)

Ive got this one from ebay and it has a removable metal tray as well.

I think I am a bit of a klutz when it comes to assembling anything flat-packed but the man problem was that it was so heavy I found it difficult to manoeuvre. I've since spoken to the people at doghealth and found out that it weighs approx. 20 kg. Their lightweight one is only about 9 kg so that's a possibility. The other thing I've seen is the Croft Alpine range. Has anyone had any experience of these? They would appear to be light and might do the job.
Excitement is mounting and I'm really looking forward to meeting our puppy!