MidWest Homes for Pets 36-Inch LifeStages Crate for Medium-Large Breeds, 41-70 lbs, Double Door Folding Dog Crate with Divider Panel, Leak-Proof Tray & Secure Latch, Heavy-Duty & Easy to Assemble

I purchased many many crates for my dogs in the past 45 years, I bought the cheapest and I bought the most expensive. You used to have to get them at the pet store and pay anywhere from $90-$200 for standard great. Thank goodness for Amazon. I just added to my "stable" of dogs with an eight-week-old golden retriever named Bentley. Now he's just a little guy weighing in at 12 pounds but he will get bigger. Right now he fits in a small crate and I mean fits. He can get in it but he can't lay down or turn around. I needed to get him a crate he can grow into so I went online to Amazon and looked around. I saw my old friends Midwest who stood by me with durable crates during my dog show days. They always made a sturdy crate out of heavy-duty material that was well engineered and well put together. It's been a few years since I bought a crate and a few things have changed. Pretty much now everybody offers a folding crate that wasn't so back in the day Midwest was one of the first to offer that feature and they did it well and they still do. They have a variety of sizes more so than most manufacturers so I chose the middle middle size which is a little bigger than other manufacturers middle size. Some of the features I like was this one has double doors, one on the side and one on the end. Each closes and locks sturdily and securely with two hasps on each door. Nowadays the bottom tray is made of plastic instead of steel so with a little lighter and more resistant to corrosion and easily cleaned. I ordered this crate and it came promptly from Amazon as I am an Amazon prime member. It was packaged well and arrived without damage and I had it set up in less than 5 min.. The only problem was the location where I was going to use it was against a wall and the doors were all wrong. Well I solved that by swapping the ends by bending back four hooks on each end, then squeezing them tight again to finish up, this took all of 3 min. to do in my crate or I should say that Bentleys crate was ready to go. One of the big advantages of having the second door is that when I wanted to introduce Bentley to crate I left both doors open so he could wander in and out at his leisure. I placed a few toys and water bowl in their as well as a wee wee pad and some bedding. He was curious and wandered in and out. I will admit however, the first night he was full of screams and barks and crying for most of the night. It was his first night in a crate. The second night I placed him in the crate and he laid down and was quiet until early morning. When he saw me and heard me moving around a little bit he started vocalizing so I took him out. The Crate also comes with a divider so you can change the size as your dog grows. At this point I'm not even using divider and giving Bentley full run of the crate. I am really glad that Amazon is selling these and the price is phenomenal. If you go to a pet store I'm sure you will easily over $150 for this crate or poorly made imitation. I really recommend Midwest and I think you'll be very happy with the quality and the operation of this crate. if you're a first-time buyer, check the AKC standards for how big your dog will be, then buyer accordingly. Don't buy too small as you will have to buy bigger later on. I give this five stars I love it I know you will too and it's recommended buy If you found my review helpful please click yes on the button below I really appreciate your support for that I intend to leave reviews to help others make decisions prior to purchase taste upon my recommendations or disclosure and I utilize your reviews to help me with my purchases as well. my reviews are honest factual and accurate thank you

