Dear members, Hope someone can help me with some advice about the car crates because honestly i do not have a clue how big a car crate should be when compared to a normal crate. My guess is that the car crate should not be too big (for the same reason why they did not put armchairs for the passangers in the car) but neither should the crate be too small. Now i made a purchase of a crate from 4pets/g-line Eagle M. the size of the crate is h/69 cm w/68cm d/84cm . The website says that's ideal for Labradors. I assambled it yesterday and placed Rocky (my dog) inside and i am not sure what to say. I attached a photo. http://imgur.com/a/OkZtV As you can see if the dog is normally down he does not fully fit in unless he curls a little. Rocky is now 1 year old so i do not expect him to grow too much anymore. What do you think? Is this the Eagle M good size for a Labrador? Thanks in advance!
Oh Rocky! You look so glum in your lovely new crate ... Hi George and welcome to the Forum.I don't use a car crate for my dog ,where we live isnt very dog friendly so he does t travel a lot ...if we are doing a journey he's in a harness on the back seat.So,I can't answer your questions but I would say I wouldn't like my dog to not be able to lie down flat...I wouldn't like him not to be able to stretch out comfortably. .I googled a couple of companies to see if there was any instructions for measuring or the recommended criteria but they all seem to request you contact them directly.I know there are members on here that use car crates so I'm sure someone will be able to help you more than me Bfn Angela
@ Dexter, thanks a lot for your fast answer. Hope the forum moderator will not mind about the link. maybe you can use a google translator on this one (https://www.autobench.nl/auto/volvo/xc60-2008--heden/). As you can see the larger crates are not much bigger and they are recommended for larger dogs.
I've just bought a crash tested crate for my lab (£££ ) and he's certainly got enough room to lie down comfortably. Obviously it depends on the size of the car you're putting it into. I'll check the dimensions of mine and give you the sizes.
@SteffiS that would be great! attaching another link with a picture with the door closed (hope this will give a bit more of an ideea of how the dog sits inside). http://imgur.com/a/OkZtV
Sizes are H 69cm D 86cm W 86cm. I haven't got a picture of him in it but I'll try and take one when we go out later.
Thanks @SteffiS for the measurements. Your crate is just 2cm deeper than what i have but indeed it is a bit wider so maybe your dog can curl a bit better inside indeed. Anyway i had a chat with the sales person from where i purchased the crate and i sent him the two pictures i showed also on this forum. After seeing the picture with the door of the crate closed he said : "Thanks for the picture! The cage is a great fit for your Labrador. The cage isn’t too small. When you get a bigger cage, there is a possibility that your dog will get hurt when you for example suddenly have to hit the brake and your dog will hit the back of the cage. " So i am really not sure what to do. I will try to fit the crate again in the car and aproximate another 10cm longer and see maybe i will change the crate for a Large size instead of Medium (94cm long instead of current 84cm )). On the other hand i checked some pictures on the web and i see most of the auto crates have a tight fit for the dogs so maybe the seller is correct after all. http://schempp-handel.de/WebRoot/St...a/MediaGallery/Produktbilder/comfort_bild.jpg https://www.autobench.nl/files/afbeeldingen/10464032_10152631263189954_6170169710394.jpg http://static.wixstatic.com/media/7...11b1.jpg_srz_500_500_75_22_0.5_1.2_75_png_srz
Interestingly none of the pictures there showed the crate shut with the dog inside. If you look through the pictures on this site where I bought my crate, you can see a great deal of variation in crate size and number of dogs - it seems to be more related to the car size rather than dog size. It would be useful to have some comments from other forum members who use car crates.
I think to some extent it depends on how far you're going to be travelling. Smaller is safer, but if your dog is going to be in the crate for extended periods, I'd worry about how his joints would be affected if he was cramped.
@SteffiS indeed i just noticed that after you said it. Some more feedback from other people would be very useful indeed. @snowbunny indeed you are right and that is the main reason i am a bit worried also. I would hate to have Rocky hate that crate or even worst cause some issues with the joints. Just to give some perspective into things, my wife and I are doing a mix of travels. Most of the time we are doing short distances (16-40 km during weekends) but about 2-3 times per year we are driving 1000 - 3000km (one way). When we are going for long distances we are usually taking 30 minute breaks for every 3-4 hours of driving and we are usually not driving more than 1k km per day. But the distance is there.
Aw, Rocky just looks so sad...but even sad he's quite a handsome boy. No crate advice from me as I've always used seatbelts, just wanted to compliment. Rocky.
I'd say that crate is too small to be comfy for a long journey. I agree it's a trade off - the dog is safer in a smaller space, but being cramped up isn't great at all. I've recently been through this decision making process, and decided Charlie needed more space. I don't like him cramped up, he's had two cruciate ops, and he does get stiff if he can't turn round and lie with his legs straight time to time. So switched from a crash tested crate in one car, and installed a (crash tested) gate system and in the other car I switched back to a large crate for him. His crate is 94cm wide, and 1m long. The thing is, he lies in it across the way - with his back lengthways against the back seat. This is probably the safest possible position for him to be in - a crate that is lengthways across the car is much safer than one where the dog is lying lengthways back/front if that makes sense. No matter what the size.
Ok after doing countless measurements i decided to buy a crate that is 94cm long (instead of the 84cm that i currently own). I will sed the 84cm back. Hopefully the new crate will arrive the day after tomorrow. I will then put Rocky into it, make some new photos and give some feedback on this thread. Thanks everyone for the kind feedback so far (even if it was just a welcome message or complimenting Rocky).
I swear he is not a sad dog. I will try to take more happy photos next round (he can smile on command ). In the meantime i posted an older photo of him on my avatar. he was about 2 months there. Few days after we brought him home.
No offense intended in calling him a sad pup, I was just teasing - I know from seeing others' pics here on the forum that Labs seem to be excellent at pulling those pitiful sad faces! Especially when they want food.
Ha I'm getting that face at the moment....someone thinks three minutes after getting up is breakfast time!!! I'm such a cruel mum
Stanley jumps up and puts one paw on the counter and taps me with his other one if he's had to wait 2 seconds for his breakfast
Finally got some pictures of Ripple in his crate, looks like loads of space but when he stretches out properly he goes right across it.
