"The Other Door" - The Eskies Approve!
Kim recently told you about a new crate called, The Other Door
After seeing this crate mentioned on this site, I became very interested in it. I did lots of research and was shocked at the prices. I wound up buying the 27"L x 18"W x 21"H size which is the small. I bought mine from Ebay for $120 (including shipping). This was by far the best price I could find anywhere!! When I first received the crate and started setting it up, I was a little disappointed. For the price, it didn't seem as sturdy at first.
In the process of setting up the crate, I've caused the "garage door" to jump its track about 10 times already. Despite that, I really do like the crate and have already received several comments from other dog people about it. This crate is very convenient since it has four doors to choose from. I love the fact that the crate folds down to 7 or so inches.
It's not near as heavy as some of the wire crates I've carried, and it has wheels. This past week, I took the flattened crate out of my RAV, set it up, and rolled it across the agility field. Our very-hyper Eskie Cheyenne didn't break out of the crate when she was in it during class, so if this crate can stand up to her "roughness," it should be fine for everyone else's dogs.
The Eskie model , Cheyenne, is almost 16" tall and weighs 30 pounds to help with the scale of things. BTW, when you fold down the crate, there is nothing to keep it together if you pull it. I guess that's why the brown carrier bag is included (which I'm not going to use). So, I bought the red bungee cords and made something work. There are two wheels on the crate. The handle doesn't "pull" out like it does on one of my crates. I found that the top door doesn't help with loading or unloading Cheyenne. However, at last weekend's trial, I unloaded the crate from my RAV, set it up quickly, and then used the top door to "load" things into the crate. I put my agility pack, water, and other things in the crate and then rolled the crate inside. Piece of cake!! Overall, I really like the crate so far.
Andrea and the Bama Eskies
many thanx for the info on this crate.
am just now doing my research and the pix
and article really helped. will only order
one and see how it works out.
judyr
Let me stress that if you buy one of these crates, the garage door will probably jump its track a good bit when you are setting it up. It's got to be a design flaw that I hope Pet Gear will fix.
I took this crate to a dog show recently and was very pleased with it. However, setting it up and trying to keep the garage door "knobs" in place was so irritating. The fact that I was running late and it was sprinkling I'm sure added to my irritation. Anyway, once I got the crate set up, I had no complaints. I absolutely love the wheels and choice of door openings.
I noticed something in my original entry about this crate that is incorrect. When the crate is folded down, it's higher than "four inches or so." It's more like seven or eight inches (which still really saves on room). Sorry about that.(Cindy, could you please change this in my original entry?)
Andrea and the Bama Eskies
Thanks, Andrea, this is terrific info for this crate! I was thinking of ordering one for my break out artist Harold, but I would need the really big one and I just don't want to spend the money right now. I really liked what I saw online but I would like to see one in person. Have not seen it at any local shows, yet. I tried to get the manufacturer to send us one to try out but they seem to be ignoring my request. (Ha-ha)
Kim
CarGoDogs.com
How did you get the garge door back on track? Mine came out and I cannot get it back in the track.
You just have to force it back in. At first it's a pain to do this. Then, you'll get used to it. My husband has talked about replacing the tabs that jump the garage track with something better. If he ever does, I'll post what he used.
I bought three of these crates for my assorted rescues. Overall, I like them very much. I think they are more attractive than plain wire crates or the airline approved plastic carriers. Two problems I've had in addition to the garage-door-coming-off-track that I thought others should know about: First, the sizes listed are OUTSIDE measurements. The large size was NOT large enough for my 90lb GSD/Dalmation mix and I had to shell out $25 to send it back. Second, the short-end doors are NOT hard for a Houdini dog to get out of at all. More than once I've come home to find my terrier mix loose. I'm not sure if the garage door is any better, because the dog in the crate in that position rarely attempts to break out.