MidWest LifeStages Double Door Collapsible Wire Dog Crate

This seems like a fairly sturdy kennel (or more acurately, a dog cage). We really need a place to keep our 8-month lab safe while we run errands, etc; otherwise, she'll chew down the house. The kennel shipped direct from Midwest, and took a week to arrive. The bad news: we can't get it assembled correctly. We've watched the videos, read the directions. The back panel will not move properly into place, and the dividing panel will not separate from the back panel. Upon closer inspection, some wires appear slightly bent. Chewy promptly refunded our money (thank you!) and they want us to donate the item to the animal shelter. No animal shelter wants a kennel that doesn't work, and when I tell This seems like a fairly sturdy kennel (or more acurately, a dog cage). We really need a place to keep our 8-month lab safe while we run errands, etc; otherwise, she'll chew down the house. The kennel shipped direct from Midwest, and took a week to arrive. The bad news: we can't get it assembled correctly. We've watched the videos, read the directions. The back panel will not move properly into place, and the dividing panel will not separate from the back panel. Upon closer inspection, some wires appear slightly bent. Chewy promptly refunded our money (thank you!) and they want us to donate the item to the animal shelter. No animal shelter wants a kennel that doesn't work, and when I tell Chewy this, they just sent boiler-plate replies. So now we're stuck with a rather heavy defective kennel that we will have to take to the dump and pay a fee to dispose of. … more

The crate is well built and sturdy so you won't have to worry about it collapsing on your furry friend. I gave 4 stars as the item didn't come in the normal box with the photos on it but instead came in a plain brown corrugated box with a small label affixed to it. There was also a slight chip on a part of the wire. Both of these factors made me thing this was likely a returned item that was repackaged. Didn't look used per se but definitely looked like someone opened and chose not to move forward.

This Midwest crate is not as good as the one I bought years ago. Assembly seemed easy until the back panel did not align with the clamp and the top panel felt insecure. It’s important—and difficult—to position the side panels INSIDE the bottom ridge. Keep rechecking because they pop out of position. The panels are held together by plastic clamps that don’t feel secure, especially for the top panel. I expect them to fail at some point. The side door does not close securely; a determined dog would take advantage of this weak point. The two clamps that hold the folded crate together just fall annoyingly to the floor when the crate is assembled, and the company welded a 2x4” advertising plate on This Midwest crate is not as good as the one I bought years ago. Assembly seemed easy until the back panel did not align with the clamp and the top panel felt insecure. It’s important—and difficult—to position the side panels INSIDE the bottom ridge. Keep rechecking because they pop out of position. The panels are held together by plastic clamps that don’t feel secure, especially for the top panel. I expect them to fail at some point. The side door does not close securely; a determined dog would take advantage of this weak point. The two clamps that hold the folded crate together just fall annoyingly to the floor when the crate is assembled, and the company welded a 2x4” advertising plate on the front that blocks a clear view when my dog is inside. All of these defects indicate that Midwest no longer lives up to its reputation. The crate is heavy which suggests it could stand up to an energetic dog. Both the front and side doors have hinges on the left; the crate would be more versatile if one of those doors opened in the other direction. Three stars for these problems but it’s still probably better than cheaper crates. … more

This crate is a pretty good fit for my dog who is a bit taller than she is long. This way she has the extra height and I can use the divider to keep it from being too long for her. -I was disappointed in how when I opened the box and put it together, one of the doors was misaligned and had to be hit into place with a mallet to be able to close properly. -Additionally, the other door doesn't line up flush with the side of the crate (there is a small gap, which I tried to bend and fix but to no success). I put that door against the wall, so now it's essentially a "one door" crate as I am just using the other door regularly. I don't know if the crate got warped in travel or what, but I didn't This crate is a pretty good fit for my dog who is a bit taller than she is long. This way she has the extra height and I can use the divider to keep it from being too long for her. -I was disappointed in how when I opened the box and put it together, one of the doors was misaligned and had to be hit into place with a mallet to be able to close properly. -Additionally, the other door doesn't line up flush with the side of the crate (there is a small gap, which I tried to bend and fix but to no success). I put that door against the wall, so now it's essentially a "one door" crate as I am just using the other door regularly. I don't know if the crate got warped in travel or what, but I didn't want to go to the hassle of returning this large package, or trying a new one when I didn't know if the next would be any better. -Overall, it is working and I am happy with the size. … more

We have an English Cream Retriever who is not a big fan of crate-time but since purchasing this crate he is coming around to it. The crate was easy to set up and easy to clean. The main drawbacks (similar to what others have said) are as follows: it is quite heavy so it takes some strength or more than one person to maneuver; there was one section of the crate that we had to bang into place when setting it up; and finally, our dog is a very twitchy/loud sleeper so if your dog is similar and you're like us and have the crate within earshot of your bedroom, you may hear some rattling throughout the night! These issues are pretty minor to us so I still highly recommend this product!

The gap between the slide-out tray and the cage is too big. My pup’s leg got stuck in the gap, and she wrenched her lower forepaw when trying to step out of the crate. I’m making a guard to prevent this from happening again, but it should not have happened in the first place.

This crate is perfect. Got the 36" for our standard poodle puppy, and using the divider to make it smaller. It's practically assembled right out of the box, the divider works perfectly, and the door is super smooth and quiet when opening.

I absolutely love this crate. I got my first gsp puppy and i wanted quality and a size she’d be able to grow with. Take advantage of the crate divider ! its so helpful. Traveling with this crate is also easy. I usually just fold it down when i need her to stay the night with me somewhere. Very nice quality as well. Worth every penny.

Love this crate! The crate was a little frustrating to setup - couldn't get the divider out until i pulled and tugged a bit, but once setup it has been perfect for my pup. I love the flexibility of the double doors to move it around to the perfect spot and he can get in and out easily. crate training has totally changed our relationship so i highly recommend this home for a new or older pup!

These are some of the higher rated crates so when I purchased two of them, I was very disappointed that not one, but BOTH, crates had alignment issues. One crate was able to be salvaged but the other will have to be returned. On the returned crate, the front door wall that is supposed to come up and lock in place could not fully do so because a wire at the bottom was bent too far to the side which blocked the wall from fully standing straight. The back door couldn’t lock in place either because the hinges on one side are soldered a fraction of an inch off. It seems like not much, but it was enough to make the crate unusable. On the one that could be salvaged, we had to slam the doors into These are some of the higher rated crates so when I purchased two of them, I was very disappointed that not one, but BOTH, crates had alignment issues. One crate was able to be salvaged but the other will have to be returned. On the returned crate, the front door wall that is supposed to come up and lock in place could not fully do so because a wire at the bottom was bent too far to the side which blocked the wall from fully standing straight. The back door couldn’t lock in place either because the hinges on one side are soldered a fraction of an inch off. It seems like not much, but it was enough to make the crate unusable. On the one that could be salvaged, we had to slam the doors into place to get it to lock on the hinges properly. Once we did it the first time, redoing it isn’t too much of a problem. Our 1.5year old mini schnauzer explored it and quickly cuddled up inside with his stuffed toys while we had dinner. We do intend to get a second one for our other fur baby on the way, we just hope it doesn’t have the same issue. … more