Corgi Crate Sizing

Choosing a crate shouldn’t be stressful, but I’ve been there. I obsess about every little detail to make sure I’m providing a safe and comfortable home for my corgi. Given that Monty sleeps all night in his crate, I want him to be as comfortable as possible.

A large part of that comfort comes down to size. A small crate can be uncomfortable and restrictive. One that is too large may not provide the secure feeling a crate should offer. And, if your corgi isn’t potty trained, it may encourage them to defecate in the crate.

The general rule of thumb is to choose a crate that allows your corgi to stand up, turn around, and lie down comfortably. But first, we need to ask, is your corgi fully grown or still maturing? Are they potty trained? If they’re fully grown and potty trained, selecting a crate size is pretty straightforward.

Crate Size for a Fully Grown Corgi

The American Kennel Club recommends the following for fully grown dogs.

• With your corgi standing, measure him from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet to determine height. Though, since we’re measuring corgis, I doubt you’ll ever run into height issues.
• Measure length from the nose to the tail. For corgis, because they like to sploot, I like to add on a few inches to account for their feet.
• Add four inches to each measurement.

As an example, our corgi, Monty, is around 30 inches long (sploot length) by ~11-12 inches high. He likes to run away from the flexible tape measure, so these are pretty rough figures.

With those measurements, we selected a crate for him that was 36 inches long by 22 inches wide by 24 inches high. It’s this one on Amazon. Monty could definitely fit comfortably in the next smallest one down (30” L x 19” W x 21” H), but I wanted to ensure Monty could fully sploot in the crate with some space to spare. I wouldn't have considered anything smaller than 30” in length.

Crate Size for a Growing Corgi or Puppy

Here is where it gets slightly tricky. Again, you don’t want your crate too small, but it’s also possible to go too big. Larger crates may encourage corgis that aren’t potty trained to relieve themselves in a corner.

However, you also don’t want to buy a new crate every month as your corgi grows. Solve this problem by looking into crates that have a divider, like this one on Amazon.

The divider clips on two sides of the crate, allowing you to partition it. This way, you can buy one large crate that may accommodate them once they’re fully grown and just slip in the divider as needed. When they’ve matured, you can do away with the divider.

To hedge your bets against having to purchase a new crate when they fully mature, I would assume the average length and height for the breed.

This is easier said than done. I could only find one reputable source for the dimensions of cardigan corgis. This lists them at an average of 10.5 to 12.5 inches in height, and 36 to 43 inches from nose to the end of the tail for males [1]. Pembroke corgis are usually a little smaller, so I would estimate to account for 30 inches of length (then add in estimated sploot inches, if you want).

Facebook Marketplace is also a strategy. Instead of utilizing a divider, we just upgrade crates as needed. We sold the previous crate as Monty outgrew it. I didn’t think anyone would buy a used dog crate, but I was very wrong. The crate went for about 50% of its new price and someone picked it up within a week.

A Note on Crate Accessories

Consider any desired accessories for the crate when reviewing these measurements. We have a fluffy bed at the bottom of our crate, which takes up about an inch of vertical space. Other accessories, such as crate-attached water bowls, compete for limited horizontal space.

Consider Door Hinges

One last note, unrelated to crate sizing. I would recommend getting a crate that opens both lengthwise and widthwise. Dual openings give you flexibility to change things around in the future. Consider what may happen if you move apartments or change up the crate’s location.

We’ve moved several times and have switched up which opening we use with Monty. The crate linked above has both the dual openings and the dividers. We’ve been extremely happy with it.

Wrapping Up

I hope this helped you select the right crate size for your corgi. If it did, consider leaving a comment down below. I'm also curious what size crate you use for your corgi. Do they seem comfortable? Do you have any accessories you'd recommend?

References

[1]: The Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America. As the leading club of Cardigan Welsh corgis in America, I would list this as an authoritative source. However, it’s unclear how they derived their measurements. The referenced page does not mention their sample size, and there are no measurement samples.