[Birdie]

Desmond has very surely outgrown his crate, and we need to buy him a new one. I was thinking though, about getting an ex-pen instead. I have a good area where I could keep it, and I prefer the space he would have in comparison to a crate.

I'm not quite sure on which to buy though... He does quite like his crate (wire) but he is in there for 7 hrs or so a day on school days, and I like the idea of him having room to stretch out nice and move around. I very highly doubt he would poo or pee in an ex pen, he's never shown any indication that he would. I do worry about the security and structure of them though. I don't really think he would or could jump it, but he may knock it over.

What do you guys think? Would an ex-pen be a good investment or should we just stick with a larger wire crate that we know he would be fine in, but would have less "wiggle room"? Are there any ex pens that are fairly secure indoors that don't cost a fortune?

 

[Spencer]

It really depends on him, sad to say...

My mother had two greyhound pups... one can ONLY be in a closed plastic crate, otherwise she would go nutty and break her tail open. (It has happened...) The other is perfectly fine in an XPen and loves it. He could jump it if he wanted, but chooses not to... he is a very mellow, easy going boy.

I don't think we have a dog that would do well in an XPen... but I really wish I did, I would buy one in a second!

 

[Mercury's Mom]

For security reasons Id go for the crate. We had an x-pen set up in the kitchen for about one day, I think it's a 3 foot+ one. My boys climbed it the first attempt at leaving them in it and the knocked it down the second attempt. Luckily we were home for the second attempt because Jupiter's toe got stuck in the wire of the x-pen as he was trying to climb it and it fell over. Everybody is fine, but the crate works better for Jupiter because we are STILL working on potty training and he is a chewer, while Mercury gets the run of the house because he has never had an accodent and seems to know which toys are his. It's amazing how different littermates can be.

 

[WonderPup]

I have to say crate him, if you'd like him to have more space and are sure he won't have any potty training relapses then get a larger crate. x-pens can be climbed, jumped out of, pushed across the room, knocked over, and torn apart. LoL, Can you tell I have several? Honesly I do keep litters of puppies in an x-pen when we have them and they are old enough to not need a nursery type setting but it is a real pain. When Saleen was a puppy and got a bladder infection I took her out of her crate and used an x-pen to keep her in our entry way which is tiled. The pens are heavy too, weigh as much or more than a crate and while yes they do fold up they are, at least to me, more difficult to carry.

If you decide you'd like the try a pen I'd go with the metal type, don't get sucked into one of those plastic ones. You could always try it and if it works and makes you feel good to use it then great. If not you can return the pen and get a kennel instead, make sure you buy it from someplace that does accept returns

I just really like my dogs to be exactly where I left them when I return home and I cannot promise that will be the case in an ex-pen lol. Not even with the little dogs, they are fantastic climbers!! Sheesh!!

I use x-pens now mostly when I travel. I am able to gate off so the speak the door to the hotel room for added peace of mind so I know the dogs cannot get anywhere near it. My little guys also know how to go potty in an pen when we travel or when we were having work done on the house and had workmen here. They couldn't be let out loose in the backyard so I set up two of the larger pens and put them together in the far corner of the yard so I could let them potty.

 

[Birdie]

I think I may give the ex-pen a shot, and return it for a large crate if I don't like it.

I'm not so much worried about him climbing or jumping out due to the location of where it would be set up... I may have to attach a picture to get across what I'm saying, but the pen would be under our stairs (about where his crate is now), and the sides would be tall to accommodate him and would then have a make-shift roof made by the bottom of the stairs. Him pushing it around DOES worry me though... not much room to push though... hmmm

There's a pic of where the pen would go, if it helps with imagery. It would be against a wall, back end of a couch, stairs, and exercise equipment has since blocked off that large open space in the pic. Do you think getting an even taller panel(s) for the exposed section (between the stairs and the exercise stuff) would help secure him, or can you even do that? I know you can get spare panels but I don't know if you can... "mix and match" sizes or heights.

 

[Mandycasey'smom]

Well Casey to outgrew his crate and since me being a dumby sold the mastiffs crate bought an xpen that was on sale for $40 as the store was closing marked down from $150.
Casey can push on the folds and move it around the room and has chewed new shelves and gotten other stuff off shelves ( wii controllers) I fixed this problem by getting 2x4s and makeing a box around the bottom of it since it will be staying there for some time not real worried. It has not moved since so fixed him I guess. Then he figured out if he wiggled the door enough it would open so I now put a carabeener ring around the doors. So far I have him stumped LOL
I love he has room in it to move roll and chew things and he would never try to jump over as he isn't a jumper.
Mandy doesn't need crated though she has been put in there for being naughty one day last week chewing a shoe which she has NEVER done. Yes then needed a good walk.

 

[cbrand]

Crate. I would never leave a grown dog alone in an X-pen. They will get out.

 

[cash]

Crate. My pyrX as a puppy tried squeezing between two panels of a heavy duty, 12 panel, 48" X-pen. He got suck. The wires were so tight against his sides I don't know how he could stand it, we almost had to cut the wires but ended up being able to bend them enough to get him out.

 

[Mister]

My small girls can be in an ex pen (actually i just block them in the kitchen with a baby gate but Mister is either with me or in his crate when im gone. He would knock the ex pen over or jump it or check something he shouldnt.

 

[WonderPup]

Crate. I would never leave a grown dog alone in an X-pen. They will get out.

LoL, Your adult dogs must know my adults dogs

Birdie, the problem you need to be on the lookout for as far as him pushing the pen around is that the pens are flexible and can be shaped in any shape desired. This means he can push against the joint of just one panel and actually change the shape of the pen. Does that make sense the way I wrote it? It's a problem I've had many a time and what ends up happening, assuming the dog doesn't escape, is that with the shape of the pen being pushed out it often gives less room to the dog than a crate would have. My guys will push them into long thin shapes instead of the round or square shape I left them in. You may be able to fix the sides to something, there seems to be alot of placement options in your photo, to prevent that from happening.

I'll be intersted to hear how it works out for you.

 

[KPoos]

I'm a big fan of crates so I'd say crate.

 

[Mandycasey'smom]

as I said all I did was got 2x4s and screwed them around the bottom to make abox so far we have had no more issues so I am happy with the x pen now it does give him more room to move around chew sleep stretch.
OUrs is 9 beieve 4 ft high but could be 3 ft not sure now LOL will check when head down stairs

 

[weyweyjenn]

I only use crate when I'm taking Pudding out, I bought a big Ex-Pen for him at home because this way he has a lot of space and he can sleep comfortably in there too ( he rolls around when he sleeps!).

So I'd say EX-Pen works great!

 

[Birdie]

Yeah, security is really my main concern here. If I could reinforce the pen like Mandy&Casey'sMom then I would feel much more comfortable with leaving him in there. I never liked leaving him in a crate for 7 hours a day while I'm at school, so the more space he has to safely move around, the better.

I will try to reinforce the ex-pen, see if I can make it to where Des can't push it around. Since 3 sides would be blocked off already, I worried about him pushing in the one side and then squishing the crate around himself and wedging himself stuck.
If I can stabilize it, I'd feel more comfortable leaving him in the pen than a crate... I'm going to get it today or tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it works out. If it looks unstable at all (or he manages to get out of it), I'll return it for a crate. I would rather him be very safe, and he'd be fine in a crate, the extra room of the ex-pen would just be a treat for him, so he'd be totally comfortable with or without it.