I will say that I do not use this for a puppy, so I cannot state how it stands up to the excitement, activity, digging, and chewing of a puppy. I bought this for my older dog who suddenly and unexpectedly needed crate rest to heal a spinal injury. He is a ~55-60lb border collie, and this crate is perfect for his size. It seems huge in our living space, but he can just stand up (with a crate bed in it) without hitting his head on the top. He seems to like the space and has enough room to move around. He doesn't dig at it (did once briefly but not enough to tell how well it would stand up to regular scratching and digging). It was very easy to put up, which was nice. It's heavy and not something you want to be moving around much (we thought we'd move it up and down stairs regularly, but have decided not to due to its heft and our disinterest in having to take the pad out and fold it down each time). I do not think this will fit through a regular doorway when set up, but we have not tried. Crate water bowls work great on the wires of this, you can put them at any height. Having 2 doors is nice because it gave us options to figure out how to fit it into our living space where he could still be part of the family, but now we don't use 1 of the doors as it is against a table. (So if you really don't need the 2 doors and know where you'll put it to make 1 door work, don't pay extra for the 2nd door.) We keep that extra door latched and padlocked just in case he wanted to try to dig or shove the door open when we were gone for an extended time. (I worry he'd be able to unlatch a latch enough to get his head or neck stuck, as he's always been adept at using his nose/head/neck for opening gates and doors meant to keep him out.) My one concern is the latch system on this crate. It is fine and easy to use for people, but I don't trust that a dog who is digging excitedly at the latches and/or pushing at the sides wouldn't get lucky and pop the latch up and eventually open, so when we leave we also use carabiner clips on the one door we use for entry/exit, to be sure the latches don't pop up. It works well and gives me peace of mind that I won't arrive home to an already-injured dog with his head/neck stuck partway out of the crate. The IMK9 "travel dog bed for car or suv...48x28 size pad for large pet crate" works fabulously in here. It fits perfectly, and I thread the snap strap (for keeping the dog bed rolled up if not in use) through the crate wires and snap it closed in order to keep it in place. (Again, this is an older dog, so it works well since he's not too active or hell-bent on moving this pad around or digging under it. It would be nice if there were snap straps on each end to help a dog who might try to dig the pad up, you could strap it around either end of the crate.) You can see my review for that product on its product page. All in all, this was a good purchase for us and I appreciate that the price was affordable as we were not in a place to look around much or take our time deciding since our dog needed a crate ASAP to start healing. We've spent a lot of money on vet care and meds during this dog health crisis, and having to shell out much more than this (plus crate pad and bowls) would have been really hard to do.

Very sturdy material. This brand is known in many facilities as the go-to dog crate. I love it and bought it when my dog was just a puppy. I really like that it has two doors as opposed to just the one seen on similar models. This adds a level of compatibility, like if you have to put it up against a wall that the main door is on, then the side door can be used, or if you want to only have one mode of entry or exit, you can just put the wall against the side door and specifically allow opening from the main door. I would recommend this product to puppy owners with dogs that will become huge like a big husky or great Danes, German Shepherds even as well as Labradors. I have a mixed breed husky/ pitbull and he loves it but it is very big for him- I am sure he's not complaining, but this really is for a big dog. A smaller model would probably be a better fit for a regular sized dog. It is easily assembled and can be folded to fit in the back seat of an SUV or trunk of a car. I am not kidding when I say it is huge. But that's how I wanted it. It has held up well even now that my dog is two years old going on three. When he was a pup and sometimes had accidents inside the crate the inside plastic was easy to clean and drys pretty fast in the daylight. I do not use it very much any more unless my friends' dogs come over for a couple days and I have company over. Two medium sized dogs can be put inside with the included divider- which is another handy thing this crate allows for. The black tray on the bottom has held up great but a friend of mine told me her dog would get anxious and start biting it. If your dog is an anxious biter or chewer, they will be one for all dog crates and desensitization is necessary to allow for proper crate training to occur on any kind of dog crate out there. Do not blame products for your shortcomings as a dog owner because if a dog wanted, they could get out of pretty much anything. All in all, I believe this is a great product for a larger to huge dog or two medium sized dogs with the divider. Or for one spoiled dog who you just think might appreciate a lot of extra space- as in my case. If I had to do it over, I would buy it again or in a slightly smaller size.

