EXERCISE PENS

Here's the thing about exercise pens.  They will scratch the floor, edges are often rough and can cut fingers, paws or big wagging tails, collars and tags will get caught on the wires, they pinch your fingers when you fold them up, they mark up the walls, they are noisy, but they are a most excellent tool in dog training. Someone is yet to invent an exercise pen  that doesn't do all of painful things mentioned above, so we work with what we've got. Wear leather gloves when folding up an exercise pen, be careful of the flooring you set the pen on, protect walls with a towel or table cloth draped over the pen, take collars and sweaters off dogs in x-pens, have enough enclosed space to accommodate your dog's tail within the pen.
The exercise pen is not intended to "contain" an unattended dog. It merely keeps the dog "over there" while you are "over here" and gives the dog it's first private space.  Space is a thing which is earned. If your pup has the run of your house, you are in serious trouble in more than one way. Only trained dogs should be allowed onto the carpets. Same as the crate, dogs must learn how to stay inside the boundary of the exercise pen. Also, your dog must be crate trained before you allow more space with the exercise pen. 

There seem to be three types of exercise pens.  The best ones are made up of eight plain panels linked together. The ones in a permanent circle drive me nuts, any doors or gate in an exercise pen are problematic sooner or later. Plain panels allow you to set the pen in a variety of arrangements. Pens can also be set outside to keep young dogs out of garden areas or to set out a potty area.



Be careful of the flooring you choose to put the exercise pen on



Use the exercise pen to block off a space for your dog to be in, but he must not jump or dig at the panels. Yell at him if he does.