Three quick Q's

Hi all ... starting to buy things in anticipation ... not like this is difficult for me, by any means. icon_whistling (We're getting our 12 week old pup at the end of April.) No pics yet ... the breeder hasn't quite decided which one is for us.

Size of collar? The smalls I've been checking out look like they're a perfect size for a full-size Cavalier. Should I buy x-smalls for a puppy?

Puppias? I got a small purple on eBay ... b/c I was warned that they'll outgrow it in a few months. But that thing just looks so darn small to me!

Crate? I swear I've asked this question before but I just want some varied opinions. I can't decide whether to get one of those portable crates (like something you could take on a plane - of course that WON'T be the purpose) so I can tote it from upstairs at night, to downstairs during the day ... versus a metal "cage." What size?

I brought Kingston home when he was 14 weeks old, so just a little bit older than your pup. I bought him a medium puppia right away and it worked perfect. It adjusted enough to fit him even when he was smaller.

I wouldn't buy a plane-suitable crate for your pup's fulltime crate because it would be too small. If you really need something for both the upstairs and downstairs, I would consider just buying two metal crates. The one for upstairs could be smaller if he's just going to sleep in it. Many people on this board can suggest a great crate to use. I personally have a black Lifestages crate with a pull-out tray on the bottom. Don't buy something with just wire on the bottom as that is uncomfortable to lay on.

Just my opinion. I'm sure you'll get lots of others! Good luck!

well for the collars i took them in to the shop when i bought my two to see which collar fitted because i seriously had no idea....i originally wanted 2 buy the small-sized collar but luckily i didnt because that was way too big when they tried it on...in the end they had 2 have cat collars because that was all that fitted! (monty is now 1 year 4 months and still fits into the cat collar! milo out grew it..)

not sure about the other two though

anyway thats great news about the new puppy!!!

Harness: If you can get the Puppia harnesses at a good price, I'd get one in Small, Medium & Large. Beau, our 11 week puppy at 3.3 kilograms (7 lbs) is in a small, while our 8 kilogram (16 lbs) Sonny is in a large. As I anticipate Beau will get to be about 8 kilos too, he is going to need all 3 sizes.

Crates: Get one for travelling in the car and one for inside the house. Everyone has probably gotten sick of hearing me on this by now, but I always say get the biggest you can sensibly fit into the area that you will be using it. One dog has a habit of turning into 2 and then you are happy you got the larger size.

Collars: I got the smallest one I could for Beau, but I must admit I haven't put it on him. His little neck just looks so tiny, I haven't the heart.

Geordie's and India's breeder gave us a puppy collar and leash for each puppy when we picked them up. I thought that was nice, since we bought the wrong size collar for India as she was our first. (We never leave collars on our dogs at home, though) I would ask the breeder what size collar to get, and maybe she'll tell you she includes one!!

As far as a crate, I would buy 36" long, 24" wide, 27" high black wire Life Stages crate for in the house. Your cavalier will be able to stretch out and sleep comfortably in it when she is full grown. It has a plastic tray in the bottom for easy clean up and comfort, plus a divider to make the crate area smaller for a puppy. It is also perfect for if your cav needs confinement after surgery in the future.

Then buy a plastic travel crate for the car. :flwr:

Collar: even an extra small may be too big for a puppy. They are SMALL. Most shops sell little puppy collars or a cat collar will work and also has the extra safety aspect of breaking apart if it gets caught on anything (obviously you don't use such a collar for walking the dog!).

Puppia: a small will be small enough, maybe even still too large on a young puppy, believe it or not! The jacket harnesses run smaller; a small would def. fit a puppy and they are far more secure on a pup than the mesh Puppias; just another thought. I LOVE my jacket Puppia and am going to get them for all three dogs. Especially good for dogs who don't like having the harness pull off over their heads.

Crates: I always used a hard plastic crate; never used wire though I have one now. Don't use a soft crate as a puppy will likely gnaw right thru one and that is an expensive loss! It is useful to have a dog crate trained to both kinds of crates -- mine are used to being transported in plastic and will sleep at night in wire crates when boarding (of course they take over the bed, normally. :roll: If you get a wire crate for grown dog size you will need to block off part of it with cardboard boxes for example to limit the pup's space (same for hard plastic).

Collar: Nylon adjustable 10-14" fit her at shortest setting when she came home at 8wks. I have adjusted it probably 5x already. Now at 14 wks I have about an 1" left to let out. The smaller puppy nylon/cat type (8"-10") I also had - um it fit maybe 5 days and Kodee was on the small size when I got her 4.5 lbs!

