Vari Kennel

I was wondering if anyone could help me . . . I was told by the breeder to buy a vari kennel 200 series crate for my little Bella. But I couldn't figure out which Vari-kennel would be more appropriate since when I Google "vari kennel #200", I usually get stuck between these two results:

http://www.amazon.com/Vari-Kennel-U...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1255745117&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Vari-Kennel-Traditional-Small-Carrier/dp/B0002DHZLC/ref=pd_sim_hg_2

Any opinions to which one is better? Thank you!

I would ask breeder. Our's had us get both sizes. We used the smaller one for quite a while since Abigail was and still is small(at a 1 1/4 year she is only 14 pounds).

We now put the smaller in the car to use on short rides.

However, if your pup is going to be on larger size, get the larger crate. Only the breeder will know this.

Heather R

Thanks Heather! . . . but I had asked the breeder last night and she just basically reiterated that to get the Vari kennel 200 but nothing bigger than the 300 . . . which just confused me even more . . . :? And I went to the Meet the Breeds event today in NY and asked the people there selling the soft crate and dog.com and they both gave me different sizes too . . .

I have 2 vari kennels, one old one new, they are the 28 x 20 size (200 as suggested by my breeder). I had one 14 in tall when Chelsea was smaller, better for training. If you do not want to buy 2, pack a pillow in the back of the larger one so it is not so big, or you may find an adaptor to make the crate smaller. The only reason I bought the larger version as Chelsea like the smaller one was the door broke.

I'd recommend you get the smaller to start while she's a puppy and as she gets bigger get the larger one. Seems a waste of money, perhaps, but you want the right crate. If the crate is too big for a puppy then you risk it soiling inside the crate. You could try to block off part of it, but I've never found that to work all that well.

On an unrelated note ... I hope you enjoyed Meet the Breeds. I wanted to go but I've been helping my sister pack all day. One of my friends was there ith their cavalier Luke - he's an adorable Tri you might have seen.

I think that I would recommend first getting the smaller one. We had Abigail in her's with a soft pad( got all from pet edge.com). At first I didn't believe breeder that Abigail wouldn't do anything in her crate; so just placed a towel inside. After several days and nights with Abigail not messing her crate I put in pad. She has never done anything in crate. However, it did take a while to train her elsewhere in house:grnyuk:

Heather R

I have the wire style crates, and I've always started with the larger size (I have 2 & 1 folding fabric travel crate). All are about 24x18 and I've never had a problem with a pup soiling their crate. Just my two cents. I'd go for the bigger one!

The problem with your google search is that Amazon doesn't use the size classification of 200 which is I think what is causing the confusion. If you look at other sites, you will see the 200 is the medium sized crate. The small would be too small for an adult.

Unless you feel like spending money for something you won't use after a couple of months, just get the 200 size and put a large empty cardboard box inside to make it smaller while Bella is a puppy.

Don't buy a soft crate -- this is not a good idea with a dog under a year as they tend to chew through them. Also, they provide no protection for car transport and would not be a safe way to confine as a dog can chew its way out of them. They can be nice for travel or for crating trained adults overnight but really you'd never use a soft crate for safe confinement.

I have crates of a few sizes myself which I use for different purposes; both wire and plastic plus one fabric crate.

Puppies often will soil a crate that is too large but some do fine.

With wire crates you can often buy a divider to make the crate smaller.

Thanks everyone! I am so appreciative of everyone's advice on all of my questions the last few weeks. Getting really close to B-day (Bella day) and I am SO excited!

I just ordered the vari kennel medium--I already had a brand new never used Midwest crate still in its unopened box. But it is a 48 x-large one (for my sweet golden, Jewel, RIP). At first, I thought I could use it because it had a divider and I thought I could just make it a smaller . . .

But then I decided that Bella should probably get a plastic crate too, in case we had to travel for some reason. (I like to be prepared for anything ) And I wanted to have one crate downstairs and one upstairs . . . didn't want to carry an x-large crate up the stairs . . . :biggrin:

Solution found! LOL

Thanks again!

When she gets older I also think it is nice to have a big big crate for crate trained dogs. Also great for when you have three trying to sleep in one crate... :lol: