Cheap, Chew proof, Non-toxic, hard surface for a puppy's pen

November 12, 2013 10:54 AM

Husband & I are getting a puppy soon. Since we spend most of our time in our study, we were going to purchase this pen to keep in our study along with his crate. Unfortunately, our study is carpeted. So we need something we can cover a section of the carpet with, help us find it!

We know accidents happen with even the most vigilant housetraining. We also plan to give him a stuffed puppy kong inside his pen sometimes and it would probably be better if slobber and food particles didn't get all over the carpet.

I first thought about getting one of those hard plastic chair mats that people put rolling office chairs on, but those are surprisingly expensive! If there aren't any better options that is what we'll do though.

Looking for something cheaper, firm, that is relatively chew proof (he'll be with us all the time so we'll be watching), easy to clean in case of potty accident, and is non toxic hopefully (free of BPA & phthalates).

There's got to be some sort of material I could go to home depot and get for him. Thanks AskMe!

posted by long haired child to Pets & Animals (11 answers total)

Response by poster: We are getting the "8 panel" version of the pen I linked to in the post, thanks!
posted by long haired child at 10:55 AM on November 12, 2013

Response by poster: Also, we are near an IKEA if we could get something there.
posted by long haired child at 10:59 AM on November 12, 2013

You could look into getting a piece of linoleum.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 11:38 AM on November 12, 2013

Lay out a sheet of THICK plastic sheet, cover with cheap ceramic tiles. Select sizes, or a combo of sizes, that will be a bit larger in both directions than the pen so the carpet is very safe. Cheap tiles are easy to find and since the use is protective, find close out or remnant tiles. Monitor the plastic until the little guy is trained. Then soon enough the entire pen could be gone and you still have tiles to put under an outside water dish or potted plants to save a deck or whatever. Tiles never die they just break.
posted by Freedomboy at 12:04 PM on November 12, 2013

Those chair mats *are* surprisingly expensive new, but they're abundant and cheap on Craigslist.
posted by carsonb at 12:26 PM on November 12, 2013

Linoleum would work great.

I don't agree with the heavy plastic sheet idea and tiles. That is protecting the carpet but makes a very slippery, unstable, cold and uncomfortable surface for a puppy, even with a blanket over it. You could do a plastic sheet and those foam mat things that interlock like for kids' play areas. Can't vouch for the ingredients of the foam things, though.

If you use the plastic chair mat, please put some (washable) blanket over it that won't slide around too much.

Really, with a little pup, a thick dog blanket of some kind (get two, so one can be in the wash :), is enough. If you are right there, an accident can be stopped midway most of the time and sooner than it can get through a blanket. I did the blanket thing with my two when they were pups and it worked well for us. Add a little Petastic or Nature's Miracle to your kit and you're all set.
posted by AllieTessKipp at 12:40 PM on November 12, 2013 [1 favorite]

You actually want something with a bit of a lip to contain any wet accidents, otherwise on a hard plastic surface, the liquids could just actually just roll and drip into the carpet anyway. Try looking into buying the bottom "trays" of large crates. Or getting the something like the office floor mat but putting old towels from the thrift store around the bottom of the pen to keep spills from hitting the carpet.
posted by HeyAllie at 12:48 PM on November 12, 2013

What about a mattress protector designed to immediately absorb liquids? (I have a puppy and it only took about a week to get him completely housetrained, so you may not want to spend a whole lot of money on a solution.) You could also set one of those cheap plastic kiddie pools in in the pen, with blankets and toys. It would keep any wet spots contained.
posted by Ostara at 1:07 PM on November 12, 2013

Hi! biscotti breeds vallhunds, so every couple of years we have a litter of puppies from newborns through at least 8 weeks (and then longer for any keepers).

We use... remnant/scrap vinyl flooring that is a little bit bigger than the whelping box / puppy pen, and we cover the vinyl with towels we don't care about. Vinyl is cheap, spill resistant, and I've never seen any sign that puppies were trying to chew on it.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:12 PM on November 12, 2013

(I'd suggest that the above suggestions are fine, but approach overthinking this particular plate of beans or using a sledgehammer to swat a fly; simple and basic works just great)
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:13 PM on November 12, 2013

For our puppy, we originally had a plastic sheet at the bottom of his crate, but he seemed to find it uncomfortable. We ended up just buying a cheap and large rug (from the grocery store believe it or not) and trimmed it to fit the shape of the pen. Since it was cheap we didn't worry about it getting stained, and the puppy had something comfortable. On the few times he had accidents, it didn't seem to soak through to the floor underneath.

Another option is to use these whelping pads from EZWhelp. Since my dog is 6 pounds, I use one of these as a pee pad within the house (very absorbent and doesn't soak through the bottom). They are machine washable. You could just buy one in a giant size and put it in the bottom of the crate, and it would be nice and comfortable for the puppy.
posted by LaurenIpsum at 1:21 PM on November 12, 2013