I've got a four month old, 35 lb. female black lab that is rapidly outgrowing her medium dog crate. Her mother was about 75# and her father 85#. My best guess is that she will be around 70# max. She's a little smaller than some of her female littermates.

When she sleeps in her crate at night she stretches her legs straight out so that her back legs touch the back of the crate and her head and front legs are jammed against the door. When she starts thrashing around at night she wakes herself (me) up.

I need to purchase another crate anyway, so should I go ahead and get an XL vs. buying a large and having to upgrade to a bigger size later? What size dog crate should a 70+ lb. lab be in?

Thanks!

My pup is 85lbs and I use a crate that is 42x28x32. It gives him some room to stretch out.

my advice would be to buy the largest you can without going overboard.

i have a pointer and she is in a 42x32x36, a little room and would deff. fit a lab... it also has two doors.. you can get them on ebay for half the price as petsmart... i paid $65...

My 70 lb. female has a 42" Midwest wire crate. It's VERY nice and it gives her room to stretch out. The next smaller sized crate could fit her, but I just don't like the fact that she can't really stretch out in it, and she can't even sit up straight in the next smaller size. I only paid $65 or $70 for my Midwest crate from Dunn's (free shipping to boot!).

I've also got a 42" plastic crate, but because of how plastic crates are shaped, you really don't get that much floor space in them. So the only time the plastic crate is used is when she's sleeping in my room where the plastic crate is kept (with the door taken off).