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Friday, March 25, 2011
Selecting A CrateThere are several different choices for crates: they vary by sizes and materials. I believe in buying
one crate for the lifetime of the puppy/dog.
My personal preference is the wire crate for a Golden Retriever,
Vizsla and Weimaraner. The size we use and recommend for Vizslas is 36x23x25. Golden Retrievers and Weimaraners
will need a bigger one to stretch out into and the correct size for them is 42x28x30. This type of crate is easy to clean,
there is a lot of air circulation, puppies/dogs get to see what is going on around them, and they are easy to collapse and
take with you when you are traveling or need to move it from place to place.
These crates may seem huge for a little
puppy, but remember that your little puppy will grow into a medium or large breed dog.
Most of the wire crates come with
a divider to make the crate small and comfy when the puppies are small, as your puppy grows you will be able to make the crate
larger by moving the divider into a more comfortable space.
There are also plastic crates that you can purchase.
These are harder to clean and you most likely would have to purchase different sizes for each state of growth, because they
do NOT come with dividers. Circulation is not as good, because it is all enclosed. In the summer it gets really warm
and moist in there.
The other choice is the material mesh type crate. These are ONLY good for trained adult
dogs, puppies would chew out of this type of crate in a flat minute. While they are light weight, and collapsible they
are not the safest for dogs.
Our suggestion is check out WalMart for these supplies. Pet edge.com and King wholesale
are two other resources available on-line.
9:33 pm pdt
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Introduction to the CratePuppy crate training is a fantastic method of managing the safety and well being of young puppies. When
used properly the crate is a valuable tool for establishing good habits in your puppy and also for preventing problem behaviors
before they arise.
In spite of what you may think Crate training is not placing your puppy in jail. It is
wonderful tool that we use for the puppies benefits as well as our own.
Over time the crate will become
your puppy's own private area which they will grow to love and feel secure in. You will come to rely on your crate just like
your puppy will.
One of the first and most important uses for the crate is in the housebreaking process.
Crate training is the best way to quickly teach your puppy to eliminate outside.
We will go into all of this in
the next blog.
1:54 pm pdt
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