We have a mini schnauzer puppy, about 14 weeks old. Right now he is in a metal bar dog crate designed for toy dogs. He is only in it at night when he sleeps, or when he is in a moving vehicle. i'm guessing he will outgrow it in a couple of weeks. So, I'm looking to buy a bigger crate.We will be wnowbirding this winter, and I want a crate that is light weight. I am curious if anyone has tried a soft-sided crate with mesh screen windows for their dogs. It would work well in the MH from my point of view, but I wonder how durable they are. Mercury is not a destructive chewer. He has a sweet temperament, and focuses his chewing to his toys and bully sticks. The toys are all undamaged, but he really works over the chewies! he always has toys and chewies in his crate with him.Has anyone had a dog chew through a soft sided crate? Do dogs tend to like them as much as the metal ones? Am I better off biting the bullet and getting a bigger, heavier metal crate? In the motorhome, he would be in it overnight, when we are driving, and when we leave the dogs alone to run errands.

How long have you had him? I've always warned folks that dogs (and cats) are usually on their best behavior for the first month in a new home. They tend to follow the "if I'm really good and cute, they'll keep me" logic. Then after a month or two (dogs usually can't hold on to good behavior more than 2 months, cats can go up to about 6 months), they decide you're hooked and start showing their true personalities. Because of this and that he's young, his current behavior is subject to change at any time.You mention "dogs" - are the others in crates also? Or will you be weaning this one off a crate as he grows up? If he will be the only one in a crate, then you should consider the potential for the other dog(s) to mess with the softsided crate (pawing, leaning against so it gets scrunched, etc.).Another consideration is temperature. Softsided crates can retain heat more than a traditional metal crate. Depending on where you go and how you travel, that could be an advantage or disadvantage.The last difference I'd mention is that a softsided crate will have less "openness" than a traditional metal crate. Again, that could be an advantage or disadvantage depending on your situation. Having less openness means that the puppy won't be able to see as much of what's going on around him - will that put him more at ease or create stress (how does he feel if you cover his current crate?).After years of rescue and fostering, I've always used the metal or hard plastic carriers/crates because I know it will be used by more than one animal, so I have to buy for the worst scenario.

We don't use soft sided crates. We have two Westies one figured out to unzip the crate after 5 minutes in it and showed the other one how to unzip his crate. So for us they do not work.

We have a bichon mix, who loves being in a crate. We bought a soft-sided crate to save weight and be easily stowable. She would have nothing to do with it...wouldn't even go in it. YMMV

We have had Mercury about five weeks. He has a very sweet personality. I don't think he will change, we've had him in some kind of stressful situations (7 hour car trip with stops at truck stops for potty breaks; a picnic with about 70 people who all wanted to play with him; and a long RV trip to a weekend of auto racing with the RV parked very close to the track), and he's come through with flying colors. Our other dog is a 13 year-old toy poodle. The puppy is a little too high energy for Oscar, so he generally tries to stay out of the way. Oscar has full run of the house and RV. The puppy probably will too, probably when he's about a year old or so. So i'm expecting the crate will be used daily for about 9 months or so.I honestly don't know how he would feel about the more limited visibility. That is a good point! I'll have to try covering the top of the crate he's in now.Copland, I love the story about the dogs figuring out the zipper!

We had the Samsonite nylon crates for our chihuahua mixes. We put those fake sheepskin pads with the rolled edges in them and our dogs were quite cozy. We first left the crates around the house so they could get used to going in and out at will. They actually had a good amount of visibility and liked that they could see each other. When traveling, we secured the crates with seatbelts on a couch in the rear of the RV. I felt they would be safer in the nylon crates if we were in an accident or panic stop than if they got thrown against the hard inside of a metal crate. Neither dog ever tried to chew their way out. If we left them for a few minutes, we left them inside the crates with our generator running. The black nylon crates do hold heat so we always had AC or generator going in summer, whether driving or parked. Those crates folded up and took minimal space in the RV when we were not using them. We donated them when Poquita and Rosie went to the Rainbow Bridge.

Soft sided pet carriers | Good Sam Community

Oaklevel
Explorer
Sep 30, 2015
Depends on the dog. We have had several crates with 4 dogs currently. So far the canvas soft crate has worked great for our older mix. The wire & hard plastic and soft side crates have worked for the Boxers. The only crate we have had issues with was a wire crate that one of our previous Boxers could get out of on a daily basis, it took us a long time to figure out what she was doing to get out.
Happytraveler
Explorer
Sep 30, 2015
We have two soft crates and our dogs love them, but they love being in their crates. They are in the crates before my husband can set up the crates. All dogs are different.
cheteckie
Explorer
Sep 29, 2015
Thank you to everyone for your input! We did decide to go with a soft sided crate.