first off, the only bad thing I have to say about this product is that the doors are a little tight on their hinges. after a few uses, the loosen up a little bit and I don't even notice it now. we purchased this crate for our pup that came from a rescue shelter. We were informed that the dog would probably grow to around 60 pounds so we wanted to only have to buy one crate that would serve him well from puppy to adult. One thing that we really like about this particular crate is that it came with a divider wall/gate to adjust the crate size as our dog grows. since our dog is still a pup, the crate in its full glory is too big for his crate training. With the wall installed and properly adjusted the crate only leaves enough room for his little bed and doesn't allow for him to relieve himself in the opposite corner from his bed whenever he wants. it is also fully adjustable so you can make his sleeping area the perfect size for his state of growth. With the wall, it forces him to hold it until we take him outside because dogs do not want to "mess" where they sleep. with this feature and a strict schedule, we have never had an accident in the crate with our 12 week old pup. after a week, we had him almost completely house trained! I think we owe a large part of that success to the fact that he actually needs to use the bathroom when we take him out of his crate and he has learned that poo and pee are outside tasks. The adjustable wall/gate feature combined with the overall price was enough incentive for us to buy it. The other crates we looked at in the big pet store ran twice the price, didn't include the divider wall and only came with one door. That leads me to the other feature that we really like:it has two doors on it. This allows for us to have versatility in placement options for our home. We can turn it sideways and fit it under the built in desk in our kitchen and he is out of the way and still safe and comfortable. although two doors is not an absolute must have, it is still nice to have the option available for convenience. About the doors, it is a nice touch that the doors both have a lower and an upper latch. That makes it twice as hard for the little escape artist to get out when no one is looking. (fyi- he hasn't been able to break out yet in spite of his best efforts) another nice touch is that the crate comes with a plastic tray that lines the bottom in case there is an accident. this tray is removable without dissembling any part of the crate and looks to be easily washable although I have not had to wash it yet (knock on wood) another plus is that it arrived almost completely assembled. the only "assembly" was snapping the carry handles onto it. it only took me two minutes to set it up and i didn't even have to read the instructions. I literally unfolded the top, lifted the roof with one hand and folded the end cap pieces up and snapped them into place on the roof ends. super easy to use. and it folds small enough to lay flat in the trunk of our older Nissan Altima. it folds into a 2'x3'x4" rectangle for travel. We are happy that we will be able to take it with us when we go out of town to visit family and not loose a lot of luggage space in the process. Bottom line, it is a great product at an even better price. I would definitely buy another one if the need presented itself.

Having raised and cage trained many dogs from pups, we've usually given the bulky cages away after successful house breaking. We found this to be the best we have owned over the years because: 1) Cage is very sturdy. Others we have used have had much thinner and more easily bent wire. 2) Two doors. Inevitably you need to place the cage in a position where a side door is needed. 3) Divider to constrain puppies. A divider is the way to train a small pup, limiting their ability to relieve themselves to only where they rest. They get it much more quickly. In every other situation, I built my own divider out of plywood. This would have saved me construction time and readjusting as they grew. Another suggestion - Don't use towels or blankets that might absorb urine during taining. Once or twice and your dog "gets it." Introduce a blanket or pad only after they are trustworthy in the crate. 4) Best fold and setup of any cage I have owned. 5) Price. Checked out three big box pet stores. This was a better value for all the items above at a lower price. 6) Liked the plastic tray for our situation as our dog is house broken and not a chewer. Think a metal insert might have been better for pups. Cons: 1) Rough spots on wire end edge at doorways. I used a fine file to smooth out the sharp edges I found on several wire ends. The manufacturer should have done the same smoothing they used on the corners at the door openings. 2) Clips not fully closed. There are metal clips that act as hinges for set up and fold down. Several were not completely clamped close, again making an unsafe edge for you or your pet. A pliers made quick work of that problem. I really wanted to give this product a five. But I just felt the slight safety issue was significant enough to mark it down to a four. No blood should ever be spilled by either pet or owner. Update: The manufacturer contacted me via Email on this issue. Manufacturing mgmt wanted the date code off the unit to remedy the problem I am very impressed by their followup and attention to Amazon comments!

