Tools

What size crate does my dog need?

Measure the dog, then check the two numbers against the manufacturer's own published chart.

Size the crate

Step 1 — a starting estimate

What will your dog weigh full-grown?

45 lb

Adult weight, not today's. This narrows the field — it does not decide the answer. MidWest's chart bands are wide, and a long low dog and a tall light dog land in the same one.

Start looking at the 36-inch (Intermediate) — MidWest lists that size for 41 – 70 lbs.

Step 2 — measure the dog

Nose to the base of the tail for length. Top of the head to the ground while standing for height. Enter what the tape says — MidWest's chart already carries the clearance.

Nose to base of tail (in)Floor to top of head, standing (in)

MidWest says to add “a few inches” and does not put a number on it. Two to four inches is a common rule of thumb rather than a manufacturer figure, so treat it as one — and where a rule of thumb and MidWest's published max-dog columns disagree, follow the columns.

Starting estimate — measure to confirm

36-inch crate

MidWest's Intermediate size. Their chart puts the largest dog it fits at 34 in long and 23 in tall, for dogs around 41 – 70 lbs.

Dogs MidWest lists at this size: Bassett Hound, Whippet, Beagle, Bulldog, Brittany Spaniel. Examples from their chart, not a breed sizing rule.

Before you order, open the listing and read the crate's INTERIOR dimensions. The advertised size is the outside.

Crates we'd get →The full size guide

Crates that come in a 36-inch size

Buy the size, not the model: these are sold as one listing across several lengths, so the size you choose on the listing is the thing that decides whether it fits. Check the interior dimensions of the exact one you pick.

Or compare the whole shelf: All crates

This is a puppy who is still growing

Nothing you enter here leaves your browser. All 8 published sizes are listed below.

Where these sizes come from. The chart below is MidWest Homes for Pets' own published crate-sizing table, opened and transcribed on 2026-09-07 — their lengths, their maximum dog height and length, their weight bands, their breed examples. Other manufacturers step their sizes differently; check the chart for the crate you are actually buying.

A worked example: a forty-five-pound Labrador cross

Weight first, because it is the number everybody already knows. Forty-five pounds sits in MidWest's 36-inch band, so that is the starting estimate and nothing more than that.
Now the two measurements. Nose to the base of the tail: 31 inches. Floor to the top of the head, standing: 24 inches. MidWest's 36-inch row publishes a maximum dog length of 33 inches and a maximum dog height of 26 inches, so both clear, and 36 inches is confirmed rather than assumed.
Had the same dog measured 35 inches long — a long low build at the same weight — the 36-inch row would no longer cover it and the answer would move up to the 42-inch size. That is the disagreement the tool exists to surface: the weight chart gets the long low dog and the tall light dog wrong, and the measurement wins every time.
Before ordering, open the listing and read the INTERIOR dimensions. The advertised length is the outside of the crate, and the usable space inside is smaller.
Still growing? Buy for the adult size and fit the divider panel so the space matches the dog you have today, moving it back as they grow. MidWest's own reason is housetraining: spare room inside a crate is what a puppy uses as a toilet.

Or skip the arithmetic and compare the crates we would get, then come back and check the size against the chart below.

How to measure your dog

Length: nose to the base of the tail
Measure from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail — the base, not the tip, because a crate does not need to hold a wagging tail. MidWest says to add a few inches to that figure for comfortable movement.
Height: top of the head to the ground, standing
Measure from the top of the head to the ground while your dog is standing upright, and add a few inches for clearance. Standing, not sitting — this is the measurement people get wrong, and it is why a dog ducks in a crate that looked right on the weight chart.
Then check it against the chart
MidWest publishes a maximum dog length and a maximum dog height for every crate size. Take the smallest size that clears both of your measurements. That margin is already built into their two columns, so you do not add your few inches twice.
If your dog will not hold still
MidWest's own advice: keep treats on hand. A measurement taken off a moving dog is worse than no measurement, because you will trust it.

