Metal or wooden crate?

[Bernie]

Yeah, I was thinking about putting the crate in our bedroom too. I'm a light sleeper though so not sure how that will work. Welshies are suppose to be velcro dogs so I can't imagine he's gonna be happy alone downstairs... we'll see. I also can't imagine leaving that cute fuzzy butt alone down stairs. Probably just wanna snuggle with it

IMHO, it should be right next to you, will also help with your other questions on alarm clocks, warm bottles, etc.., he'll settle down better/faster knowing you're there.

[JenC]

Wire or varikennels until the pup is crate trained. No wood or soft crates yet.

[Jeff]

The biggest problem with the wood is clean up. I would just hold off for a while. Accidents in crates and so on. I remember and some may remember one time Hemi was super sick, the day he decided to get into a bucket of dog poop at doggy day care and eat his fill, never touched poop ever again. However, basically all I could do was put him in a crate wait till he puked, move him to another crate, wait until he puked, meanwhile clean the other crate. I could just grab the crate throw it outside hit it with the hose and a bleach spray bottle more hose. You can't do that with wood. Also I remember as a puppy coming home to explosive diarrhea that was everywhere. Again just grab the create and throw it outside and hose it off. Again can't do that with wood. I would honestly just wait until your out of the puppy stage before going with anything wood. Its a great Idea and I like it as it would blend right in with the furniture. However, I think your asking for a lot of hassle in the puppy years. Going to be a lot of poop, pee and probably some vomit in your near future.

[Annette47]

I agree with the others about not having one when they are in the puppy stages. My adult dogs have loved to relax in their crates with the doors open, so for them I might think about it, but they are no longer interested in being destructive.

[annkie]

So metal it is! We'll see how much poop, vomit, and pee I have to deal with before building the table around it.

[Annette47]

So metal it is! We'll see how much poop, vomit, and pee I have to deal with before building the table around it.

Hopefully not much .... we’ve never had too much of that to deal with. Granted someone is home most of the time so they aren’t in their crates for hours on end (and have a dog door, so most diarrhea happens outdoors, but we’ve been very fortunate).

[CraftHer]

Ugh! That's what I fear. I'm wondering if I can get a metal crate and build a table around it...

Mocha's first kennel was metal with a wood frame on the outside. We used it as a side table beside the bed. It worked out well. The one we had wasn't the best built, but it served it's purpose. Mocha is a power chewer but he didn't chew this kennel. The thing to keep in mind if space is tight is the wooden frame uses more room.

[barry581]

I used a 36" crate in the family room for normal use, and I have a 54" crate in the bedroom that came with a partition so I could size it as needed as the dogs grew. By keeping it just big enough for them to easily get up and turn around, kept them from messing in the crate. Bruce had two pee accidents, Brooks had one. In general a dog will not mess where they sleep.

I

[Bernie]

I used a 36" crate in the family room for normal use, and I have a 54" crate in the bedroom that came with a partition so I could size it as needed as the dogs grew. By keeping it just big enough for them to easily get up and turn around, kept them from messing in the crate. Bruce had two pee accidents, Brooks had one. In general a dog will not mess where they sleep.

I

Agreed. I never had any problem with Rocco. Of course I was around to take him out frequently and made a big (good boy) fuss when he went, sure makes housebreaking a lot easier.
Annkie has not said how long she intends to leave pup in crate, and I don't understand what is meant by "a table".