Crate: Metal as they get more air circulation for longer stays. Good Size for life 24"x30", but I have the 18"x24" as it what fit my space - it will be ok for an adult average cav - but I prefer the larger size I couldnt fit. Plastic for for car. I got Petsmate Intermediate - ok but if you car holds it, go up to large (the one recommended for boxer, cocker spaniel)

Puppia: Small definately. Kodee is 14 wks about 8 lbs and it is snug going over head but body has loads to go. At 10wks she could step a leg through but the x-small she would have outgrown by 14 wks! And a med would still be too big on her to use in another month at 5 mths.

You know, Julie, as far as a collar is concerned, I'd wait until you are closer to your pick up date (a few days out) and call your breeder and ask to have his or her neck measured. It seems to me that Cavs (and probably all dogs) can vary a lot depending on how quickly they are growing at any given time, and even going by what fit someone else's dog at a particular age/weight doesn't mean for sure it will fit yours.

We have wire crates in the house (24" upstairs for sleeping, 30" downstairs for daytime use...yes, one of these days when they're more mature our dogs will probably migrate to the bed! They want to now but I don't entirely trust them to stay put during the night if we need to get up for some reason). And we transport in the hard plastic type of crate -- medium "Furrarri" that's 27 x 20 x 19...the other name that's on it in much smaller letters if "Dogloo."

We bought all of our various crates at PetCo because it is most convenient for us. They sell Precision wire crates (there are a number of different models--you can Google it ahead of time) and we think they are good--they have the plastic trays in the bottom and come with dividers for while a puppy is very small. Then you can find the appropriate sized fleece bed to go inside (with the rolled edge--they're so easy to keep clean). I'm sure that the other chain pet supply places sell comparably good crates of different brands.

Just FYI, the adjustable nylon collars are best for puppies, but now that my guys are pretty much fully grown, they both wear a 14" rolled leather collar that is slim enough that it disappears under their fur and doesn't damage it in any way. (I prefer to leave their collars on most of the time, just in case--heaven forbid--one ever manages to escape out the front door. I like them to always have their ID info on, even though they are microchipped.) Some days I just leave their Puppia harnesses on them most of the day too. (They get walked on a leash several times a day.) I'm going to look into the new Puppia jacket harnesses that have been mentioned!

I used cat collars for both of mine the first couple of months because their necks were sooo small.

I have two wire crates in my family room they sleep in at night. I have the black wire powder coated in a size 18x24. They are just the right size. Both dogs can stand and move and when laying down they still have room





I was so glad I had crate trained, on the advise of my brother and his experiences with his two goldens, when Shelby had her knee surgery and
had to be confined.

Ruby was 3 lb. 6 oz. when we got her at 8 wks. I used a 10-14" collar with it as tight as it would go, and it was just a little big. I also got a small puppia, but of course it was huge at first. She is now 12 wks. old and is around 4 lb. 9 oz. (as of last week), and I've had to adjust her collar twice and adjust the puppia just a little to fit better around her middle. She still sometimes hangs her paw in the puppia, which is much better than before because she would get it so twisted. I bought her a Lifestages 1624 DD crate that has a partition that can be moved as your puppy grows. She likes it, but I've now had to place a blanket over it to provide more seclusion for her. I wouldn't mind getting a hard crate just because the sides are enclosed more, but I like the ventilation the wire crate gives. Right now, we actually move that crate from the living room in the day to the bedroom at night. It's not that heavy, and I can easily move it myself. Plus, it folds down for easy transport when traveling. We use a seatbelt harness right now for Ruby with a little bed on the seat, but she tries to get out too much and has twisted the nylon around her leg a few times. I think that a travel crate is really just the easiest because you know they're safe. Good luck with all of your decisions!!

Cathy Moon said:

As far as a crate, I would buy 36" long, 24" wide, 27" high black wire Life Stages crate for in the house. Your cavalier will be able to stretch out and sleep comfortably in it when she is full grown. It has a plastic tray in the bottom for easy clean up and comfort, plus a divider to make the crate area smaller for a puppy. It is also perfect for if your cav needs confinement after surgery in the future.

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Perfect! I was looking at this very one!


Karlin: Thanks for the puppia info. I haven't seen the jacket Puppias ... I will be definitely checking them out. That was the main concern I had with the sm. Pupppia ... it looked hard to pull over the head. I can't IMAGINE it being too BIG for our pup! AAhhh!!! How do they react to a puppia being shoved over their little head?

Kodee: Great point about the metal crate. More breathable.

Mom of 2 Cavies: I agree - each pup seems to be such a dramatically diffferent size, not to mention adults! I will check out the PetCo crates.

Cathy: Oooh, how sweet. Cat collar!! They must have been so miniature! Thanks for including the pic ... exactly what I needed for a baseline. I can't believe they haven't wormed their way into your bed yet! :lol:

nursejess: I love anything Ruby. She is one of my favorites, btw. Thanks for the Lifestages crate info. I'm looking into it right now, as well as the seatbelt harness.

