Crate Considerations

Wire crates allow puppies to see each other, and household activity

mixture of wire and airline crates is fine

litter box use for sleep over week

24 inch crate with XL cat litterbox

The darker, private atmosphere of an airline crates is calming for some puppies.

When choosing crates to use for our litter, there are a variety of different options based on available space, your flooring, budget, and breed/size. You will be choosing between wire, plastic, or some mixture of two based on your preferences, what you already own or can borrow, and the needs of your litter.Wire: Pros1.Space efficient. Take up less room, both when in use and when stored.2.Air circulation. Cool puppies sleep better than warm or stuffy puppies, most of the time.3.High visibility. Puppies can see out of the crates very well Increasing socialization and soothing puppies who don’t like to feel alone. 4.Accessible. You can give puppies treats through the wire.5.Portability. Easy and light to move from room to room and easier to store.Wire: Cons1.Wire can trap toes and jaws. Clumsy puppies may catch their toes when exiting wire crates. Rarely, puppies can break stuck toes. While puppies can catch jaws in wire crates. We find this is usually happens when puppies are locked inside crates, panic, and bite the bars trying to escape. We will not be putting puppies into this situation, however, there is still a low risk of this at other times. This risk may be higher in certain breeds based on the shape of the jaws and muzzle. In some breeds, a yelping puppy with a stuck toe can trigger aggression from the other puppies or adults. Always consider both how accident prone your breed is, and if they have a short “predatory” fuse.2.Pacifiers, bits of food, treats can slip out between the bars. This can trigger fussy behavior (if this is going to happen, it will always be at 2:00am) or stuck toes or jaws, as the puppy tried to reach or grab the item just out of it’s reach. If set directly next to another crated puppy, nipping, stealing or guarding can occur.3.Doors should be pried off, or the front panel laid flat, for the first week or two If stuck toes are likely for your puppies.4.Any accidents are not contained in the crate. The puppy will be cleaner, but the walls and floor dirtier.5.Puppies can see each other. This can encourage “fence fighting” type play or general barking, FOMO vocalizations, and in some breeds this may even trigger aggression. Know your breed traits. Visual blocks will need to be installed later, so puppies can experience NOT seeing each other.Plastic Airline Type: Pros1.Doors come off easily for initial weeks inside weaning pen.2.Accidents or spilled food are contained inside the crate. Meaning cleaner walls but dirtier puppies.3.Low injury risk as compared to wire, but wider wire spacing at the edge of the doors can still present a trapping hazard, as can the “windows”.4.Darker interior. Encourages sleep, especially during Slumber Party Week.5.Puppies cannot see each other. Barrier fighting is less likely and puppies become accustomed to not seeing litter mates.6.Pacifiers rarely fall out or are stolen by other puppies.Plastic Airline Type: Cons1.Clunky. Take up more room than wire crates and are more difficult to store.2.Less air circulation. Puppies may feel warm and stuffy, and thus fussy.3.Low visibility. Puppies cannot see each other. This may cause some puppies to feel isolated and anxious. Humans also cannot as easily see puppies in crates.4.Open space between the crate bottoms can trap puppies and presents a suffocation risk if puppies have access to crates from the outside. Stuck puppies might trigger aggression from the other puppies.5.Less portable. Heavier and do not collapse down, thus harder to move.6.Some puppies may chew the interior and exterior of the crate.Here are some further considerations as you plan your crating set up for this course. Remember, you can change your plan later, crates can be swapped out for a different type, they can be moved, or their placement adjusted. Don’t expect your first set of plans to be perfect.•Available space inside and outside the weaning pen.•Available space nearby where you can set up more crates if needed.•The size of your puppies at the age they will be leaving.•What crate size is needed for a depart age puppy?•Where do you want to set up your crates? Inside the weaning pen, outside, or both?•What crates do you own that will work?•Can you borrow, or purchase, new or used crates to fill in as needed?•How can you arrange things to allow one crate per puppy?It’s important to remember you can change your plan as you go along. But one thing to consider now is do you hope to do during overnights in the crates (Chapter 6) the week before the puppies leave for their new homes? If so your plans will be different than if you do not plan on doing overnights in crates. One is not “better” than the other! Whichever one works for your needs is the better option. If you ARE going to do overnights in the crate you have to think about a bigger size, ideally large enough for a small litter box in the back of the crate. Overnights: You have a few options.1.Don’t do overnights at all, continue Chapter 5 protocols right through send home day, and skip completely having the puppies sleep overnights in crates. This works fine great, and I frequently use this option for my own puppies. 2.Do overnights for a few of the puppies, others sleep in the weaning pen, so each puppy gets to experience sleeping in a crate all night at least once during the last week.3.Do overnights for ALL puppies during the last week.4.Do partial overnights, load puppies up at bedtime and when the first puppy wakes up, let them all out into the pen. 5. No overnights, but extended crate time during the day instead, such as after meals. Further: If you decide you want to have your puppies sleep overnight in crates, you will eventually need to make the following decisions for puppies who are sleeping in crates that relate to CRATE selection.1.Litter box in crate (this requires a larger crate and a litter box).2.No litter box in crate (this means you can use a much smaller crate).You can choose to have your puppy crates outside or inside of the weaning pen, or both. I prefer to have the crates inside the weaning pen because I have the space (I use my entire dining room). My puppy pen also backs up to an exterior door and my puppy patio. Further, I find it generally more convenient to load and unload puppies for potty breaks if they are inside the pen. This also means my puppies can choose to rest in the crates at other times. All these factors make it the most logical set up for me, but you may find a different set up works better for your needs. You can adapt the protocol to a variety of crate and pen set ups.BE SURE TO HUNT AROUND FOR USED CRATES. CRAIGSLIST, FB MARKETPLACE, AND LOCAL BST GROUPS WILL HAVE A WIDE VARIETY OF USED (USUALLY LIGHTLY) CRATES FOR VERY GOOD PRICES. ASK OTHER BREEDERS, OR ASK ON YOUR FB PAGE TO BORROW CRATES OTHERS MAY NO LONGER BE USING. THERE IS NO REASON TO PURCHASE WHAT YOU CAN BORROW! BE SURE TO WASH AND SANITIZE ALL CRATES, EVEN NEW ONES, BEFORE USE WITH BABY PUPPIES. ANOTHER POPULAR BREEDER OPTION IS TO PURCHASE A CRATE FOR EACH PUPPY, AND SIMPLY ACCOUNT FOR THIS IN THE PRICE OF THE PUPPY, AND SEND THAT CRATE WITH THE PUPPY TO IT’S NEW HOME. THIS HAS A REALLY TANGIBLE BENEFIT FOR THE PUPPY AND IT’S NEW FAMILY, AS THE CRATE WILL BE VERY FAMILIAR TO THE PUPPY AND BE APPRECIATED DURING TRANSITION WEEK.

Crate Considerations (Core)