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Wire Crate

Got a new, young, furry love in your life? This is the place for you to ask all of your questions-big or small! Just remember that you are receiving advice from other dog owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a vet or behaviorist! Most important is to remember to have fun with your new fur baby.

  
Ripley

1240817		 
 
Barked: Wed May 9, '12 6:07pm PST 
I'm getting somewhat concerned about the safety of using a wire crate with my puppy.

Since Ripley outgrew her original plastic crate my boyfriend and I opted to get her a large wire crate with the puppy partition. It seemed like a perfect idea except...

The next day she had her teeth (jaw) stuck in bars on the side. And several times in the past few days she has gotten her toes caught 2x exiting and 1 time entering the crate. I feel so bad for her. These accidents shouldn't even be happening.

I thought about it after and realized I've never used wire crates for puppies before. I had always had plastic kennels until they were adults.

So now I'm trying to figure how I can prevent it from happening again. If anyone had ideas.. I'd really appreciate hearing them.
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Ringo

Rapid Fire!		 
 
Barked: Wed May 9, '12 9:56pm PST 
So sorry to hear your pup is having some not-so-pleasurable experiences in this new crate!

I've never even thought about the toes getting caught, but I see dogs at the kennels I've worked in get their jaws temporarily stuck quite often. We generally end up trying to discourage the biting by spraying bitter apple so that they don't want to try it again. Usually works, for the adult dogs. My puppy hasn't tried this, but he will pull the clip-on bowl off of the crate door and onto the crate floor in being destructive... I usually just try and make sure he is always occupied with a bully stick or something? Haven't seen him try in a while now...

For the toes getting caught, maybe try a liner on the inside of the crate temporarily? It's also risky because if not secured right, the puppy could pull it in and chew on a piece of the liner. One thing I do do is put a relatively big bed or towel down so that the edges are covered at least, so the crate tray endues aren't exposed, leaving a gap.

Hope this helps a little..best of luck!
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Ripley

1240817		 
 
Barked: Thu May 10, '12 2:51pm PST 
Thanks for your reply Ringo.

She hasn't chewed on the bars since she got caught on them.
She was getting her toes caught on the cage opening that the crate tray slides through. Today I wrapped Gorilla Tape all over the bars for the tray opening. I don't think it's possible for it to happen again while it's all taped up like that. lolsnoopy
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