Hi Julie,

I'm sorry I am a little late with this response. My little boy came home a little over a week ago (at 10 weeks old) so hopefully my recent experience will be of use to you. And FYI: he currently weighs 5 lbs. 8 oz.

Harness - I got Charlie a small puppia and it fits him fairly well and he is finally used to wearing it. I also ordered a medium from ebay that he will grow in to.

Collar - He hates his collar and we have him wear it a few hours a day to get used to it. We got a small collar at Petsmart and it is adjusted about as small as it will go.

Crates

Wire - We were lucky enough to get a hand me down wire crate from my parents that we keep in the kitchen. We have never closed him in that crate, we just have a baby gate on the kitchen door and he is contained in the kitchen when we are out for short periods or can't supervise him. He seems to really like it and right away starting using it as a den to hide his toys and sleep.

Plastic - We have a hard plastic crate with a handle on top that we use in the car. He loves it! We also carry it into our bedroom at night and he sleeps in it on a bench next to our bed. We have never heard a peep out of him at night and he has never soiled the crate. It has been a godsend and I can't recommend it enough.

Dog/Baby Gate - This is where we ran into trouble. I did a lot of research and made sure to get a metal gate with vertical bars. I was afraid if I got anything made out of mesh or horizontal that he would try to climb over it. Well the joke was on me because the second day he stuck his head through one of the bars and walked right on through. Luckily we were eating dinner in the dining room and noticed him right away. So for now we have some ugly cardboard taped over the bars to prevent that from happening again. I think he only did it because he knew we were home and wanted to be with us. If he thinks we aren't at home he quites right down and goes to sleep in his crate.

One more FYI, of his many, many toys his favorite is a small twisted piece of rope with the frayed ends on both sides. He entertains himself for hours with that one.

Hope this helps.

Well the joke was on me because the second day he stuck his head through one of the bars and walked right on through

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:lol: :lol:

It has been so long since Wallis was a puppy. I had no knowledge of Puppias at that time, but I did have her crate trained. Unfortunately someone in my family decided while I was out of town that it was "cruel" to keep them in a crate when we are gone (I think just the opposite) and my shihtzu has been in a playpen but never a crate. Wallis, however, still goes to her wire crate. It's her safe haven where no one bothers her. It has a wire bottom and a pull out tray, but someone in my family (there are only 2 of us) used a down-filled throw that I had bought for myself and put it in the crate for her.

She had a rolled leather collar before we moved to FL and I really like those. I don't think that Tibby or Sasha has ever had on a collar.

I'm looking for puppias for the younger dogs, although I've been kicked off of eBay (someone - not my husband - hacked into our account and it was/is a mess to deal with).

Good luck and have fun!

Lenee said:

stuck his head through one of the bars and walked right on through. Luckily we were eating dinner in the dining room and noticed him right away.

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I bet we have the same gate - with a people door and pet door? Yup Kodee did that too! Except I got in the shower for the first time leaving her alone. I kept leaning over the upstairs rail but heard nothing. When I did come down about an hr later she was having a riot running around the whole downstairs. Thank goodness she didnt decide to try and climb the stairs to find me!! Kodee is now 14 wks and you'll be happy to know she doent fit through anymore!

My Toby came with a "Show Collar" it is fabric on the bottom and has a tiny chain on the top. It fit him for months. And I have no idea where to get them because I have never seen one at Petsmart or Petco. I only removed it when he was about a year old because it seemed that the chain part seemed to migrate to under his neck and it would get somewhat tangled in his fur.

I believe in crate training 100%, BUT although Toby had been crate trained and spent the night in a crate at his breeders, when I brought him home and put him in my crate, he screamed at the top of his lungs for hours and I couldn't stand it. I tried it for maybe 3 days, and I gave up. I never intended for him to sleep in the crate, but wanted him to get the whole den feeling. There was never any doubt that he would sleep on my bed.

I don't want to insult or cause conflict with anyone, but for me, keeping your dog in a crate at night, and crated most of the day is, to me, the same as keeping some old mongrel out in the backyard. I have my dog buddies because I love them and having them in my lap and in my bed is the best thing.

I did try using my traveling crate for Toby in the car, and he screached like a banchee, so I let him ride in the backseat. I am not happy with this, but since my car is so big that it would take a Simi-Truck or a Hummer to cause serious damage, I am accepting it as a temporary situation.

Debbie,

Yes, we do have the same gate. The one with the little door at the bottom for cats. I was so proud of myself for finding what I thought was a foolproof gate (and not cheap, either!). I'm glad Kodee can no longer fit through the bars. Charlie is 12 weeks so hopefully a few more weeks and I'm in the clear.