Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Puppy Condo - successful evolution

Bad picture of Kong crate
We thought we were prepared, at least for awhile, when we brought The Pup home, with a safe place for her to be when unsupervised - at night, when running errands, etc.

The first try was an exercise pen 24" high and big enough for the crate, food and water dishes, and walking around. Two mornings later Wally found her creeping around on the floor outside the pen. Maybe she climbed up on her crate and jumped out, we guessed. After all, this pup was only 11" at the shoulder and a baby. So next night the crate was placed in the middle of the pen. Next morning we got to see her balancing on the top wires, seconds from jumping out. A smooth 6" baffle around the top didn't help the next night.

Homemade door adapter
Maggie got her puppy condo the next day. A two-door 43"x 29"x 30" wire Kong crate with an attached "apartment." It's a slick design; the doors slide up in channels and rest on top, out of the way, and there is a safety stop to keep them from coming down accidentally. The removable bottom tray allows quick cleanup.

To create the condo we used bungee cords to fit a portable crate against the Kong crate on the narrow side with the door up. A homemade plywood "adapter" covers a gap on the sides of the portable. The top of the adapter neatly fits under the flange of the door bottom. The setup works really well. The other door (nice and wide) allows access for the pup; the portable crate and adapter can be removed in seconds. It was a little pricey but we have peace of mind at last - a fair bargain! A final bonus is the Kong crate will be Maggie's grown-up home.

We also replaced the food bowls we thought would last a month with heavy crockery. She still knocks her bowl over when it's empty but at 2 pounds she can't run around with it and bang it around - yet.  We gave away the ridiculous little soft sided playpen too. I had visions of a sweet little creature in there sleeping most of the day. What was I thinking???

The mystery pup has more than doubled in weight from about 5 to 12 pounds and her coloring has changed a little. Next post, are there clues for the future?



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