If you are wondering how to keep a dog playpen from moving, then this guide is for you.
One of the best things about dogs is that they are always so cheerful and high on energy. You would never see your dog sit quietly over a place unless it is upset or feeling sick. Their enthusiasm, energy, and happiness are something that cheers us up and makes our day.
However, at times, their vigor gets them into trouble when they end up creating some damages. The extent of losses caused by pet dogs primarily depends on its breed.
Docile dogs are less notorious and hardly cause any severe damages, but bulldogs like boxers and pit bulls may be a constant threat as they can break through door and gates.
If not trained well and provided correct safety measures, dogs can also pose harm to your indoor properties such as wood, carpet, laminate, tile, and floor surface. Trimming your dog’s nails and giving him/her training to behave around the house can get you out of trouble to some extent.
Not only such situations can destroy valuable things in your house, but they also pose a threat to the safety of your pet. Yes, they can sometimes harm themselves with their acts.
There are plenty of pet products that can safeguard your house property and provide a safer playing environment for your beloved dog. A dog playpen is the first thing that comes to our mind when we think about offering our dog a safe arena to play.
There’s no doubt in asserting that investing in a dog playpen is an excellent way of keeping your dog safe.
First Off, What Is a Dog Playpen?
Whether you own a little puppy or full-grown lad, their mischievous energy is endless that gets them into trouble. The playpen is their safe space where they can play. It is a portable fence that is used to provide a spacious room for your puppy to play around. An expandable playpen will come handy when you know things are getting out of your hands.
A dog playpen will ensure precisely where your naughty little friend is paying. It is a great tool to confine them while allowing them the space to move around and use their energy. A dog playpen will provide them a safe and new surroundings, and they can proudly flaunt their playing arena like their own. Moreover, they will also not run around inside or outside the house and break things.
Isn’t a Dog Playpen Same Thing as a Dog Crate?
Often people get confused between playpen and crate. Both are different playing tool for dogs. A playpen is playing arena for your dogs, where he/she can walk around. A crate, on the other hand, is a small house for your dog inside your home. It’s a little place where your dog can rest after all the enthusiastic play.
A playpen is bigger in size than a crate. While a playpen was created to provide pets with a playing area where they can stretch and move, a crate was designed to give them a sleeping area where they can rest after a tiring day.
A playpen is undoubtedly more beneficial and productive. A crate can only give a dog a space to rest. Also, a crate can make your pet frustrated because it won’t be able to move in freedom leading to irritation and mood swings. Therefore, a playpen is always a great choice of tool to make your beloved dog happy, offer it a safe surrounding, and keep your household items out of trouble.
Why Do Dog Playpens Move Around so Much?
One of the common issues that dog owners often deal with the playpen is that it tends to move around a lot. Typically a dog playpen is light in weight so that you can easily carry. They tend to slip around, creating more trouble than before. However, its lightweight structure makes it difficult for it to stay in a place.
Often when dogs play around, and they hit the edges, the pen tends to move. At times, moving the playpen around becomes their favorite game to play. There’s no doubt in asserting that a moving playpen can cause more trouble to your house and your dog as well than a no playpen situation.
A moving playpen can hit your flower vase, TV screens, and any possible thing in your room. Furthermore, your dog can also get hurt with a moving playpen. Therefore, it is essential to know how to keep dog playpen from moving; otherwise, your pup will continue to do damages inside and outside the house.
How to Keep a Dog Playpen from Moving Step by Step?
You cannot ask your dog to stop playing or creating trouble. A dog playpen is an excellent tool to keep things out of sight. It offers your dog a playing arena where it can play. But, there are chances your dog can move the playpen from one place to another that can cause more trouble than ever.
Take a look at the below steps to keep the playpen from moving inside and outside.
The initial and the most important thing you can do to stop your dog’s playpen from moving is to choose the right sized products. Buying a lighter and feeble playpen which your dog can comfortably move is not a smart choice to make. Select a playpen according to your dog’s breed.
Take bellow factors into consideration while buying a playpen:
- Size: Bigger your dog, more massive and robust the playpen.
- Materials: Durable and high-quality material offering more stability.
- Accessories: Stabilizers for legs and roofs (if needed)
- Construction: According to the strength of your dog. Must withstand chewing and pushing.
Considering your floor surface is essential for maintaining the immobility. Linoleum and tarp floors are great for excellent playpen stability. Furthermore, you can spread a slip-proof carpet or carpet before placing the playpen. You can use the slip-proof mat even in lawns and gardens; they tend to provide complete stability for the playpen.
Anchors are those stabilizing accessories that work wonders outside. You can use nails to wrap the straps of the playpen to stabilize it. There are plenty of things you can consider for securing the playpen inside. Anything that is heavy, flat bottomed, and hard to move can be taken into consideration. A few such things you can use are:-
- Concrete Bricks
- Kettlebells
- Heavy Furniture
- Weights
- Ropes
The area of the playpen also plays a significant role in maintaining the stability of the playpen. If you have placed the playpen at the center of the house or lawn, you are giving ample opportunity for your dog to move along with the playpen and making it a fun game. Try to place the playpen in corners from where the mobility will be blocked from either two or three sides.
Boredom and lack of ideas to play can be a prominent reason behind your dog moving the playpen. When your dog has nothing to do inside the playpen, he/she will try to find new ways to play and moving the playpen from one place to another sounds pretty fun. Make sure you leave your dog with ample toys, food, and chews to keep him or her busy till the time he or she is inside.
