Zoso, my 14 month old Mal, adores his crate. Him and Buck (4 year old husky/Rott) take turns sharing it when I'm home to take naps (one lays by the door and the other in the crate and they periodically switch). He also gets fed near the crate when I'm feeding Chicken Soup or in the crate when I'm feeding raw. The problem is, he's broken 4 crate doors getting out of them by pushing the doors down. One metal folding crate (which he hates) and 3 plastic airline crate doors (Vari Kennel style). Though he gets plenty of exercise (30-60 minutes of running just about every day and another 15-20 minutes of obedience training), he still chews and shreds when he's not supposed to if I am gone all day at work. He can hold it just fine for 8 hours, but despite having an abundance of chew toys, he'll still manage to find something to shred or chew if he gets out of the crate. I would love the $500 metal crate Ed has, but that's out of my price range for the moment as I'm planning my wedding in 5 months. Any other ideas for an escape proof crate?

You need to break your future hubby in right. Buy Ed's crate and shorten up on the wedding bling. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Well, the average American wedding nowadays is like 20K. We're looking to spend no more than 3-5K (not including the honeymoon). But future hubby is just now graduating with his bachelors and I'm just getting done with my masters. When the money starts rolling in from me being a big fancy pants vet (har har!) in 10+ years, then we'll see! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Maren,
I finally just plopped down a ton of cash to buy two Alum. crates made for my van, and I've been doing dogs for 30+ years now - so I understand the sticker shock you must have gone through when you saw the cost of top quality crates.

Short of getting the better quality crates, you can try using bungee cords across the Veri-kennel door, but it's not a really good method.
A strong dog, once it learns that it can "pop" open a Veri-krate door, just doesn't leave you many options besides getting a stronger crate. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Good luck on getting married!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

HI Maren,
Depending on how handy you or your fiancee are you can try drilling a tiny hole in either side of the front of the crate just large enough to slide a metal bar through as extra reinforcement for the door. it isn't the most aesthetically pleasing or convenient solution but it is inexpensive and works pretty well from what I have seen.
You can either put in one vertically in the center 9where most dogs punch out from - because the door flexes there) or put a couple of them horizontally across .
Nick

Thanks Will...I bet those cost a pretty penny! I have an Impala and my fiance drives a Camry. I keep saying one of these days we'll need an SUV or something just for the dogs...I've wanted a Subaru Outback for quite some time for just that reason. I think he'll probably figure out how to chew through the bungee cords if they are even close to where he can reach.


Thanks Nick. I have a soldering iron I use to burn holes through the plastic Rubbermaid containers I use for my python's cage, so that might work as a drill might crack the plastic.

PetEdge sells a medium (size for Mals & Rotts, etc.) STEEL crate on wheels with slide-out bottom drawer (like a bird cage) for $250, and a GIANT size for $350 -- A friend of mine calls it "the gorilla cage" because his Destructo-Dog (Akita) can't wreck this one <:-)

Nick,
I tried that - it worked with one dog, but another managed to break the plastic where the hole was drilled, so I was not only out a crate door but the whole crate also. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Man....high drive dogs can be such a pain.....