I think the zippers and screens will last as long as we need them to. He has learned to sit on his squeaky toy when he wants out of his crate. This toy has to be the most obnoxious squeaky toy ever created, so he usually gets out immediately after that first squeak! In the house, we do have a plastic dog pen for him when we leave for extended times. I think it will fit in MoHo if the slides are out, so we will probably use that when we expect to be gone for long periods of time.

Thanks for the info about heat buildup inside the crates, we will be careful with temps!
raindove
Explorer
Sep 28, 2015
I have a pair of the soft side crates with the mesh door and windows. I bought them for the RV, figuring they would easily fold up and be out of the way and less weight. The first time we used them, it was spring and cool. We left early in the morning and stopped along the way for breakfast. It was cool enough outside that we did not have the a/c running. We were only in the restaurant about 25 minutes. The inside of those soft crates were like a sauna. I never used them again -- worried about the dogs overheating in them. If they got that warm when it was really cool outside, I wouldn't ever use them in the summer or mid-day heat.

I went back to the open wire crates - plenty of ventilation in those.
xteacher
Explorer
Sep 28, 2015
copeland343 wrote:
We don't use soft sided crates. We have two Westies one figured out to unzip the crate after 5 minutes in it and showed the other one how to unzip his crate. So for us they do not work.

Our westie mix, Maddie, can also unzip a soft-sided crate. Ours has two zippers, like a sleeping bag has, so we used a twist tie to tie the zipper ends together. She simply pawed a hole in the screen... We went back to a wire crate.
Scottiemom
Nomad
Sep 27, 2015
We had two Scotties who loved their crates in our home. When we hit the road we didn't have room for crates. The one dog adjusted fine but we had one Scottie with disabilities and he liked the security of a crate. We bought him a softsided one. He loved it. We often kept the top open. He couldn't get out of it but he would stick his head up through it when he woke up. Neal was a sweetie.

Dale
Winged_One
Explorer
Sep 27, 2015
We have a 2 year old Great Pyrenees that is crated in one of these when in our trailer.

Chateau

I know it now says unavailable, but if it is available elsewhere, we have found it to be excellent.

Unzips to a thin, easy to carry item. It slides behind our couch when zipped up and not in use.

BUT, if you have a chewer, they will chew through it. Our girl is not a problem.
CA_POPPY
Explorer
Sep 27, 2015
We had the Samsonite nylon crates for our chihuahua mixes. We put those fake sheepskin pads with the rolled edges in them and our dogs were quite cozy. We first left the crates around the house so they could get used to going in and out at will. They actually had a good amount of visibility and liked that they could see each other. When traveling, we secured the crates with seatbelts on a couch in the rear of the RV. I felt they would be safer in the nylon crates if we were in an accident or panic stop than if they got thrown against the hard inside of a metal crate. Neither dog ever tried to chew their way out. If we left them for a few minutes, we left them inside the crates with our generator running. The black nylon crates do hold heat so we always had AC or generator going in summer, whether driving or parked. Those crates folded up and took minimal space in the RV when we were not using them. We donated them when Poquita and Rosie went to the Rainbow Bridge.
cheteckie
Explorer
Sep 27, 2015
We have had Mercury about five weeks. He has a very sweet personality. I don't think he will change, we've had him in some kind of stressful situations (7 hour car trip with stops at truck stops for potty breaks; a picnic with about 70 people who all wanted to play with him; and a long RV trip to a weekend of auto racing with the RV parked very close to the track), and he's come through with flying colors.

Our other dog is a 13 year-old toy poodle. The puppy is a little too high energy for Oscar, so he generally tries to stay out of the way. Oscar has full run of the house and RV. The puppy probably will too, probably when he's about a year old or so. So i'm expecting the crate will be used daily for about 9 months or so.

I honestly don't know how he would feel about the more limited visibility. That is a good point! I'll have to try covering the top of the crate he's in now.

Copland, I love the story about the dogs figuring out the zipper!
punomatic
Explorer
Sep 27, 2015
We have a bichon mix, who loves being in a crate. We bought a soft-sided crate to save weight and be easily stowable. She would have nothing to do with it...wouldn't even go in it. YMMV