Is my crate too wide?

[mikethebook]

Hey guys! So initially I thought crate training Cinder (8wk spoo) was going okay, but he had an accident in his crate for the first time today. It's possible that I left him in there too long - I put him in there for less than an hour while I was making dinner, but he might have been overexcited by his vet visit this afternoon - but I was wondering if it could also be that his crate space is too big?

I have two pictures of him in his crate here and here. I already moved the divider down one slot after finding his accident, but if he scrunches against the side there's still quite a bit of room left, which is where he peed before (already changed bedding). If he lays down horizontally on his side though, he fits the crate almost perfectly. Is the problem the crate being too wide, since it leaves him just enough room to potty and avoid the mess if he scrunches up, or was I just too unobservant? If it is too wide, do you guys have any ideas on what I could do to reduce the space?

 

[manoah]

@mikethebook Yes that looks too wide to me. There's room to go potty on one side and sleep on the other.

I have a 48 inch crate for my rottweiler puppy and I found the proportions with a divider so difficult to work with. The first few weeks I had to make it SO TINY it looked ridiculous. It was so small that it forced him to sleep length ways, because that was the only way to make it small enough... If that makes sense. He could still turn around but barely. I probably had the divider at half of what yours is now.

I'd move the divider forward so it forces your puppy to lay the other way. It won't affect comfort, it'll just force him to lay in a different direction. Your puppy should only have room to turn around in a tight circle.

 

[manoah]

Here's a photo of my puppy in his crate when he was around 8 or 9 weeks:

https://imgur.com/61JN7ZL

It's not the clearest picture but you can kind of see how he really cannot lay the other way. I mean... he could (and I'm pretty sure he did lol) but he'd be all crumpled up in a tight ball. He wouldn't be more stretched out like your puppy is.

 

[navyservant53]

@mikethebook I put tons of toys in my puppy crate and he seems happy with it and we have no accidents inside the crate.

 

[mikethebook]

Thanks for your help, everyone! I put in a large weighed down cardboard box and halved the width of the crate. He barked after his nap this morning to be let out to pee, so hopefully it's working!