How many crates in a mini-van

[Pippin's person]

We are considering buying a mini-van to transport our dogs. For those of you who drive them, how many border collie-sized crates can fit in a mini-van (say a Honda Odyssey)? We would ultimately like to be able to transport five dogs if possible

 

Thanks a lot

[bobh]

I now transport 4 dogs in 3 plastic 36 inch crates .If you take out all the back seats or store them in the floor than you could get 4 36 inch crats in the van My 2 Bcs Go in 1 crate one 33#sthe other about 40#s Than the Bitchy aussie travels alone and my lab all so has a seperate crate , If you use 36 inch crates on the side doors you may need to get crates with side doors as well.

bobh

[Kat's Dogs]

Would you go double-decker?

 

Our mini-van has the stow-and-go seats. Very handy. If I put one crate on each side (with the crate doors facing the side doors) and then two crates facing the trunk that is only 4. However, if you had crates that you could (safely) stack and the dogs would still be happy you could fit another 4 crates! Or you could just let one dog get the front seat.

 

I don't think that with a single layer you could get 5 Border collie crates to fit. You would have to double crate a dog, or add another layer.

[MaggieDog]

Hmm I don't have direct experience w/ minivan crating of multiple dogs, but just thought I'd chime in. Maggie is 33lbs and comfy in a 30" crate, even on long car rides (10 hours w/ breaks just 10 days ago), so depending on how big you dogs are you might be able to get 5 crates on one level.

 

Many agility people stack crates, so I bet they'd have some great suggestions for securing a second layer.

[MrSnappy]

I have a Pontiac Montana, extended version, and I regularly have 6 dogs in it, provided all two rows of rear seats are out. I can still put 6 crates in without doing that, but I double stack. If both back rows of seats are out and I double stack I can fit about 9 crates in there comfortably. Most of the crates are 350s or bigger.

 

RDM

[border_collie_crazy]

depends on how good you are at arranging lol when we traveled to flyball tournys the dogs were all packed into my van(it has AC) and the people in another. we were able to fit about 8 dog crates, 4 medium crates along the side(stacked) and 2 large crates facing the back gate, with a little crate on top of each large crate. however my van has a squared design, and not nearly as many crates will fit into the newer rounded vans.

[Pippin's person]

We are definitely willing to double stack--just haven't been sure if the vans are tall enough to do so. It's crazy--we bought a new car last year to fit dog #3 and then six months later, added #4 and started herding. We finally decided to buy the van to fit all four of them, and lo and behold, we came home from a trial this week-end with a 7 mos. old pup ready to start on sheep, so now we need to try and fit five of them.

 

I agree border-collie-crazy, it's too bad most of the vans these days are rounded rather than square.

 

The crates we use now in our Subaru Outback are 30" and are plenty roomy for our bigger guys. the smallest BC rides in a 24", but she always looks a little put out.

 

These responses make me hopeful it can work--I know we'll only know once we measure the inside, but it's nice to hear others' experiences.

[juliepoudrier]

I have a firend with an old Dodge Caravan (somewhat rounded) and I think she fits 6 crates in it. At least two of those are large crates, and one is an odd-shaped one (longer than the average crate, but not as wide).

 

I drive a GMC Safari, which is a mid-size van. The *only* reason I got that van (and it's predecessor and lookalike, the Chevy Astro) is because it is square and has enough interior height that I can stack two intermediate Vari-kennels. Right now I have 7 intermediate Vari-kennels in there and could fit a few medium or small kennels in addition to that if I had to. For example, when Lark was real little, I would just put her medium crate in front of the intermediate crates, since I was using it in the house and van and could easily lift it in and out if I needed to get to one of the other dogs. I've never measured it, but I imagine I could fit three large crates with three medium crates stacked on top too, if you had small and large dogs.

 

As far as securing them, when stacked, they come within a few inches of the ceiling, and so are unlikely to tip. I use the rubber bungee cords to secure the top crate to the bottom crate (two cords per side, in a X configuration). Since the crates are stacked side-by-side, they don't shift front to back (of the van). I think cargo straps around each set of two stacked crates would add even more stability, since a dog jumping into the last top crate (toward the back), which doesn't have a crate on both sides of it, can cause that crate to shift sideways a bit because of the give in the bungee cords.

 

At any rate, I've been traveling with this set up for a few years now, and have put many, many miles on my van going to trials, etc., and have never had any problems with the crates tipping or sliding.

 

J.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

We were able to fit six to eight crates in our old Dodge Caravan, depending on whether I had to use the middle seat for my baby. We stacked and had a couple odd-sized crates, and I put my dogs in medium to medium-large crates rather than the huge ones - a leftover from rescue days when I found that nervous dogs took to a cozier space faster than echoing big crates they could rattle around in. Plus I could fit more dogs off death row if my van took more crates.

 

I have a suburban now and I miss having all the room the van affords. But I like not getting stuck in the field on muddy days! I'd trade the suburban for a pickup like the one I wrecked, however - I could fit six crates across the back window under the camper top and still have room for other stuff. The fiberglass camper provided shade and privacy when I left the windows open on hot days. I rarely tote six dogs around at once anymore, so I'd be happy now with a pickup with a three hole dog box.