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4.5
Owen is an 8 year old, 80 pound staffy. Owen was crate trained as a puppy, but he wound up developing a lot of anxiety around being contained. As an example: he once locked himself in our bathroom, so he ate a hole in it. Owen’s favorite snacks include: chocolate, crayons, pacifiers, and anything else silicone… or anything on the counter or table. After a series of concerning binge-eating escapades, we decided it was time to re-introduce Owen to crates.This crate checked all my boxes1) I wanted it oversized so that Owen had plenty of room to get cozy like the diva he is. Admittedly, I didn’t realize quite how BIG this would be… but he doesn’t seem to mind and we found a place to shove it.2) Owen could not escape from it. I knew that Owen would test the limits of anything we put him in, so I wanted to make sure his crate showed no vulnerabilities. I knew the second he realized how bendy the cheap wire crates were our mission would fail. He would destroy it, know he could continue to destroy it, and then be agitated trying to keep destroying it. This thing is STURDY. Sure, it arrived a little banged up and he’s put a couple dents in the rail, but it didn’t bend out of his way at all.3) I wanted pull out trays and wheels for easy cleaning of messes. This has come in handy as an “oh shit” tray to slide under him if he’s vomiting his treasures up in the house, as well. I love that this crate has two trays instead of one GIANT, cumbersome tray. Assembly was pretty straight forward, but definitely required two people.4) The door needed to be able to stay open and not be obnoxious. An open door policy is key to introducing the crate and letting the dog get comfortable with their new space. Any accidental lock ins would undo our progress. This door could use something to keep it open, but it hasn’t gotten stuck on its own.Owen is learning to love his crate, affectionately dubbed The Dinosaur Cage. His big bed fit nicely in it, and I’ll be adding some pillows around the edge to fill the gap. I hope to figure out a good fabric cover solution to make it cozier, as well as a table top cover to make it functional.I got this crate after my lab hurt her back paw escaping from a less sturdy crate. I knew she was experiencing some anxiety, but I felt for certain she could not break out of this crate or injure herself. During a storm Monday she got out of the top. So I zip tied it together and gave her an all natural anxiety supplement the next day because more storms were expected. She isn’t a huge dog. She weighs 53 lbs. Yet while she was on the anxiety supplement she was able to rock and roll the crate all over my room and crash it into a corner. Then she bent one metal bar in and skinned her chest up trying to get out the hole she made. Thankfully her injuries were superficial, but they could have been much worse. I rolled this thing out to the dumpster and went back to the flimsy crate. Yes she might escape from it, but it won’t threaten her life while she’s at it.This is a very study cage, but if your dog has anxiety like mine, invest in small pad locks, the carabiner's won't stand a chance.The crate was easy to assemble, it's heavy, so would be easier with 2 people, but it was just me and I had it together in about 30 minutes. It moves easily on the rollers. But I may take them off and see it it'll slide under my dining room table.Great crate for the money!!!I bought this because my shepherd mix has destroyed two other wire kennels, almost killing herself in the process of escaping through broken bars. It seems sturdy though the latches are a little loose, but so far my dog hasn't attempted to get out so they haven't been truly tested yet. The big thing for me was the bars at the bottom of the kennel. They really are a bit too narrow and make it (appear) very uncomfortable for my dog to be in, especially standing in any capacity. I bought a cheap foam mat (like the kind you get for in front of the kitchen sink) to put down so she is more comfortable. I also worry that the catch pan underneath is just a bit too small, it barely goes edge to edge of the kennel above and since my dog is a freak and pees and poops when she gets left alone, I fear that when she pees its going to miss the pan and go on the floor. Luckily I salvaged the larger pan from the last kennel she destroyed and put it under the wheels of this kennel as extra protection. I like that it is on wheels. I like the size of the bars and the width between them, SO FAR. We also ended up buying a dog camera so we (I) can monitor her behavior when I am gone. Being able to speak to her through it has made a big difference I think. I can kind of "talk her off the ledge" when she starts panting and getting anxious. So I guess I don't know if the crate is good or if its the camera, but so far she hasn't caused any damage - though we also only left her for a couple of hours at a time....I had a sturdy crate and sold it when I moved to a different state. I bought two different ones after I moved and my Onyx was able to get out, he is only in it when we are sleeping, other than that, it’s his safe place. He love it too, but like children, he wants to be omit when he was to be,We’ve had this crate for our 100 pound German Shepherd for a few months now & he has not been able to escape or break it open. We had 2 previous wire crates that he broke open, bent the door open & was able to move it several feet. My only observation & why I didn’t give it a 5 star overall is because the floor base should have maybe a cris cross pattern of the metal, even my large dogs’s paws can go through the bars & he felt uneasy in it until we put a wood base on the floor.
