# Exercise Pens - What type to use?



## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

I'm thinking about expens to buy and I really don't like the look of the wire ones. I saw these at JB Pets:

http://www.jbpet.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=692

Has anyone else used the soft-sided expens here? Do they work well? I was just afraid of the dog maybe knocking it over, but it seems like the frame is pretty heavy so I doubt it.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

I couldn't make your link work (it looked like a problem with their site being down temporarily), but in my opinion, a soft-sided pen will get destroyed quickly if you have a chewer. The wire pens don't look as nice, but they are definitely durable. The black pens seem to look nicer longer. The brass colored pens look "used" the fastest.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

We use the black wire ones from JB. They don't charge shipping by weight and I don't know where you can get one of that quality for a comparable price.


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

I didn't think about the chewing thing, and then I noticed there's a warning about it on the site itself. :doh:

I guess I will have to go with the wire ones... they're just so ugly! :bolt:


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## havanesebyha (Apr 25, 2007)

Lina,

I have one that is plastic called "North States Pet Yard XT". I love it - very sturdy and can be cleaned easily and you can step over it. You can find them online at Petco or PetSmart for around $70.00 or they even have them in the store at PetSmart. I got the two extra panels to make it larger. 

I have it set up for when my husband and I are both away from the house for a couple of hours and she has her crate with door always open, little sofa bed, toy area, food area, and emergency potty corner with a pad if she has to go. I know she is safe there and don't worry if one of our boys come home and leave the back door open and let her out. I think it is a piece of mind for me if we have to go out and can't take her along. 

Good luck,

Libby & Kohana


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

I also had a plastic expen for Bugsy and it worked great. I didn't like the look of wire crates in my house and on my hardwood floors.


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Thanks for the recommendation! I just looked at the plastic ones and I do like them... my only problem would be that it doesn't seem like they have doors? I would like to potty train using an expen so I definitely need one where when I am around I can just leave the door open for the puppy and his potty area will be easily accessible. Are they easy to open and close? I saw two Amazon.com reviews that say the gate is hard to open. Have you found this to be true?


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## havanesebyha (Apr 25, 2007)

Yes, Lina there are extremely hard to open and I don't - I step over it. If you want a door then I would not get one of these as they are very hard to open. Julia, do you open yours or just step over?

Libby


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## Brady's mom (Dec 1, 2006)

I have the one that you were asking about. We used it when Brady was young, but haven't used it in about 6 months or so. We never had any problems with him chewing it. It seems very durable to me. It has a nice door that velcros closed and also latches. It is easy to open and close. We also used to open it up and use it to block off rooms that we didn't want him in. He picked up on that fast though and learned how to get by it.


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## radar_jones (May 6, 2007)

I found a very good Ex-Pen at Petsmart. It's got these safety corners and a door in it. You may have to modifiy a litter box if you ue it for potty training and the 2X4 size still allows puppy to do #2 on the floor between the sleep area and litter box. You almost need an actual 2X2 area instead for the really stubborn Havs.

Derek.


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

I have an ex pen that is actually a baby play pen that a friend gave me. It is really fancy and has a door, not very tall, but I no longer use it. Sorry the link is acting up, let me try again.

http://images.rightstart.com/global/images/large/1877.jpg ]

On the same website, I found a much better (for puppy) play pen that is also all plastic, has a door and is 30" high. It's a bit cheaper too. Here's the link.

http://www.rightstart.com/global/store/product~item~6620.html

I find that baby things work really well for puppies.


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Thanks so much everyone for helping me out! eace:

Julia, the second one you listed seems perfect! I think I will order that one.


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

Lina,

I am glad I was able to help. You might also want to see what the manufacturer's name for this play pen is and see if you can get it cheaper than Right Start, as it's usually pricier than others.


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