Car crates for Pointer and Bloodhound together

Travel crates have very specific requirements depending on the journey — car travel, plane cabin, and hold cargo all have different rules, and airline regulations vary so much between carriers that getting it wrong can mean your dog simply can't board. To point you in the right direction: what breed and size is your dog, are you travelling by car, cabin, or hold, and if flying, which airline are you using?

Good that you're thinking about them separately — you're right that one size won't cover both. For car travel the key things are that the crate must be secured so it can't slide or tip, ventilated on at least three sides, and large enough that the dog can stand, turn around, and lie down naturally. Before I recommend anything specific: roughly what does each dog weigh, and what vehicle are you putting them in? A saloon boot and an estate or SUV give you very different space to work with.

Perfect — a Volvo V90 or XC90-sized boot gives you around 100cm of width to play with once the seats are down, which makes side-by-side workable if you're disciplined about crate sizing. For the Pointer at 25kg you're looking at an XL crate — roughly 107cm long — and for the Bloodhound at 45kg you need an XXL, typically around 122cm long. The problem with side-by-side at those sizes is the combined width: two hard-sided XXL crates won't sit next to each other in most estate boots. I'd recommend looking at the MidWest Homes iCrate for the Pointer — the 48-inch single-door model is well-built, folds flat, and fits a 25kg dog with room. For the Bloodhound, I'd go one size up to the MidWest 54-inch Ginormous — it's designed for giant breeds, rated to handle a heavy dog, and the dimensions work out to roughly 137x58x64cm. Given the Bloodhound's age, the extra length matters for comfort on longer journeys. You may need to angle them slightly or put the Bloodhound's crate lengthways and the Pointer's crossways — worth measuring your specific boot before ordering.

They're lighter to carry, yes, but I'd steer you away from soft-sided crates for car travel with dogs this size. In a collision or hard stop, a soft crate offers almost no structural protection — the frame collapses and the dog becomes a projectile. For a 25kg Pointer or a 45kg Bloodhound, the forces involved are significant. Hard-sided wire crates like the MidWest range are safer because the rigid frame absorbs impact and keeps the dog contained. If storage is a concern, both MidWest models fold down to a flat panel, so they're manageable to get in and out of the boot when not in use.

Yes — for an older large-breed dog the main things are floor padding and ventilation. Wire floors are uncomfortable on older joints, so put a good-quality orthopedic mat inside the crate rather than a standard blanket, which bunches up and offers no real support. The MidWest 54-inch has a removable plastic tray base so the mat sits flat and stable. Also make sure you're stopping every 90 minutes or so — older dogs, especially giant breeds, stiffen up faster than younger ones and a Bloodhound who's been still for two hours will struggle to get out comfortably. Keep him well hydrated and don't feed him in the two hours before you set off to reduce the chance of nausea.