Monday, January 21, 2008

What size crate for a Border Collie?

Performing my weekly check of how people found this blog last week tells me that most people found it, asking the question: what size crate for border collie, in Google.

Again, in the interests of rewarding such questions, I'll do my best to answer.

We have a 42 inch crate for Ellie, and it's too big, by far. Bear in mind that dogs are usually larger than bitches, but I would safely suggest that the absolute maximum size crate you will need is a 36 inch, and you might even get away with a 30 inch for many Border Collies. It's not an exact science, as individual dogs vary within any given breed. Just don't spend extra money on a forty-two inch - it's way too big!

7 comments:

Kara, Yoshi, and Foxy said...

Are you sure the 36" crate will be sufficient for sleeping through the night?? My 17" tall Sheltie has a 36" crate and was thinking about buying the 42" crate for my 17 week old BC Foxy. Just wanted to hear some opinions before I spent the wad of cash!

The Dog Man said...

Absolutely, yes. I can promise you, the 42" crate is way too big.

But if I'm wrong, I'll even swap you your 36" for our 42"! :)

Remember, the dog needs to feel secure in there. If it's too large, that feeling is lost as they can't really snuggle in.

It's true that Ellie is quite a small BC, but she's not THAT small. :)

The Dog Man said...

Just to be sure, I asked a Border Collie owning colleague the same question today. His response was:

That would depend on the size of the border collie, mine is pretty small. Some males are a lot bigger.

I use a 32 for my border collie and a 36 for my husky. I use the brand Vari Kennels.

They pretty much only need enough room to get in, turn around and lie down.

Hope that helps.

Kara, Yoshi, and Foxy said...

yeah, we opted to get a 36" crate for my Sheltie as there was many a time that he would lie flat out and his head would be pressed up into the crates sides. I guess it depends on how she sleeps as well. Right now she is in I believe a 30" thats a little taller than normal. I am trying to wait and see how big of a crate she is going to need depending on how big she is. Last week at 17 weeks she weighed 18.1 lbs. Since she is my first Border..I dont know if that is "big" or "smaller"

The Dog Man said...

At around 16 weeks, Ellie weighed in at 18.74 lbs. She's quite small for a Border Collie, but then the bitches frequently are.

London said...

From your previous discussions I see you metion the word crate. Do bcs specifically prefer crates to kennels or can kennel be substituted?

The Dog Man said...

@ london. I really don't think it matters. Crates allow the dog to be able to see its surrounding more.

That said, I know of some Border Collies that sleep very happily in barrels on a farm.