Smaller crate as den only?
Tl:dr: big dog has big collapsible crate that she is almost never closed in. I would like to get a second smaller crate to serve as her den and retain the big crate for if we need to secure her. Is that a terrible idea?
I have a 6 year old dog, just shy of 60lbs.
She is crate trained and has an appropriately sized crate, which we used as a crate during the raptor years.
However, at this point, she is free range. The crate is where her bed is and is available as her den but remains open. The last time she was actually closed in for a significant amount of time was a couple of years ago when we moved into our current place, because we needed her not to be underfoot.
Her crate is pretty big (and an eyesore). We might be moving next year and it will be difficult to fit her full size crate. I also don’t want to take her den away because she voluntarily goes in daily. Is it the worst idea to get a crate with a smaller footprint for her daily use as she likes and just bring out the big crate if we actually need to secure her?