Little Guy's New Crate

I have been extremely neglectful about posting! Probert turned 6 on Halloween and everyone else is doing great! Here's a picture of Probert in his new crate that Dan magically found in the garbage on the exact same day that I was going to buy Probert a new crate! Look how much he loves it! :)

Really, Little Guy???

Was that necessary!?

Crates and Crafts

So, I don't know if any of you have had the same experience, but those plastic crate pans that come with most brands of crate really stink! About two years ago, I replaced Maizy's (for around $60-70) and once again last month, it had broken. It didn't make sense to spend more money on a crate pan, so she was existing without for a few weeks while I figured out what to do. I considered trying to find the right size of metal crate pan or make some kind of metal floor for her, but I soon realized that it wasn't the best solution. Add to the situation that Maizy is a massive chewer and that I was buying her new blankets from the thrift store every few weeks, and I decided that the solution to our crate floor situation had to be dual-purposed.

After some discussion with my brilliant boyfriend, we came up with a plan. And so, this past weekend we cut down a piece of plywood (with the aid of a neighbor who couldn't bear to see me using the manual version, and rushed over with his electric saw in order to do the cut for me quicker than his estimated "three seconds"), dug a scrap of carpet from the depths of the boyfriend's basement, and created a masterpiece!

Tada!

I present to you: Maizy's shiny new carpeted floor. This was a simple and cheap solution (we already had all of the materials laying around) and is working out beautifully so far! And Maizy is very happy with the results as her initial reaction to her new floor was to hunch up into "resource guarding" posture lest one of the other dogs even THINK about relaxing on HER new carpeted board!

This obviously isn't a good solution for a dog that has regular accidents in their crate (Addison!) or who has a sensitive stomach that can lead to barfing (Wrigley!), but this is the perfect solution for all of Maizy's issues. If it isn't, I don't know that yet, but will keep you updated in the following weeks to see if there are any major issues with her carpeted floor.

I've also included one bonus photo, which includes all four pups in their crates with the doors shut and their dinners sitting in front of them waiting VERY patiently to be given the "okay" before diving in. They are such well-beahaved sweetstuffs (sometimes).

Probert's New Crate

Well, Probert, sweet dog that he is, finally earned himself a new crate! How, you ask? He determinedly tore open a hole in the door of the old crate big enough that he escaped through it, that's how! (He also ripped up yet another comforter. Aaaack.)

Seriously.

Sorry, the pictures are a little dark. I took them in the hall after we'd set up the new crate.

Hilariously, the new crate came with a tag on it that had a picture of a Good Dog sitting calmly in the crate. Shawn handed Probert the tag to study for proper instruction on how to be in a crate. Probert made quick work of ripping it up. RIP, Good Dog.

Now Probert and Addy both have the same crate. It seems a little sturdier than some of the others and it's a little smaller than the previous crates Probert's had. Let's hope this one holds out.

The Mundane

There are a variety of enjoyable (and admittedly, not-so-enjoyable) things about living with dogs. I am here to tell you about one of the most mundane aspects of living with a dog that I find so enjoyable: washing the dog blankets!


The Brown Dogs' blankets all come from a lovely little place called the thrift store. This is because they will inevitably be destroyed no matter what the cost, so keeping those costs low is ideal. We also try to keep fluff to a minimum as a blanket filled with fluff is at high-risk of being chomped up, so in order to make their crates comfy and cozy, the blankets are layered on.


Anyway, I don't know what it is, but there is something that I really enjoy about neatly arranging the clean dog blankets back into the dog crates. Before long (read: 5-10 minutes), they will be strewn everywhere as a result of excessive snuffling (Probert and Wrigley) or simply picking them up and shaking them (Maizy), but until that happens, all of the blankies are neat and tidy and fluffed and clean. It's a good feeling!


(The dogs in this post all look unhappy because I am making them sit nicely for pictures rather than letting them immediately go to town investigating the "fresh from the dryer" smells that have traveled back from the basement with their clean blankets.)