MidWest's eight published sizes

Reproduced from their chart. The maximum dog height and length columns are the ones to use — they already carry the clearance MidWest asks you to add.

MidWest Homes for Pets published crate sizing chart
Size	Crate length	Max dog height	Max dog length	Dog weight	Common breeds
Tiny	18 in	12 in	17 in	1 – 6 lbs	Jack Russel Terrier, Pomeranian, Maltese
XS	22 in	14 in	20 in	7 – 11 lbs	Papillon, Yorkshire Terrier, Japanese Chin
Small	24 in	18 in	22 in	12 – 20 lbs	Boston Terrier, Chihuahua, Pug, Miniature Poodle
Medium	30 in	20 in	30 in	21 – 40 lbs	Dachshund, Pekingese, Shetland Sheepdog, French Bulldog
Intermediate	36 in	23 in	34 in	41 – 70 lbs	Bassett Hound, Whippet, Beagle, Bulldog, Brittany Spaniel
Large	42 in	28 in	40 in	71 – 90 lbs	Australian Shepherd, Boxer, Border Collie, Chow-Chow, Labrador Retriever
XL	48 in	30 in	46 in	91 – 110 lbs	Collie, Greyhound, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Siberian Husky
XXL	54 in	36 in	54 in	110 + lbs	Great Dane, Mastiff, St. Bernard, Irish Wolfhound

MidWest publishes eight sizes. Their folding iCrate line runs from 18 to 48 inches; the 54-inch XXL is a separate heavy-duty model. If your dog needs 54 inches, check you are looking at a range that goes that far before you compare prices.

Sourced here: the eight sizes, their lengths, the maximum dog height and length for each, the weight bands and the breed examples — all from MidWest's published chart. Rule of thumb, and labelled as such: the two-to-four-inch margin, the interior-versus-exterior allowance, and every judgement about which crate suits your house.

The long version, with the crates we'd actually buy — our puppy crate size guide.

Check the interior dimensions of the exact crate

A crate's advertised size is its exterior. The space your dog actually lies in is smaller, and how much smaller depends on the model — the pan lip, the door frame and the corner clips all take a bite.
Before you order, find the listed INTERIOR dimensions of the specific crate and compare those to your dog's measurements, not the name of the size.
If a listing does not state interior dimensions, that is worth noticing. Ask, or buy the one that does.
Measure the space in your house too. A 48-inch crate is four feet of floor, and the door has to open.

Ready to compare actual crates? The crate shelf.

Buy for the adult dog, then use the divider

MidWest's own recommendation for a puppy: buy the crate for the size they are expected to reach, then use the divider panel to make it the right size while they grow. One crate for the dog's lifetime.
As your dog grows, move the panel back gradually to open up more space. MidWest's stated reason is the housetraining one: excess room inside the crate is what leads to accidents in it.
Check the fit as they grow rather than on a schedule. The dog decides the timing.
The panel fits snug across the WIDTH of the crate, not along its length — MidWest calls this out specifically.
Wire crates fold flat and take a divider; plastic airline carriers usually do not. If you are buying one crate for a growing dog, that difference matters more than the price.
If your puppy is toileting in the crate and is otherwise healthy, too much space is the first thing to rule out — but a dog who is distressed, not just roomy, is a different problem and a vet question.

Crate training itself is a separate job — here is how we'd do the first week.

Sources

MidWest Homes for Pets — What size crate should I get? — How to measure a dog (nose to base of tail; top of head to ground while standing, plus a few inches each), the eight-size chart with max dog height, max dog length, weight band and breed examples, and the divider-panel guidance including the snug-across-the-width note.
MidWest Homes for Pets — Dog Crate Size / Breed Reference (PDF) — The longer breed list behind the chart's examples, and MidWest's own caveat that sex and mixed ancestry can move a dog a size either way.
MidWest Homes for Pets — iCrate product page — Which lengths the folding iCrate line actually sells (18, 22, 24, 30, 36, 42 and 48 inches) and that a divider panel is included.

All three opened and read on 2026-09-07.