# crate vs. ex pen



## Fenway's Momma (Dec 6, 2005)

I was wondering what people use when they have to leave their baby home for awhile. is it better to have an exercise pen or to keep them crated? Also has anyone used a baby's pack and play or are they too small? 

thanks,
Renee


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## HappyB (Feb 28, 2005)

> I was wondering what people use when they have to leave their baby home for awhile. is it better to have an exercise pen or to keep them crated? Also has anyone used a baby's pack and play or are they too small?
> 
> thanks,
> Renee[/B]



Unless you already have the pack and play, don't purchase it. Lucy ate through two baby playpens. 

You can purchase a puppy playpen. The neat thing about this is that it has grates on the bottom, a top, and a tray in the bottom. I like to put my pups in this, then put a puppy pad in one end for the training. If they have an accident while I'm gone and it didn't get on the pad, it goes through the holes in the grate and onto the tray underneath. Mine is 2 x 4. I also have some of these I've made with x-pens and grates. They are great for my dogs I'm growing coat on. I have one of my boys in a 2 x 6 one, and I put a pad outside the crate so that when he raises his leg, it goes on the pad, other than the floor.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Kallie & Catcher's Mom posted pictures and directions to make the neatest puppy play pen with closet shelving awhile back, but I can't find it. Hopefully she will see this or you could pm her.

The directions were from Catcher's breeder, I think. You can see pictures here. I just think it's a super idea.

http://alwaysmaltese.com/wizzy.html


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## Brinkley & Neyland's Mom (Jun 14, 2004)

K/C's mom has a great plan for an inexpensive puppy pen. I tried it, but my little Houdini jumped it. He is now in a XL pet crate when we are gone. He cannot escape...ha ha...the crate is now a part of the kitchen furniture...b/c it is the same one we had in there for Brinkley. We carpeted the top and put the cat food bowls up there so the dogs don't eat their food.

Others have had great luck with the x-pen, but we didn't have that much room. With K/C's plan, you can configure it to the size space that you have available.

Good luck!


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

Here are the instructions for the puppy play pen:










Materials Needed: [/B] (All products available at Lowe’s or Home Depot)

*~Wire Coated Shelves *
Two 20” deep, coated wire closet shelves cut to length of your pen
Two 20” deep, coated wire closet shelves cut to the width of your pen

_Depending on the size of your pen, you may be able to buy just a couple shelves and by having them cut in half, you’ll have all the pieces you need. They come in different lengths so you’ll need to purchase the sizes that will allow you to use the shelf with as little left over as possible ._

*~"Flooring" - * The flooring to use has various names such as splash guard, tile board, etc. The people at Lowe’s should know what you’re looking for. This is a rigid board that sort of looks like a piece of paneling that you’d use on your walls… one big flat piece that is about 8’ x 4’. The store will cut it for you to the size you need.

*~Approx. 30 Cable Ties*
*~Tiny Rubber End Caps * - Purchased in the closet shelving department
*~Super Glue* 
*~Scissors*

Put the tile board down where you want the pen to be set up and lay the shelves in the in the configuration you want them. On the end pieces the “lip” should be on the outside and on the long pieces the “lip” should be on the inside. 

_The key reason for this is if the “lips” are all on the inside, the “lips” on the long portion are sort of raised. Because they were raised, Catcher could get to them and started chewing them! So, I redid the pen and now he can’t get his teeth under it enough to chew on it. _

Stand up one end piece and one long piece of the shelving and take the cable ties and use them to “tie” the two pieces together. Space out the ties along the corner… it take about 5 ties. Then go to the other end and do the same. Continue this until all 4 corners and “tied” together with the cables. Be sure and pull the cables as tightly as possible and snip off excess with scissors. 

The ends of the shelves will be “raw” because of being cut. So if you want to cover them up, you can get end caps from the same department where you found the shelves. I knew my guys would try to bite the end caps off so I glued each one with super glue. That was the most time consuming thing of all. 

*Your Pen Is Now Complete! *

*Additional Information:*

It is easy to clean the flooring by just sliding the pen off of it. I use bowls that can be attached to the pen. They are a very hard plastic material and they do not flake like the normal plastic bowls. I got them at PETsMART. 

Even though the pen is just 20” tall, Catcher, now at a year old and 7 pounds, cannot get out. Because there really aren’t any strong horizontal supports for him to stand on, he has never even tried.

If you want to disassemble the pen, get some cutters used for cutting at a vertical angle and snip the cables. I've done it and it is easy to do.

Photo showing cable ties and type of snipper to use to cut the ties if you want to take the pen down.









The corner showing the cable ties and end cap.









Another shot of a corner.









Bowls that are attached to pen (available at PETsMART)









Completed Pen - This pen is 76" long by 34" wide








<div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=61775


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## Brinkley & Neyland's Mom (Jun 14, 2004)

I made my pen like K/C's for less than 40$ with ALL materials except flooring. (it was going on linoleum anyway) Mine was quite small...only 4x2...but enough room for temporary times. I had them cut the shelves there at Home Depot, they did it for free. The biggest thing is making sure that the depth of the shelf is enough. Mine was only 16...which if he jumped the 16" at 12 weeks...by now he could have jumped the 20". 20" was the widest I found, and our Home Depot was out, which is why I went with the 16".

Once all the pieces were bought, I put it together in less than 30 minutes. It would have taken less than that, but I fought with the cable ties trying to figure out the side/direction to turn them so they would lock when tightened.







(lots of cursing during this time...make sure no young ears are around!)









