Hi,
I am in the process of adopting a 7 month old Boston. We plan on crate training him. He is 17 lbs and foster mom doesn't believe he will get any bigger than a lb or 2. I'm looking for suggestions on crate size and style.
I was looking at the Petmate Classis Kennels that looks more like a portable carrier and the basic training dog crate made of wire. I read that the wire crates are better so the dog has visibilty on all sides. Any suggestions?
Pros/cons?
TIA

Hey mac,

First of all, welcome to the forums - glad you dropped by!

For our dogs, we've used both types of crates, so I'll share some of the positives and negatives that we experienced with each.

Carriers, like the one pictured here.

Positives

• Relatively easy to break down. Just unscrew a couple of screws.
• As the name would imply, these are very good for travel with your pup.

Negatives

• For whatever reason, Chloe had accidents all the time when we were keeping her in a Carrier.
• Though they're relatively easy to break down, cleaning can be a PITA due to lots of little nooks and crannies.

Crates, like the one pictured here.

Positives

• More room for your pup
• Again, for whatever reason, Chloe completely stopped having accidents when we made the switch to a Crate. Possibly due to feeling more a part of the house, as opposed to being in her own little den?
• Though we don't ever have to cleanup accidents any more, with a crate, cleanup is a breeze. Just slide out the tray, hose it down, and replace.

Negatives

• Not quite as portable. Breaking a crate down (and then setting it back up) is possible, but it takes a lot more time.

Again, those are just based on our experiences with the two different types. My mom and my sister both keep their dogs (Bichon Frise) in the carrier style and their dogs don't seem to mind much at all.

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Boston Terrier Forums

Hi Bryan,
Thanks for your reply. I'm still up in the air about it. Foster mom said to get whatever suites our livestyle. She thought if we travel a lot to get a portable crate. Most of our travels are short distances so I would think Jack would do okay being loose in the car. I am leaning towards the traditional wire crate. How is it moving from one room to another?

Thanks again!!!

When we travel, we leave our dogs loose in the car too. Where the headaches can come in (if you don't have enough room to store the wire crate in your car fully assembled) is when you have to tear down the wire crate to take it to wherever you're traveling to, then re-assemble it once you get there (and keep track of all of the parts in the meantime).

Moving it from one room to another is no problem at all - it doesn't have the convenient handle that the portable carrier types have built-in, but it's easy enough to move

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Boston Terrier Forums

btw, congrats on your new family addition! You'll have to come back and share some pictures once you get him!

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Boston Terrier Forums

Thank you!!! We pick Jack up on the 21st. Can't wait!!!!
I'll be sure to post a picture of our newest family member!!!!

I decided to use the crate instead of the carrier. I got a great sized one, not too big (so he doesn't pee everywhere) and not too small (so hes not all freaked out!). He does very well in the crate, and I got one that is SUPER easy to break down if I needed. I haven't really had to use it out of the house, but its super easy and made to be collapsed and moved. It comes with a handle too. I got it at Walmart.

Good luck with Jack!

Amber