# 2 questions - crate size? and walking distance?



## tinypoodleand2cats (Mar 14, 2009)

Hi everyone! 
Our little toy poodle is now 4 months old. He is almost 7 pounds now and eversince he's 3rd round of vaccines, we have been trying to get out there on walks and even enrolled him in a puppy kindergarten class! 

A few questions arises as he gets older. He is outgrowing the small crate we had for him. It was actually our cat's travel crate (19 inches long, up to 12 pounds). Although our pup is about 7 pounds, it looked a bit cramped for him so we bought him a new one. This one is 23" long and good for animals up to 25 pounds it says. It sounded right to me but when I brought it home, it looks small too, only a bit bigger than the first one we had. My husband thinks we should go a size up. What do you think? This new crate is roomy now but I can see that it might get "tight" when he grows more. Our toy poodle mix won't be bigger than 15 pounds max. as an adult. Do you always go for crates that are "tight" or should you go for one that is roomier?

Also, we have been taking him for 30 plus minute walks around our neighborhood. He looks really tired afterwards and sleeps a lot but gets perky about 5 hours later... Do you think we are overdoing it for a 4 month old toy breed? What is the ideal walk time/distance for such a breed???

Thanks for your help!


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

I would probably go for a larger crate providing he is completely potty trained. 

There is no "ideal" walk time/distance, but you might be pushing it a little bit if you've noticed how tired he is. I'd probably do two 15-20 minute walks instead of one 40 minute walk a day and see how he does.


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## Erick Aguilar (Jun 9, 2008)

I like to add 5 minutes per month of life starting from two months or until all vaccines have been applied.

Doing this until he reaches up to 45 minutes of walk(s), in cold days however, i extend the time to over two hours (I own a northern breed)


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## Sunshyne (Feb 5, 2008)

I have a pug and she can walk for - literally - miles and miles without showing any signs of stopping. I kept reading that a "tired dog is a good dog", but I noticed she would be _exhausted_ after our long walks. I wanted her to be alert and have fun _in _our home as well as outside, so I cut the walks back a bit. She now does two 30 minute walks a day and a few 10 minute shorter ones in addition to go potty (no fenced yard!). Just cut them back 10 minutes and see how he does. Good luck!


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## tinypoodleand2cats (Mar 14, 2009)

Thank you for all your replies! It's nice to know that even small dogs can be walked for a while and I will experiment to see what is optimal for our little pup. Last night, our 25minute walk to the park and back turned out to be over an hour since my kids and husband joined us. He seemed pooped afterwards and his potty schedule increased overnight but overall, he seems perky on the walk and perky this morning.
As for the crate, I'll take your advice FourIsCompany and get the bigger one. He is not 100% potty trained, but very close I think. I'll just throw in lots of bedding to make it snug till he grows into it. Thanks again. Have a great day!


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

We have papillons and a very large pom. They all do well in a size 100 Vari-kennel. And the crate will outlive generations of dogs. It is well worth the money.


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## hulkamaniac (Feb 11, 2009)

I wouldn't get a bigger crate for a dog that's not housebroken. The dog may end up eliminating in one end and sleeping in the other which is what the smaller crate is trying to prevent. I have a large crate that I use for a small cocker spaniel though. It's big enough for my full grown hound, but my cocker sleeps in it with no problems.


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