what size dog crate?

[SkunkOnTheFly]

hey everyone what size dog crate does a border collie need? im going to get one of the plastic ones. my dogs are in a large but theyre 65 pounds...

[CptJack]

Border Collie sizes vary enormously. There are 25lb BCs, and 60lb ones. Makes that guess a little hard. Probably best buying the big one or planning on having a big one as an adult dog if it's a consideration. That way you don't get stuck having to buy 2 (or 3 or more) if you end up with one of the heavy (or tall) ones.

[Gideon's girl]

My BCs are in GSD sized crates. They often lie sideways across the back, but when they really want to stretch out they can.

[SkunkOnTheFly]

ok i will probably just go with a big one then.

[Gloria Atwater]

It would totally depend on the border collie. My 31 pound girl fits in a 32 inch long airline crate with room left over. My 48 pound boy is not comfortable in anything less than 36 inches long.

When it comes to sleeping quarters at home, I figure too big is better than too small.

~ Gloria

[Alchemist]

I'd say it depends on whether you're looking for a crate for them to sleep in at home - vs a crate for transporting in a vehicle. At home I err on the side of too large. In a vehicle I'd err on the side of "snug". Less chance of them getting injured by being thrown around in the crate in case of a collision.

 

My Border collies vary in size from 31 lb to 43 lb. The 43-lb (male) dog has a 50-odd pound (male) littermate. My dog and his littermates were all about the same size as puppies, but grew at different rates. Hard to anticipate how large any particular pup is going to grow, even knowing how large the parents are. If you want a solid-sided crate (as opposed to a wire crate, with an adjustable divider), consider buying some in intermediate sizes, used, from Craigslist. Otherwise you may find that an over-large hard-sided crate is useless for housebreaking purposes.

[SkunkOnTheFly]

we dont crate our dogs unless we are gone from the house (Which is very, very rare unless it's for errands like food shopping or puppy potty training)

[Gideon's girl]

In BCs, which are a bit prone to neuroses and OCD, that is an invitation to separation anxiety.

[Root Beer]

I'd go bigger, if possible. You can always use a divider if you want a smaller area. The ginormous crate I got for Bandit came with a divider. He loves a HUGE crate, so I don't divide it. Dean, on the other hand, loves to squash himself into the Beagle sized crate that was Bandit's puppy crate!! That's in the car, though, so he isn't in it for long periods of time.

[chene]

To solve this problem I just bought a small cheap plastic crate off of craigslist or somesuch for 10$ or so. That would have lasted him a month or two, so by the time he grew out of it I had a pretty good idea of the range of size he'd end up in. That said, we switched him to a big crate earlier than we intended and he preferred that, but I imagine it's an individual's preference.