I bought the playpen at first and it did fine for leaving my pup for short periods of time but I always crated her if I was going to be gone for a while as I was worried about her gnawing through the mesh or jumping out. I then purchased an x-pen and like it so much more. You can fold it up small at first (someone has a thread about it). After I got my 2nd pup I opened the pen up to it's full size so that 2 crates w/ doors removed, food & water and a pee pad fit and there's still room for them to play
