Exploring the G3 Medium Framed Kennel

Take a look at the Dakota 283 G3 medium crate and its applications for travel from puppy to adult

As tempting as it is to have your pup riding next to you in the front seat or loose in the bed of the truck, the safest place for your dog while traveling is in a kennel.  This keeps them from distracting you while driving and ensures that they are as protected as they can be in the event of an accident.  Giving them a safe and comfortable setup requires that you fit them with the appropriate sized crate.

Finding the right size crate

So you need the right sized dog crate.  What size is your dog?  Uhhhh.

The vast majority of breeds would be considered “medium” breed dogs.  The problem is that a medium breed can be very different at each end of the spectrum. If you’re like the majority of people, you could probably list the weight of your dog, or at least a weight range.  But not a lot of people know their dogs’s height or length, which are arguably the more important measurements when it comes to picking the right kennel size for your pet.  So your dog weighs 50 lbs? Well, is it a male basset hound or female boxer? That’s kind of an important distinction.

When you’re looking for the correct sized crate, you might google the term “medium sized dog crate.” There would be a good chance that the correct choice would be less clear by the time you reached the end of the first page of results. Granted, there are some subjective considerations, but most experts agree that a kennel needs to be large enough for your dog to stand up and turn around, but really shouldn’t be much larger than that for safety reasons. Aside from the added security that comes from Dakota 283’s single-piece rotomolded construction and all-metal door, if you’re ever in an accident, you don’t want a lot of excess space in your kennel.

So the first thing you ought to do is break out a tape measure and take a measurement from the floor to the top of your dog’s head while they’re standing.  Then take a measurement from the tip of your dog’s nose to the base of their tail. Once you have those measurements, compare them to the interior dimension of our lineup of kennels:

G3 Medium Interior – 28.5L x 19.8W x 25.2H

G3 Large Interior – 33L x 22.8W x 26.2H

G3 X-Large Interior – 36L x 23.75W x 29.25H

Hero (one size) Interior – 35L x 18.5W x 27.75H

There shouldn’t be a lot of extra space above their head for the height measurement but be sure to allow a few extra inches on the length so as to provide the needed space for your pup to turn around and settle in. And, while the above options are our standard offerings, we also manufacture lower profile kennels for your air travel and under-tonneau cover needs.

The bottom line is that the weight of your dog alone isn’t sufficient to pick the correct sized dog crate, but the two crucial measurements to picking the right kennel are easy to come by.

Vehicle considerations for a medium crate

So you don’t have the practically-limitless space of an extended truck bed and need to make sure your kennel will fit within the cargo space of your mid-sized SUV. What then? Or perhaps you have a camper shell over and our Vault system in your truck bed and you’re wondering which kennel will fit underneath. If that is your situation, let’s break out the tape measure once again and measure the space and compare the measurement to the exterior dimensions of our lineup of kennels:

G3 Medium Exterior – 31L x 21.5W x 25.5H

G3 Large Exterior – 35.2L x 24.5W x 26.5H

G3 X-Large Exterior – 38.5L x 25.5W x 29.5H

Hero (one size) Exterior – 40.25L x 26W x 30.1H

Those measurements will also allow you to ensure that kennels will fit side by side in your truck bed or cargo area.  And if you are hoping to place a kennel in the back seat of your sedan, pull out the tape measure, measure the space and compare it to the list above.

Buy one crate from puppy to adult

Most people end up buying multiple kennels within the first year of their pup’s life.  After all, a Golden Retriever puppy would certainly not fill up the kennel size that he would eventually need.  That extra space would be unsafe on the road and a disaster if they are potty-training by using the crate.  So puppy owners generally go down to the big box store and buy the cheapest kennel they can find since it’s only going the used for a few weeks or months and is therefore practically disposable. Not only should you not put your puppy in such a flimsy crate for safety reasons, it’s ultimately a waste of money.

We’ve created a better solution. If your full grown dog will eventually end up in our G3 Medium, we manufacture our Forever Kennel Insert Divider for Puppies that allows you to customize the size of the kennel from puppyhood through adulthood so the space is always the correct size.  And that means you can buy your last kennel as your first kennel and be set for the life of your pet.

Here are Dakota 283, we are looking for innovative ways to serve pet owners for the life of their pet and provide unparalleled pet protection!