Clean Run - April 2012 - 41

A Home Away from Home for Fido:

A Review of Portable Crates
By Brenna Fender, photos by manufacturer except where noted A crate is one of the most essential supplies for agility competitors. Most trial venues require that a dog be conﬁned when not on a hand-held leash, and handlers must walk courses without their dogs. Some kind of conﬁnement is generally necessary, and while some competitors use cars, RVs, or exercise pens for this purpose, most use crates. Some bring wire crates or hard plastic carriers, but those are heavy and awkward to carry. Portable crates, known for being lightweight and collapsible for easy carrying, are a popular and convenient method of conﬁnement during trial days and in motel rooms. There are a wide variety of portable crates available. They vary in construction, stability, style, and extras. Recently, I set up eight crates at an agility trial and asked competitors to check them out. They poked and prodded, zipped and collapsed, picked up, and put their dogs in these crates. Then they ﬁlled out my survey, rating the crates. Keep in mind that there is no one ideal crate for all competitors or all dogs. Some dogs are destructive when left in portable crates. They claw and chew mesh or dig out crate bottoms. Some are escape artists that have mastered zippers. Others lunge at passersby or try to move the crate closer to their owners, rolling along like a hamster in a ball. Some do nothing but sleep. Some get hot and need extra ventilation. And sometimes, the handler’s ability to manipulate buttons, poles, and so on plays a large part in crate selection. Some handlers like certain extras, like the ability to lock the crate, or pockets, or included mats, and some don’t care about those things at all. One person’s terrible crate is another person’s ideal purchase. One topic that came up during testing is that some handlers really love the hard-sided, collapsible crates that were formerly made by Nylabone. These crates have a ﬂat top and hard sides that fold ﬂat. Nylabone currently offers a version with a rounded top that is not well received by competitors. I contacted Nylabone to ask if there was any chance that the former version might be remade. Currently, there are no such plans. Midwest Canine Camper crates were not reviewed because the current models have been discontinued and they are working on a new design. After spending a lot of time with these eight crates, I can see that they can all serve different purposes for different people. By opening and closing them multiple times, and really looking at them in detail, I learned more about what I don’t like in a crate than what I do. I’m pretty ﬂexible about a crate’s attributes, but some things are deal breakers for me. If you spend some time thinking about it, I bet you can determine your own deal breakers and then use this review to help you avoid them. Notes:

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Purchase prices are estimates based on an internet search of vendors. Prices vary widely, so comparison shop. Warranties cover manufacturing defects, not damage caused by dogs. Many of the weights provided “in box” so the crate may actually be lighter.

It’z a Breeze Too
Manufacturer: General Cage, GeneralCage.com, (800) 428-6403 Sizes & Prices: XS ($49.95) 20"L x 14"W x 14"H, 5 lbs; Small ($54.95) 24"L x 17"W x 20"H, 7 lbs; Medium ($64.95) 30"L x 21"W x 24"H, 9 lbs; Large ($79.95) 36"L x 23"W x 27"H, 10 lbs; XL ($89.95) 42"L x 27"W x 30"H, 12 lbs; and Super ($104.95) 48"L x 28"W x 36"H; 14 lbs. Warranty: One year with proof of purchase.

Description: It’z a Breeze Too Crates are almost entirely made of durable, waterresistant, coated nylon mesh, except for the reinforced corners, the lower several inches of the sides and around the front door, and the twolayered ﬂoor, which are all made of heavy-duty fabric.
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Clean Run - April 2012

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