It is a good plan. Inexpensive and easy...able to be built on to...easy to move...


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## Fenway's Momma (Dec 6, 2005)

Perfect! thank you guys so much! I think I'll make the trip to The Depot tonight. 40 bucks is way cheaper then a store bought e pen, a crate or even a pack and play!!


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## NewMom328 (Apr 15, 2005)

Hmm yes, Pack and Play = a total waste of money. Well I didnt have the actual pack and play but a different brand of baby playpen. I bought one for Kylee when I first got her. It was not nearly big enough for a pee pad and her. The pee pad took up most of the room and left her with a very small space. This also meant that any poo or pee ended up on her eventually. If she didnt make it on the pee pad and peed on the matress-y thing, it leaked to the lowest part and leaked under the matress to the nylon bottom and then through the whole in that and onto my rug. I was so aggravated with it. It has been sitting in a closet since 2 days after I got Kylee. I decided to just stick with an exercise pen. I cant even find what to do with the playpen. Its too big to sell on ebay and too old to return it. Oh well...stick with the exercise pens!!


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## gottagettamaltee (Dec 1, 2005)

K/C's Mommy, that pen looks really neat too, it doesnt look "put together" or anything. i think i will make one of those when i end up getting my pup. always good ideas here!


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## Satiné_Rose (Dec 1, 2005)

> Here are the instructions for the puppy play pen:
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That is really neat and a great idea. I would have never thought of that. If there was more room in the house, I would definitely have my friend build one for me. As of right now, I just use a baby play pen.


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## Carole (Nov 1, 2005)

That looks WONDERFUL!!!!

Bella had a really expensive







pvc playpen from Rover pens. Believe me that sucker is being saved for if I ever get a second. LOL It worked out great though because she certainly could not bite through it or climb over it. I bought one on rollers so I could roll her from room to room....with regular flooring instead of the one offered with a grate. Then I also bought a 6 x 6 stationary pen 24" high. I actually think I should have got the 18" high one because I don't think she could have gotten over it and it would not have been so hard to bend over.









http://www.roverpet.com/enclosures.htm 

After I spent all that money I found out about Seabreeze pens from my breeder Angela Stanberry of Divine Maltese. Those pens are awesome. Lightweight, easy portable (fold up like an accordion) to take with you to friends homes, and reasonably priced!









http://seabreezepetitepens.com/Seabreeze_products.html

http://seabreezepetitepens.com/index.html


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

> That looks WONDERFUL!!!!
> 
> Bella had a really expensive
> 
> ...


Oh I love the Rover pen... it's really nice looking. The Seabreeze is very nice but since my pen is in my main living area I would want one that sort of blends in better, like the Rover. It sort of reminds me of the one I built and I believe mine cost about $70 or $80. The thing I like about it is that you can make it any size whatsoever to fit the space. But it can't easily be transported at all. It's pretty much "permanent".


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## Carole (Nov 1, 2005)

I LOVE the pen you made. It is similar to the Rover at a much better price!









I first saw the Rover pens at Veranda Maltese website. http://www.verandamaltese.com/v_puppies.html
I thought the little doors where the fluff-butts could go in and out on their own was really awesome and I loved it that they had such a clean/neat look to them. I emailed Barbara Davis and she was kind enough to give me the URL of Rover so I could look them up. I have to say that my experience in communicating with top show breeders has always been positive. I would have never found Rover Pens without Barbara Davis being kind enough to respond to my email inquiry about them.


The Seabreeze pens were so great when Bella was a small puppy and I wanted to visit friends. I would just fold it up like a suitcase and then quickly set it up and put a pee-pad down...and felt Bella was safe and with me when visiting. Even though she is almost three now....I still use it on rare occassion.

I think it is helpful to throw out these ideas us longer Maltese owners have....to give new owners some ideas and input!!!









~Carole and Divine Bella~


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## Haven (Sep 22, 2005)

<span style="font-family:Georgia">Wow you did a great job with this KCM.








This is probably going to seem like a crazy request but do you mind posting a picture with your babies inside the pen? I just want to see how much room JackCodyZack will have if I decide to make one of these. Thank you. </span>


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

> <span style="font-family:Georgia">Wow you did a great job with this KCM.
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You can make it what ever size you want. I would keep it at least 2 feet wide but the length is up to you.


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## NewMom328 (Apr 15, 2005)

> That looks WONDERFUL!!!!
> 
> Bella had a really expensive
> 
> ...



Do you know what the Seabreeze pens are made of? How are they so light? Is it metal? Thanks, Lori


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## Haven (Sep 22, 2005)

> > index.php?act=findpost&pid=142433
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the height of yours is just a little under 2 feet correct? and you've never had a problem with your guys getting out?


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## izzysmom (Nov 6, 2005)

Hi there,

If you are anything like me (i.e. incompetent at any sort of DIY project







) you might want to check out the gold zinc ex-pens they sell at PetsMart -- they look very nice (the soft gold color "blends" with decor a bit better than plastic or black) and they're very easy to configure (can make it bigger or smaller depending on you and your malt's preferences). They also have a little doggy-door that you can leave open or closed, to allow your puppy access to the pen. I do this b/c i keep his water/food/pee pad in there, and he knows to head over to pee. I close the door when I can't keep an eye on him (avoids housebreaking accidents.)  

Anyway, they are $69 at PetsMart and I've already bought a second one for upstairs.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

> Hi there,
> 
> If you are anything like me (i.e. incompetent at any sort of DIY project
> 
> ...


That is the one I have. I like having the door. The girls go in and out on there own.


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