I really like the Life Stages dog crates. My 85 pound lab has the really large one and it's been great. I recently got a puppy that should reach about 55 pounds. Originally, we bought a crate on groupon that was a size smaller than this one and a different brand. It was REALLY flimsy and one of the bars on the top was already broken and came off the frame. I did not trust it so we sent it back. I then looked for the one of the life stages crates. This one is bigger than the one I got on groupon and was only $10.00 more. Once again, I am not dissapointed. The size is perfect and the divider works great. I also REALLY love the double door. Since we're using the divider right now, I can't use the door on the long side because the divider is hooked onto it but it will be very handy in the future. Quality and sturdy construction. My one "complaint" is that the door on the shorter side was a little misaligned so the bottom "lock" doesnt' quite fit. I have to push down on the door to get it to go. However, now that it's been used and isn't so stiff it's much better. I will never buy a different brand of crate again. The one I have for my older dog I bought used and someone I used to live with cut the hinges off the top so it's held together with zip ties (which works!). I'll be buying a new one and it will still be this brand. You can also buy replacement trays for the bottom and they are reasonably priced. Not that I think you need one but the used crate I bought had a cracked bottome tray so I purchased a replacement. That was 3 years ago and it's held up since. The tray slides out also which was REALLY hand for when my dog had accidents as a puppy. I could just slide the tray and take it to the bathtub. I really love this crate and recommend it to everyone.

This is a great dog crate for my new Boxer puppy. It is made well, sturdy, and very functional. The inset piece allows me to make the space smaller while my pup is young to aid in housebreaking. The side entry door gives added flexibility and allows me to place the crate in different areas of my home. The slide out bottom tray makes for easy cleanup. The crate folds down easily which will come in handy for travel. The same crate at local pet shops is almost double the price that I paid with Amazon. I was so pleased with this crate that my daughter purchased one for her new puppy as well. UPDATE: My dog and my daughter's dog, who are now 8 months old, love their crates. I am still very pleased with them as well. Both of our crates look and function as good today as the day we received them. We make frequent trips to the beach and to visit each other so the crates have been taken down and set up over and over again with no signs of wear. I am thinking about adopting another puppy as a playmate for my dog. If I do, I will absolutely order another one of these crates for her. My boxers are on the smaller side so this 36 inch crate is perfect but if your dog will be any larger than 60 -70 pounds (full-grown) you should order the next size up. Update 02/28/2011: I did adopt another boxer puppy and I did order another one of these crates for her. It arrived quickly and without any damage. My new puppy loves her crate and I am again very pleased with the purchase. Update 12/17/11: My older dog has had his crate for about 16 months now and my younger dog for about 10 months. We travel with our dogs at least once a month and one of the crates always goes with us. They are both still in "like new" condition after daily use and travel. My Daughter has purchsed a second once for her new Boxer and I just purchased my third to keep at my new vacation home. I absolutley feel that these crates are worth every penny and that we have more than gotten our money's worth out of all of them. I guess it's obvious that we believe in this product since we now own 5 of them in our family.

This is a high quality, sturdy metal crate. The version with two doors costs slightly more than the version with one door, but is worth it for the versatility. If you're positioning the crate against a wall or near furniture, you will be grateful for having a choice of which opening to use. (You can always use both openings, but I think in most cases people use one door or the other.) We introduced it to our dog by keeping the door open and feeding her treats inside. It's important to not use a crate as doggy jail, and to instead take time to teach the dog to love being in the crate. Even though this is a safe and strong crate, it could still be associated with a dog getting hurt if they are unhappy inside and struggle to get out. That would be true for pretty much any doggie crate. The floor tray is thick plastic. We added a thick dog bed on top of that, and the dog is quite comfortable sleeping in it for long stretches of time. The crate comes with a wire divider. I have never used it, but it seems like it would work fine if one needed it. One would only really need the divider if they were in the process of house training a puppy. Use the divider to limit a puppy's space to only enough room to sleep in, thus preventing them from trekking to the other side of the crate and eliminating there. Once you get accustomed to how it folds and unfolds, it is pretty quick to set up and break down. I can do it in under a minute. We have one that we take in the car on road trips so that our dog can have a crate at hotels and houses we visit. It folds flat and compact and is easy to move around, and not too heavy. I've had thicker wire crates that were heavier and more unwieldy, and I really like the balance of durability and portability that this one provides.