Why Dog Crates Are A Must
Do you hate it when you have to go away, leaving your pet alone for a couple hours?
Wont it be nice if you could take your pet along with you on all your travels? You can take your pets along with you whenever you travel, but it will involve the use of crates.
Cages, kennels or crates allow the owner to make a fanatical and safe space for pets which will be settled within the corner of a home or are often carried along.
It wont matter if you want to take your doggie out with you on a trip or wish to visit the nearby pet hospital for a regular checkup, dog crates will forever remain at your service!
With this crates, you will find it easy to:
- Keep your furniture chew-free by disciplining a spoiled doggie
- Prevent destruction habits in dogs
- Limit the movement of your pooch by providing safe and peaceful space, when sick or injured
- Save you from possible embarrassment on the visit of important guests
- Create a personal space of its own where your pet can do whatsoever it wishes to because even dogs need privacy.
How Long Should Your Golden Retriever Be In The Crate
Crates become a place of safety and security for a Golden Retriever when they are crate trained properly. However, because it is a small and confined space, you never want to leave your dog locked in a crate for too long. Puppies should only spend a maximum of 3 to 4 hours a day in their crate. This does not include overnight sleeping in the crate.
Use this table as a guideline for how long you should keep your dog in its crate during the day:
| Age of Golden Retriever | |
| 17+ Weeks Old | 4+ Hours |
It is also essential to make sure your Golden Retriever feels at home in its crate. Remember to associate the crate with positivity rather than punishment. This will help the crate training process and allow your dog to have a better night of rest.
How Big Should The Dog Crate Be
When buying a crate for their pooch, dog owners mistakenly think that a bigger crate is better. It will not offer the secure, safe, and cozy feeling a Golden Retriever requires while occupying the crate. A bigger crate means that the Golden Retriever rattles around inside a large open space. They wont love being in this crate.
A crate should be big enough for your Golden Retriever to stand up easily without hitting its heads on the top, allowing it to move around comfortably. The crate should provide enough room for your pooch to lay down with its paws stretched. If the crate is any smaller, it would be uncomfortable for your Golden Retriever. However, it doesnt mean that it should very large. Now, if you are going to look out for the requirements that we just mentioned, youll need different dog crates for a puppy, an adolescent dog, and an adult Golden Retriever respectively. If you are raising a Golden Retriever puppy, this could get very expensive. However, well share a money-saving tip thatll be of great help.
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Get The Right Size & Type Of Crate
Before you bring your puppy home, you need to get a crate .
Choosing the size and type of crate is critical to your success, so read this article about the best size crate for golden retrievers, but for the purpose of this post, Im going to tell you what we got for our puppy, Oliver.
We got Oliver a 42 wire crate with a divider.
The divider allowed us to keep it the right size for him as a growing puppy and since its 42 its big enough for him as a 75-pound adult golden retriever.
The wire crate helped because it was open so he could always see the people around him, which lessened his anxiety of being in there alone at first.
It also easily folds up, so we could break it down, throw it in the car, and take it on vacation or to our parents houses for the weekend.
Advantages Of Using A Dog Crate
Eases the Transportation of Your Dog
A fully trained golden retriever knows how to behave well. This means you dont have any hard time getting your dog in the car. The well-spent time in dog crate training can also be applied in this situation wherein you will need to transport your dog using a crate through a long ride journey.
Its less hassle for you when you are going for scheduled checkups for your dog or even excursion trips to faraway places. Your dog is happy while remaining calm on the road. Also, dont forget to bring their favorite dog toys and blankets to ensure that there will be no problem along the road.
A Crate is For Calming
A crate is not only used for dog crate training, its also for calming pets who are beyond control. Because some dogs, especially puppies who are full energy will play with another dog or children endlessly. Of course, if the puppys playmate is already tired and the puppy itself is still aroused and full of energy, it will be hard for them to calm down.
Instead, the best way to calm them down is to put them in a dog crate for just a few minutes. If they are relaxed and have calmed down, release them immediately and give them some positive reinforcement like his favorite dog treats.
This is to remove the idea of punishing him through solitary confinement and feel not bad about what happened. Not to be confused with cruel punishment by confining him because you are in big trouble if you do that.
A Dog Crate Keeps Dogs Apart
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Best Decorative Crate: Merry Products Dog Crate
Best Decorative
This Merry Products Dog Crate is a beautiful dog crate that would make an excellent feature for your home. It is designed to be comfortable for your Golden Retriever and look luxurious. This crate is made of wood veneer, but it is reinforced with durable powder coated black steel to make it breathable and sturdy.
