The 54 is pretty freakin' big, I'm just saying. My Pooka bear is 180 lbs and 33 inches at the withers, and he fit in it just fine. He couldn't stretch all the way out into a superman pose, but then he was only in it for very brief periods of time when we couldn't be there to supervise him.
I use the past tense because he's been crate free for probably over a year now - but he was just as tall then as now, and he fit in the Great Dane-sized crate just fine. It really is HUGE.
The alternative is to buy an Xpen or make an Xpen by gating off a small room, like a laundry room, a kitchen, etc.
I tried a soft-sided crate for Nanook at the first Canadian Newf Nationals we attended - since the dogs were mandated to be crated when in the room. He slept in it for a week or two before the event, getting used to it, in our bedroom. When we traveled to Canada however was the first time he was crated in it and left alone.
He tore through it like Wolverine and greeted me at the door when I returned from the banquet, tail wagging. And he's NOT a destructive dog.
