Thread: New addition to the family, need a bigger dog kennel

This may not suit everyone but I offer it as a different approach to dog housing.
We've used kennels with mixed success with all of our previous dogs but we now reckon folding metal mesh crates are the go as they are much more versatile.

We have two crates, one for each of our border collies, so they have their own "nest" but we have trained them to use one if required.
They look a bit cruel but the dogs really like them and use them as "dens" all the time
In winter we throw a tarp over the top and sides to make them a bit cosier, and in summer the tarps are pulled back from the sides so they can stay cooler and see out of them easier.
Both crates are big enough for both dogs to fit into and the smaller crate fits neatly in the back of the station wagon for when we travel longer distances.

When we go camping we take both crates, one stays in the back of the station wagon and the other under the caravan awning.
When camping the ability to lock them into the crate so they can sleep 'off lead' is better than leaving them outside on leads.
The crate looks smaller than it is, but it easily holds the two dogs


When our son has to dog sit we just take one of the crates along to his place.
The biggest advantage is obvious in that they can't chew them to pieces but the are are also really easy to keep clean and don't retain smells.
Ours have easily removable plastic trays which can be removed and hosed down as needed.

The smaller dog is the "boss cocky" and sometimes sleeps in the bigger dogs crate and growls if big dog goes into her crate, so big dog then just sleeps on the floor.

Nice looking dawgs you have there BTW - you should post these pics in the Pet Forum.

cheers for the reply mate, i think my little staffy pup would rip the tarp into a thousand pieces in one night haha but it does give me an idea

what kind of bedding are u using?

my black staffy tore up the floor in our wooden ebay kennal so i used some 4x2 to make a floor frame than screwed 9mm plywood down ontop of that than a rug for the pets to lay on and its still working a year later

heres another picture of the 4yo boy sitting on the trailer hes such a lovely dog

heres another pic of my 4yo staffy 11021068_1400765153568585_1717302031860638474_n.jpg

Originally Posted by gazza2009au

cheers for the reply mate, i think my little staffy pup would rip the tarp into a thousand pieces in one night haha but it does give me an idea

Provides the edges are not hanging in between the bars, the bars of the crate are too close together for a dog to get at the tarp from the inside and neither of ours were interested in the tarp from the outside although they have have a bit of a go at the nylon ropes we tied the tarps on with at the top of the crate.

what kind of bedding are u using?

Bedding has been an issue especially with the Border collies.
The floor of the crate is covered in hard plastic and edges are well hidden under metal bars.
There are obvious scratch patches and we used to hear them sometimes trying to scratch their way through the floor but it is very slippery so they can'y get a purchase on it.
We cover the plastic floor with old carpet which both dogs continually shredded as pups, but I have a large roll of it and just kept replacing the carpets and they stopped after a while. A friend of ours uses old carpet squares with foam rubber backing but thats GOLD for our dogs so I didn't use that.
These days in summer one dog pushes the carpet aside and lays sort of underneath it on the plastic floor.

SWMBO has spent a small fortune on expensive soft dog beds which both dogs as pups continually unstuffed. Now they have calmed down a bit so we don't see this so much. Recently SWMBO found some small mattresses from one of the elcheapo stores (Red Dot or Kmart) which they seem to leave alone OR maybe they are just growing up.

Same issue with dog blankets which they both shredded. SWMBO is a bit of a sewing wizz so she quickly quilts up dog blankets from old towels or other odd bits and pieces.

The best thing we found during a hard rubbish collection a couple years back was a large bag of about 2 dozen semi-flat sports balls, soccer, footy, rugby, netballs, basketball, etc. The dogs love these and have chewed some to pieces, small dog likes especially to take the laces off the footballs. They tend to play with these, e.g. tug of war or bring then into the shed for me to throw. We also play hidey with these balls and that keeps them occupied for lengthy periods.

We provide a constant source of chewy stuff e.g. beef bones, toys that contain doggie chews inside them, chicken frames and necks, etc for them and this seems to occupy their time rather than chomping on their beds. Each week I cut up two big beef bones with my bandsaw and scatter the bones around the garden just before a time that I have to leave them alone. If there's nothing available one dog was chewing 1" jarrah garden stakes or sticks but that disappeared once we started having bones around the place. Its not very attractive but I would rather than that chewed outdoor furniture or HUGE (as opposed to large) holes in the lawn and garden. Because I am now retired they also spend a lot of time with me in my Van going places to pick up stuff, or in the shed, and this constant company has probably done more for their noredom than anything else. They are great company and constant source of entertainment.