Here Are Some Tips to Consider While Buying a Dog Playpen
While the steps mentioned above will increase the stability of your dog’s playpen, buying the perfect playpen will make eliminate this problem. Take a look at the below tips to buy that ideal playpen for your dog.
A playpen provides a unique space for your dog to play around and you can obtain them in various types. Ensure that you choose a dog playpen that still gives them the freedom to move around and be a part of the family.
There are both indoor and outdoor playpens available to cater to your needs. Playpens come in different sizes; hence, it is essential to choose the right size that perfectly suits the requirements of your dog.
Below are some popular types of playpen that you can take into consideration while buying one:
- Convertible Playpen: Known for its versatility, durability, sleek design and high customer ratings have made it a popular choice of playpen among the dog owners. A convertible playpen can be converted into different shapes, such as hexagon, square, room divider, gate, etc. You can easily customize this pen according to your needs.
- Basic 8 Panel Pen: An eight-panel pen is a handy product that comes at a pocket-friendly price whether keeping your pet confined to one spot, be it indoor or outdoor. This panel pen is built with a heavy gauge wire with an electro-coat making it rust-free.
- Two Door Soft Playpen: If you travel a lot and loves camping with your dog, a two-door soft playpen would be the right choice for you. Completely foldable, washable, and removable, this soft playpen keeps your dog safe while camping and provide a cozy space to rest as well.
- Heavy-Duty Pen: For those who have a naughty little friend in their house who cannot be left alone for a minute, a heavy-duty pen can lessen your trouble to some extent. Available in multiple sizes depending on your dog, this heavy-duty playpen is enough roomy and robust to keep your dog within.
While playpen is such a great tool to make things easier around pet dogs, one of the challenges associated with dog playpen is that they tend to move around a lot. A moving playpen can cause more trouble than having no playpen.
So when you buy them, you must also know how to keep dog playpen from moving. We will get to that later but first, let’s understand why playpens move.
The size of your dog plays a vital role in buying the perfect playpen. Buying a playpen that is smaller than your dog is certainly not a smart move. While puppies are more miniature, they would need less space than full-grown dogs.
For instance, a full-grown Chihuahua does not require the same space that a full-grown Bullmastiff would need. You need to keep your dog’s size in mind before paying for the playpen.
Indoor and outdoor playpens are different from one another. It is crucial to consider the setting before buying a playpen. Indoor playpens are for those who want to create a playing arena inside. An indoor playpen can be either made of wire or soft cloths that are home friendly.
Outdoor playpen, on the other hand, is used for dogs who love spending time beneath the open sky. These outdoor playpens are outside your house where your dog can play with others within a secured yard.
There are times when you would need to place playpen both inside and outside. During such a situation, a versatile playpen comes handy. The versatility of playpen depends on the growth of your dog as well.
Dogs tend to grow rapidly, and investing in playpens now and then is undoubtedly expensive. Choose a versatile playpen that can be used both indoor and outdoor and can accommodate your dog irrespective of its growing size.
Playpens come in different sizes and materials that decide their durability and quality. You should choose a material according to your dog’s playing requirements. If you own a small dog and you are looking for an outdoor playpen, then a solid plastic playpen would suffice. For large-sized dogs, you should go for a heavier playpen made with metal that can withstand chews and pushes.
Safety should always be your prior concern, and playpen’s primary aim is to offer your dog a safe surrounding to play. While strolling through the playpen, whether online or offline stores, it is crucial to take the safety of your dog inside the concerned playpen.
A playpen should be immobile on the ground, if not, try buying some accessories that can stabilize it. For instance, playpen anchors, kettlebells, stopper, etc., can be used for stability purposes.
Cost also plays a vital role in finding the right playpen. Dog playpens are available in different sizes and materials that also differ in price. There are cost-efficient playpens that fit all budgets, and there are playpens that can leave your budget dangling. Consider your budget while buying a playpen is also an essential criterion as well.
How Long Can You Leave Your Dog in a Playpen?
A dog playpen is undoubtedly an excellent investment towards raising a well behaved and happy pet. While a playpen can make things easier for you and provide your dog with a safe place to play, there is a specific limit to leaving your dog there.
To minimize the hassles, dog owners often keep their dogs in the playpen for hours that eventually make them moody and frustrated. A puppy or a dog should not be left alone in the playpen for longer than two hours. Staying in the playpen for a longer duration will make them bored. They will start whining for no reason.
The isolation period of your dog should be at a minimum by minimizing the time duration of their playpen stay. Keep it busy with toys and chews when they are inside the playpen and take them out before they start getting irritated being in one place for hours.
About 2 hours is the maximum time you should allow your dog to play in a playpen. Don’t forget to reward your dog for its good behavior while inside the playpen.
Conclusion
Dogs are the most beloved, loyal, and crazy pet one can own. Their little mischievous acts, never-ending curiosity and infinite love and passion light up our world. Sometimes, things can get slightly out of your hands, when their innocence starts causing you trouble that can damage both your dog and house’s interests.
You can never ask them to behave in a certain way around the house; they are master of their self. All you can do is take safety precautions when your dog is around the house.
A dog playpen is an excellent investment you can make to provide them a safe playing arena as well as keep your belongings safe. It comes in different sizes and materials. It depends on you to choose the right playpen considering its size and behavioral pattern.
As mentioned above, there are ways through which a playpen is moved and becomes the reason for trouble. Understanding the problem and finding the right solution is the ideal way to keep things in control.
Follow the steps of how to keep dog playpen from moving and make things easier for you when around your naughty little friend.
