Bringing home a new puppy is one of the most exciting things you can experience. Regardless of whether you choose to adopt a rescue dog or carefully select one from a reputable breeder, welcoming a four-legged friend into your family is the start of many years of snuggles and happy memories.
Naturally, becoming a dog owner comes with the need for preparation, and it’s important to make sure that your home is ready for your new bestie. One of the biggest decisions to make is where your pup will sleep, and it’s important to make sure that they have a space where they feel safe and can retreat to when needed.
It’s for this reason that many dog owners choose to crate train, as it not only helps their canine pals to feel secure and cosy, but it helps with toilet training as well.
If you’ve ever seen a typical dog crate, you know they aren’t the most attractive things in the world. Typically made of black metal, they can look imposing, and certainly not terribly ‘aesthetic’. However, Kmart shoppers have found a solution to this problem, with the budget retailer’s new Oak Look Puppy Crates.
Customer, and proud owner of 2-month-old English Cocker Spaniel puppy Hunter, Katherine Chen, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she appreciates the $89 crate’s appearance, saying, “It looks SO much better than a wire crate. Blends in nicely and feels a bit more like part of the home rather than something more clinical.”
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Kmart shopper praises new wooden puppy crate
Happily, the crate has also been a hit with Hunter, with Katherine telling us, “Hunter took to it straight away. We did a lot of positive associations early on, and by day two, he was putting himself to bed in there.
“Size-wise, we think it will be okay, but if he is on the bigger side of the breed and he still loves it as he gets bigger, we’ll look at sizing up.”
Speaking about the assembly process, Katherine describes it as “really easy.”
“I sometimes struggle with flat-pack furniture, but this was straightforward,” she says. “Just a bit heavy—about 20kg from memory— so getting it home was more effort than putting it together.”
After posting her purchase on TikTok, in a video that has been viewed 450k times, Katherine’s (well, Hunter’s, really) comment section was flooded with comments ranging from people saying they loved the look of the crate to ones expressing concern about the product’s practicality.
Kmart shopper’s express concerns over wooden crate for puppies
“Jumped online to buy one and then remembered my dog likes to eat wood and would just chew her way out of this,” one person wrote.
“No… my puppy is like a termite. He loves wood 😭😭,” another added.
“My lab would chew this in 1 hour hahaha he chewed his metal one 😭😭,” a third said.
However, Katherine says that the crate has held up well so far with her little English Cocker Spaniel.
“It’s held up well,” she tells us. “He’s had the occasional scratch or bite, but nothing’s changed in the quality. The design makes it hard for him to really get his teeth into it.”
Another concern was that wood wasn’t an appropriate material for a dog crate as it would be much harder to clean than metal.
“Wouldn’t this be so hard to clean?? Especially a pup who still has accidents in their crate?” one person asked.
“Pleasing to the eye, but not hygienic, wood is porous, and urine that soaks into the grain will eventually leave a smell. Still best to use a non-porous, metal or plastic crate,” another said.
Again, Katherine says that the crate has posed no problems where cleaning is concerned so far, either.
“We haven’t had any accidents, but I’ve lined it with a waterproof mat just in case,” she says. “Seems like it would be very easy to wipe down if needed.”
Is crate training dogs cruel?
Given the crating can be a controversial topic among pet owners, there were also a few people in the comments who said they were not fans of the training method.
“Looks like a little jail 😞,” one person wrote.
“It’s cute as a dog bed but locking a dog in there is crazy and cruel,” was another comment.
“Why are we putting dogs in cages,” another person remarked.
“Crates are amazing for dogs developments when used correctly,” someone else weighed in. “They are not for time out or to be left in during the day. It’s a safe space for them to go to when overwhelmed and it’s a space they can completely feel safe to sleep so they don’t feel on guard.”
Guidelines for crate training puppies
While it is a personal choice as to whether you crate your puppy or not, the RSPCA says that it is a perfectly acceptable practice, so long as it is done properly and the crate is never used as a punishment.
Other RSPCA guidelines for crating as per their website includes:
Only crating your dog for short periods of time to aid with training or to create a safe space.
Providing a crate that is big enough for your dog to stand up, turn around and lie down in
Ensuring your pup does not spend all day in a crate as this can affect their muscle development and condition.
Making sure that young puppies don’t spend more than two to three hours in the crate without a toilet break.
Ensuring that crate training never takes the place of appropriate exercise and enrichment.
Meanwhile, several other people joked that they would like to purchase the crate too…for their husbands or toddlers—which is definitely not encouraged!
Is the Kmart puppy crate a good buy?
Overall, Katherine says she would recommend the Kmart puppy crate to other shoppers, noting it would be particularly suited to anyone who has crate trained before or has a pup who takes to routines well.
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“I looked at more expensive options, but knowing what puppies are like, I didn’t want to spend big on something that might get chewed or destroyed,” she says.
“This looks good and feels sturdy, without the guilt if it ends up with bite marks,” she adds. “It’s been a great setup for us.”
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