This is a specific conversation about Dog crates — the right size and type — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A Xoloitzcuintli in a British climate is a real thermal challenge — no coat means they lose body heat fast, so the crate setup matters far more than it would for most breeds. Crate size is still the starting point: too large and you lose the den-like warmth retention that makes a covered crate useful; too small causes stress. Material is equally critical here — wire crates that let air circulate freely are the worst option for a hairless dog in a draughty UK home. Can you tell me how big your Xolo is (standard, miniature, or toy), and is this crate primarily for home use, travel, or both?
She's a standard size, about 18kg. Mainly for home use — she sleeps in it overnight and uses it during the day when I'm at work. She's already crate trained, no issues with that.
inparticular.ai
Good — so she's comfortable in the crate already, which means we're purely solving for warmth and comfort rather than training. At 18kg a standard Xolo typically measures around 55–60cm at the shoulder and 65–70cm nose to tail, so you're looking at a crate in the 91–107cm (36–42 inch) range. Does she have a fixed spot in your home, or does the crate move between rooms?
It stays in one spot in the living room. She has a self-heating pad in there already but she still seems cold — she shivers in the morning before the heating kicks in.
inparticular.ai
The self-heating pad is a good instinct but on its own it can't compensate when cold air is circulating freely around her from an open wire crate. The fix is to switch to a plastic travel-style crate — the solid walls trap her body heat and the self-heating pad then actually works properly inside an enclosed space. The one I'd point you to is the Ferplast Atlas 60 Professional. It's a robust hard-shell plastic crate, 91cm long, which is the right fit for an 18kg standard Xolo. The solid construction blocks draughts entirely, the door seals well, and it has ventilation only at the front and sides — enough airflow to be safe, not enough to let heat escape overnight. It's widely available on Amazon UK and is well-regarded for exactly this kind of overnight home use. Keep her self-heating pad inside it and the morning shivering should stop.
Would a crate cover over a wire crate do the same job and be cheaper?
inparticular.ai
It helps, but it's a partial fix rather than a proper solution. Crate covers reduce draughts but wire crates still have significant gaps at the base and around the door, and fabric covers don't insulate — they just block airflow slightly. For a dog with no coat sleeping overnight in a room that drops to typical UK winter temperatures, the difference between a covered wire crate and a solid plastic one is meaningful. The Ferplast Atlas 60 is around £70–£90 on Amazon UK, which is reasonable given it's doing a job a cover genuinely can't. If budget is tight, a covered wire crate with the self-heating pad plus a thermal crate mat underneath her is better than nothing — but the plastic crate is the proper answer for a Xolo.
That makes sense. I'll go for the Ferplast. Is there anything else I should add inside it for warmth?
inparticular.ai
Keep the self-heating pad — it'll work much better now the heat isn't escaping. Add a fleece blanket she can burrow under if she wants to, and consider placing the crate away from exterior walls and off a cold floor if it isn't already. A raised crate base or a thick foam mat underneath helps with floor chill. That combination — solid plastic crate, self-heating pad, fleece, off the cold floor — should keep a Xolo comfortable through a British winter overnight without any active heating.