Key Features:
Introduce Your Puppy To The Crate
The name of the game with crate training your golden retriever puppy is baby steps.
Heres what you dont want to do: immediately throw your puppy in the crate and let them cry it out.
If youve already done that, youll be fighting an uphill battle, but by following the steps in this section and the next, its a battle that you can definitely win.
Its best if they can learn that the crate is awesome and safe before they spend time in it, especially time alone.
So how do you do that?
First, they need to decide to go into the crate themselves.
You can do that by putting a favorite toy in the crate, or scattering food in there.
Expect them to walk in and right back out the first time.
If theyve eaten all the food in there, or brought the toy back, eventually put more toys, or more treats in there.
You want to make it so that they know fun things are in the crate.
Now that theyve been introduced to the crate, the next step is to get them to love it.
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Best Basic Puppy Crate: Midwest Icrate Double Door Folding Metal Dog Crate
If you like the design of the previous crate but youre working with a limited budget, this Midwest ICrate offers many of the same features but is made of more affordable and lighter-weight steel and mesh materials.
It comes in a single- or double-door design in multiple sizes with a tray and optional divider panel, making it a great option for puppies who need a crate that grows along with them.
MidWest ICrate Double Door Folding Metal Dog Crate
This popular dog crate is an Amazon bestseller, thanks to an affordable price tag, double-door design, and availability in a range of sizes.
Budget Pick: Frisco Heavy Duty Fold & Carry Double Door Collapsible Wire Dog Crate
The Frisco Heavy Duty Fold & Carry Double Door Collapsible Wire Dog Crate packs most of the durability of our main pick but is usually about half the price. The Frisco wire dog crate features what our testers describe as a super solid locking mechanism that slides nicely and remains secure when locked. The tray is easy to remove and clean, and it didnt slide out by mistake during testing. Like the LifeStages model, the Frisco features a wider grid with three crossbars instead of the five found on the Ultima Pro. Having just three bars doesnt mean that this crate is substantially less durable: Its got a strong, coated steel frame. But, as our testers noted, each size of the Frisco is proportionally slightly wider and taller than the MidWest models, making the Frisco heavier and more cumbersome to carry. This wire dog crate is sold in six sizes, from 22 inches long to 49 inches long.
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Our Top 4 Picks For Dog Crates For Golden Retrievers
OUR TOP PICK: Petmate Dog Crate
Product Description: If a classic dog crate is what you need, then you will like this Precision Pet dog crate. This is perfect for golden retrievers and other dogs similar to this breed or even larger. Plus, the dog crate structure is very precise which is perfect for dog crate training. This comes with many selections and different sizes and designed to withstand aggressive chewers.Furthermore, this is very reliable and it’s strong enough which is why this is your perfect crate. It features a 5 point lock system with 2 doors on each side for easy access and enhanced security. Plus, it has rounded corners to keep the crate snug-free.It very travels friendly and you can bring this everywhere. It also has a divider so you can place your puppy and also an adult dog here. The materials are rust-resistant, so expect longevity in this product. It can be used for playpens and also for kennels, and you can actually do whatever you want here. But don’t use this for cruel treatments.
Offer price: $$$
Summary
All in all, you will definitely love this dog crate. The brand has earned well-received remarks from its customers because the product is very high quality. Also, its very affordable to every dog owner put there. So, if you are looking for a dog crate consider this as your investment not just for a short time but a long time investment.
Pros
Travel friendly Very sturdy Very secure lock system
Cons
How To Select A Crate For Your Dog
Introducing your dog to a new crate can be a chore. However, with consistent sessions and patience you will succeed in getting your dog into any crate you want.
The first and most important rule you need to obey when selecting crates is size related.
Do not purchase extremely large crates for your golden retrievers. When a crate is large enough for your pooch, then it can cause some serious problems.
Pets may do their litter inside it, and you will find yourself in a mess. However, a narrow cage can make your canine uncomfortable, agitated, aggressive, and depressed.
Similarly, different types of crates are available, including wire, metal, plastic, wood, etc. Hence, when selecting crates for your golden retrievers, you want to go for medium sized crates.
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How To Crate Train Your Golden Retriever At Night
One of the most frustrating things for a new puppy parent is the whining and barking at night when theyre trying to sleep.
