I made a crate for puppy! He keeps outgrowing the ones we bought, so I made a large one out of his playpen panels that should be big enough until he’s fully grown.
The floor is a sheet of plywood. I put vinyl wrap on it for waterproofing (turns out it’s too fragile, by the time I made the rest I made a couple of tears).
For the top, I made a lip out of PSE wood (I think 25mm), to give more rigidity and allow fitting a hinged top.
Cabin hooks for the door, but they turned out to be too loose, so I added a Brenton bolt.
Puppy likes it, so overall a success!
Progress pictures :
The host of the crate:
Not OP but here’s some personal experience: I had a really hard time agreeing to create training with my dog. I found the entire ordeal stressful for myself until I started to see the benefits.
When the dog needs a break from a dangerous or stressful situation they have somewhere just for them. The cats can’t get to them. If I’m in the kitchen with her and I need her out of the way, she now knows that her bed or crate is a good place to go to avoid being stepped on.
At night, the crate stays open but she crawls in there to go to sleep. Brings her toys in there or special treats she wants to hide from the cats.
It also helps if she ever has to go to a kennel or, like others have said, a groomer that needs to hold her for a bit.
Overall, when I analyze it deeply I feel remorse for getting a living creature used to living in a box. But, she’s never in there for long and it’s always a rewarding experience with treats and tons of praise afterward. Many people may find the process unsavoury as I did. Even though I disagree to an extent… I listened to expert opinion and I’m glad I did.