Crate size? What age is dog "full grown?"

[snookums]

I am wanting to get a new crate to replace the institutional-looking one that I have in my kitchen now. I want to get one of those nicer looking fake-rattan ones (they are really resin). My dog is 10 months old, will be a year old on March 15. She is an American Minature Cockapoo. The breeder told me that she'd be between 18 and 25 pounds full-grown. She was just 3 pounds at 8 weeks which made me guess (wrongly, obviously) that she'd be on the smaller end of that range. At 10 months now she's a solid 21 pounds, and before I buy a new crate, I want to make sure she's full-grown. She has a 24 inch crate which she seems comfortable in now (she can lay on her side in it but her head is at the top and her butt is at the back), so if she grows ANY more, I think I'll need to get a 30 inch one. My kitchen is small, so I'd rather have the 24 inch one, so if I knew that she wouldn't grow anymore that's what I'd buy.

I've seen some charts online that suggest that a 25 lb and under dog will be comfortable in a 24 inch crate, but I can't imagine her any longer in the smaller one. At 10 months and 21 pounds can I expect her to keep growing? This is my first dog so I know nothing about when they stop growing. The charts say that the 30 inch crate is for 40 lb and under dogs, and I know that she won't get anywhere near that. I'm also concerned that if I get a larger one that she will regress with potty training - we used to have a HUGE problem with her eliminating in the crate early on (even with a divider installed) and it's not a problem anymore.

Any advice? She seems to be falling in the middle of the sizes and I don't know whether to go bigger or to go smaller or if she'll even grow anymore.

Thanks!

 

[Renee750il]

She's going to grow a bit more, so with the fit being that tight now in the smaller one you're going to have to go to the next size up. You could fit an inch or two of padding around the bottom 3 or 4 inches of the interior crate perimeter to reduce the area some since you're afraid she will regress in her training, although if she spends any time at all in there she really needs to be able to move around a bit. Imagine being locked in something you couldn't turn around in comfortably or stretch out in. [shudder] lol, Can you tell I'm a bit claustrophobic?

 

[pitbulliest]

Most dogs reach maturity by the time they're 1.5-2 years of age, so like Renee said, you might want to wait awhile longer as she will probably grow.