Play Pen for Yorkies
 

Morning Everyone,

As being the new member of this society, I am discovering more and more and more knowledge on Yorkies every since day...I realized that this issue was brought up for a LOOOOOOOOONNNNGGGG while ago but I think it is necessary for us to discuss once more (especially for newbees like myself)...

Are the playpens a good part of education/training your puppy in your new house?
What are the pros/cons?
Do we still need crates along play pens?
How do you pee-proof the playpens?
What are the "must-haves" of playpens?

I am looking forward to hear from you all YORKIE GURUS!

Have a wonderful day :)

Love,

Isil :)

Hi and welcome to YorkieTalk!

We crate trained our first yorkie, he did fine wihtout a pen. But, we just purchased an x-pen with our new baby and, since my boyfriend and I both work 8 hours a day, it has been a great investment. We have it set up so that she has her crate (with the door removed) with a warm blanket, her food and water, and a litter box in it with her. She has plenty of room to play with her toys during the day and not get poop and pee all over her. When we had her in the crate every day, we'd come home and she was covered, it was just too long to keep her in there cooped up all day.
We are using baby changing table covers in the litter box and right now thay are all over the floor in the pen. After a few days we will take one changing table cover up, and then a few days after that, another one until all she has left is her litter box with a cover/pad in it. We're hoping this will help train her, so far she hasn't caught on to the litter box yet.
Also, she isn't isolated while we are gone. One of our cats often jumps in the pen with her or lies right beside it. Our older yorkie runs free in the living room area and so she has him to keep her company too.

Sorry this was so long, in summary, I think pens are great!:thumbup:

Oh-I forgot to tell you.....
We looked for a pen all over and it seemed that all we found at the pet stores started at around $60. I found one on a bedding website (who would have thought) and with shipping it was under $40.
Here is a link:
http://www.bedding.com/show_product/59961

I used Xpens. I didnt like play pens because they can chew through the mesh and get out. I put a peepad on one end and a bed on the other. I lined the xpen with newspaper

Thank you so very much for your detailed message! This is a type of thing that I am actually looking for. I am also working about 8-9 hours a day and I will need to crate/play pen train my baby boy (I will get him on April 4th)...I was wondering if you think that xpen would be better than play pen? Also how big is your crate and what type of a crate is that (metal, plastic, fabric)...If you have time and if you could write back, it would be great! Have a fantastic day!

Great information! I appreciate it alot :)

I would agree with Chachi and recommend the x-pen over the playpen for chewing reasons.
We have a small, plastic crate in the pen with her. It's more of a cat crate, just big enough for her to be comfortable in.

AND- You're welcome! This forum is great for learning!
Have a good day!

I am learning so much! I am taking a lot of notes from this forum! Thanks CHACHI, you have been a great help!

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:)

If you decide to get an xpen I have also heard of people on here lining the bottom with a cheap vinyl shower curtain

ooohh, that sounds like a genious idea indeed! So you place the shower curtain on the bottom and put the pee pads on top? correct?

Yep put the pee pads on top.the vinyl keeps any accidents from getting on your carpet

once again, thanks for the great advise!!!

I bought a room size piece of cheap linolium for my play yard and its been awesome. Covers my carpet and just wipe up any accidents.

I had the dog playpen for Cali and it worked great. SHe loved to go in it and I left the side open for her to go in and use the pee pad and sleep if she wanted. She never tried to get out and would go in by herself when she saw I was getting ready to go out. Then I just got Pixie who within 2 weeks chewed a hole through it and escaped twice before we figured it out. Also, she looked like she was ready to jump out of the top and I was afraid of her getting hurt trying to jump out. I went and bought her a large crate which she can't get out of but hates. So I would probably go with an xpen or crate.

WithPheobe, we used a crate at night, and X-pen (Petsmart) in the day (when she was not supervised)we cover the floor with pee-pads,and little by little, we remove them,we also put toys, food and water and now she is 100% potty train we use one pee-pad no more X-pen only a baby gate when she is at home by herself, and she sleep with us. (sweet):p

A pen with out a bottom like a xpen or yard pen (which you can get in the baby section) are nice because they can also be used outdoors so that your dog can discover the grass & the fun of peeing on the grass. I use pads but also have a fenced yard that when weather permits we play, pee & doo doo on, well Tilula does:p Something fold up/portable so you can travel/visit with-reunions, holidays, etc.

I got a play pen from a friend that her son out grew. It works great, I only put her in at night and to have a break or two through the day.

I love the xpen! I found mine on dog.com and thought the price was very reasonable. When Howie was a baby I left him in the xpen in my living room when I was at work along with his bed, a bully stick, food, water and a pee pad. I'm lucky because Howie prefers to not eat or go potty when I'm not home. My working helped establish a schedule for him. Eventually I phased out the xpen and now he has full run of the living room and kitchen when I'm at work. I keep the xpen in the trunk of my car for when we visit friends. I like to keep him penned up at other people's house because I'm so paranoid he'll pee on their carpet. Anyway, the moral of the story is that I think the xpen is incredibly useful!!

That sounds like a great price but it only 18 inches tall..... when I was visiting Samson at the breeders house before he came to his forever home she had an 18 inch expen and even the10-13 week old puppies were climbing over the top of it.... I would opt for at least 24 to 36 inches tall... Amazon.com has a 36 inch tall one for about 50 .00 that is what I got..

We love our playpen and our ex pen (Tucker actually seems to like his playpen the best). I wrapped the mattress with a shower curtain liner and when he shows an interest in chewing the netting, I spray it with Bitter Apple taste deterrent. When he learned to climb out, I bought pack 'n play sheets to put over the top. He sleeps in this playpen at night and plays in his ex pen or the gated kitchen during the day. I have a couple of the purina litter pans and tape a wee wee pad in it since he would not stop eating the purina litter pellet. The litter pan takes up half the play pen and his bedding, dishes and toys go on the other half. Early on I taped wee wee pads on both halves of the pen, but now we just use the one in the litter pan.

For the ex pen, I bought a linoleum remnant from Lowe's since we like to use it in the family room which is carpeted. We tried the shower curtain and vinyl table clothes, but he chewed through them right away.

If you can afford it, I recommend both, otherwise the ex pen would probably be best.

Keep us posted on your new guy! Congrats!!!

Julie and Tucker :aimeeyork

Izzie has the best of both worlds. My roommate and I just started a new system this week. During the day, when we're not home, Izzie is in the kitchen which is blocked off by a baby gate. She has her bed, toys, food and water there. At night, we started putting her in her play pen. During the day, she needed more room to run around, plus, she was "playing" with her potty pads in the play pen. It was always a nice mess to clean up. :)

Here is the play pen that I bought for Izzie (about $80 on eBay)
http://www.dogdecor.com/dog-pen-dog-play-pen.html

It's great, because whenever I go home to California, I can take it with me...

I have a very smart kitty and the only thing that worries me about xpens are that the kitty will figure out how to open the gate and release the puppy all the time (believe me Leo opens all doors and climbs up in the most impossible spots)...Any suggestions on that?

You could put a little lock on the door. I would try it without it first though My xpen didnt door didnt open easily

a lock is a great idea! i will definitely give it a shot :) any suggestions on how to cover the top of the xpen so that that cat cannot jump in there?

I have heard of people making tops for them with twin fitted sheets but I think somewhere also sells tops for them