Oliver was an awful sleeper for the first few weeks that we had him and it drove me absolutely bonkers, so if youre in this position right now, I know how you feel!
But dont worry, it will soon pass, and here are some tips to help it pass.
First, its important to understand that puppies can only hold their bladders for about an hour per their age in months.
That means that a two-month-old puppy can only hold it for about two to three hours, so expect to have to wake up two or three times every night until they get a little older.
That being said, here are five tips to help your puppy learn to sleep through the night:
Golden Retriever Crate Training Tips
Any behavioural training for a dog will deliver huge benefits to both you and your pup. As with toilet, food and recall training sound crate training can result in a number of benefits. These include:
- Creating a safe, friendly space which your dog can enjoy, laze and sleep in
- Gets your dog used to crates which may also be required for travelling or visiting the vet
- Are a good place to teach and train your puppy eating habits as well as toilet training
- It allows both you and your dog to get a sound sleep at night
The ideal outcome if crate training should be, like recall, your dog going to their crate on command. Commands such as go to bed or go to your crate can be delivered in a friendly way.
Remember, crates should be a positive experience for your dog, not a form of punishment. Training them in a reinforcing way will give you the best out of your crate.
Crate training works best with a puppy, however, if you have an adult dog, such as a foster or rescue, it will work too you just may need a little more patience.
Follow these steps for getting to the stage where your Golden Retriever is quite happy treating their crate as their own bedroom.
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What Size Crate For Golden Retriever Puppies And Adults
What size crate for Golden Retriever puppies or adult?
Its not straight forward!
The best dog crate for Golden Retriever puppies is either one that fits their build now, or an adult size with a divider.
There are also so many crate types to consider: soft-sided, plastic, metal, combination
How will you ever choose just one?
In this article, learn about the Golden Retriever crate size recommendation from canine training experts.
And find out what size dog crate for Golden Retriever puppies and adult dogs will be the best fit for your pups height, weight, and size!
Products included in this article were carefully and independently selected by the Happy Puppy Site team. If you decide to make a purchase from one of the links marked by an asterisk, we may earn a small commission on that sale. This is at no extra cost to you.
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In addition, puppies that are 23 months old will have a very limited bladder capacity. They will need frequent outings to go to the bathroom in the great outdoors. If a very young puppy is left in a crate for an extended period of time, it may go to the bathroom inside the crate out of necessity. This will make the rest of crate training ineffective, so ensure the puppy is taken outside at regular intervals. Some puppies will need to go outside in the middle of the night!
Dogs should not be placed in crates for extended periods of time. If the dog owner is gone from the house for long durations, the dog should be placed in a puppy pen with puppy training pads instead of a crate.
A happy, well trained Golden Retriever puppy. Fully housebroken by 13 weeks of age.
Leah Lefler, 2011
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How To Measure Your Dog For A Crate
Getting the right size of crate for your dog is very important. There needs to be enough room in the crate for the dog to be comfortable while standing and lying down, but not too much room that the dog feels unsafe. Do not eyeball the size of the crate when you make your purchase instead, take the time to measure your dog correctly.
Follow the steps below to figure out what size of crate you need for your Golden Retriever:
Our Pick: Midwest Ultima Pro Double Door Collapsible Wire Dog Crate
The MidWest Ultima Pro Double Door Collapsible Wire Dog Crate is the crate to get if you want one that will last for the lifetime of your dog, and if youre likely to have another dog in the future. This crate comes in five sizes, the smallest being 24 inches long the largest clocks in at 48 inches long and can suit many large breeds.
Ultimately, our testers favored this crate over all others. Friends with Four Paws secretary Kim Crawford said that the Ultima Pro definitely felt the most reliable and heavy enough to withstand even the toughest dogs, and Kim noted that the rescue has always liked the brand.
This crates wire was thicker and its grid tighter than any other reasonably priced crate we tested, and 50 pounds of pulling pressure didnt affect it at all. Our testers said the lock remained secure and was easy for them to latch and unlatch. The crate also folded fluidly down into a suitcase for carrying and was easy to set up again.
The Ultima Pros tray is removable, but only by humans, and its easy to clean and tough. Available in five sizes, this crate comes with a divider for use with growing puppies, and it has rubber feet to prevent scratched floorsa hidden-gem feature of the Ultima Pro. It comes with a one-year warranty for manufacturing defects from MidWest, which has been in business since 1921 and making dog crates since the 1960s.
The Ultima Pro is made of thicker wire than most crates in its price range, and its noticeably heavier.
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