crate or pen

[summertime]

first I had questions on crates and thanks to all your brill advice now Im wondering if a pen would be better

pro/cons, hopefully if you have tried both you might have advice

thanks again

summer x

[SimonandMandy]

Hi,

We've also had the same discussions about crates and pens.  Our little fella Harvey arrives in 3wks!!!!!

Think we've decided to get both and build the pen around the crate.

Pros
1. Gives the puppy it's own space.
2. Gives you somewhere to put the puppy while doing house work, etc. without locking him/her up in a crate.
3. If you decide to leave the crate door open at night, the pup will (hopefully) do it's business in the pen on newspaper, and not in the crate.
4. The list goes on...

Cons
1. Initial cost is a bit more.
2. Takes up more space.

Hope this is some help.


Simon

[Michele]

Just a warning about using a pen, make sure you get one high enough!

I bought this one before I got Florence http://www.croftonline.co.uk/products.asp?partno=FREEDOM (which is 27" high)

and for a good while it was great, until I came home one day and she'd climbed out of it! She was 19 weeks old and in my opinion had not outgrown it.
Maybe by using a crate too you won't have this problem. The other thing I found was that because she'd had the freedom of the pen, she hated being in a crate (which some of my show going friends can testify). She's used to the crate now but I only use it at shows, she's out with the others at home.