Plastic dog crates with extra sturdy gates
March 20, 2025 12:46 PM Subscribe
I do dog fostering, many of whom are large (50-90 lbs) and have rough backgrounds requiring crating that they don't enjoy. The shelter I work with relies on donations and many aren't in the best shape to begin with and the gates often fail after some battering. I'd like to just buy something high quality that will hopefully last.
1. Plastic only - I have good wire crates already but find some dogs do much better with the personal cave effect of the plastic ones. Putting a covering over a wire one is not a solution, as some will pull the cover inside and chew them up. I've also had too many pee leaking incidents with them with some dogs.
2. I will never fly with this, so how they do for that is unimportant. I do travel with them in the car from time to time, so being relatively easy to take apart and put back together is a plus. (which is also a plus for cleaning them)
3. Budget - $100-300 unless there's a compelling reason to go higher.
4. Bonus points if they have a fitted bed option (I'm aware that some nervous dogs will shred beds in their crate, I only would use it when I'm comfortable that they won't). Even more bonus points if the entire bed is washable, not just the cover.
Thinking about it, if there's something that has both a left/right and up/down latch, that would seem a lot stronger than one or the other but I've never seen one with that feature.
1. Plastic only - I have good wire crates already but find some dogs do much better with the personal cave effect of the plastic ones. Putting a covering over a wire one is not a solution, as some will pull the cover inside and chew them up. I've also had too many pee leaking incidents with them with some dogs.
2. I will never fly with this, so how they do for that is unimportant. I do travel with them in the car from time to time, so being relatively easy to take apart and put back together is a plus. (which is also a plus for cleaning them)
3. Budget - $100-300 unless there's a compelling reason to go higher.
4. Bonus points if they have a fitted bed option (I'm aware that some nervous dogs will shred beds in their crate, I only would use it when I'm comfortable that they won't). Even more bonus points if the entire bed is washable, not just the cover.
Thinking about it, if there's something that has both a left/right and up/down latch, that would seem a lot stronger than one or the other but I've never seen one with that feature.
I went with a Varicrate at home for a while, and it was pretty good value. I ended up donating it to get a more aesthetically pleasing crate after the initial puppy phase, but would have kept it otherwise. It was pretty easy to take apart and clean, but can't vouch for its escapability for 50-90lb dogs. I didn't use it in my car since it isn't really crash tested for car use.
I think the only compelling reason to go out of the budget is to get a crash tested crate. I'd probably start with CPS-certified crates for car rides, which are generally super heavy so I don't think of them as crates that you'd take in/out of your car. They also work because they'd be ratcheted to the anchor points in the car. They're generally super expensive, so we haven't gotten one yet.
We ended up going with a Sleepypod harness instead, which is certified but doesn't mitigate the potential debris like a crate would but would slow down the impact in an accident (and is on the order of $100 instead of $1k). It took a little time getting her used to this harness because it is the most movement restrictive (but also safest as a result). It might not be a great fit for some of your dogs, but just throwing it out there in case you haven't heard of these.
A number of friends swear by Ruffland crates for the car, and a friend's dog made it out unscathed from an accident, so there's some anecdotal evidence. These are a one-piece design, so there's no assembly, which has its pros and cons. Pretty easy to hose down. They're a bit more lightweight and easier to get in/out of the car, and around $300-500 but you might be able to find used ones for cheaper. I'd probably go for this when we get a bigger car.
People often pair the Rufflands with Primopads which have mats sized for popular crates, but my dog isn't very destructive so I've also been eyeing something like this for an easy dog mat, which you can cut to size, but also comes in common crate sizes.
Also would check what would fit in your car and potential dogs-- a friend couldn't figure out 2 crates that could accommodate their great pyr mix and another similarly-sized dog with the available space in the car, so they compromised with harnesses.
posted by sincerely yours at 2:17 PM on March 20
I think the only compelling reason to go out of the budget is to get a crash tested crate. I'd probably start with CPS-certified crates for car rides, which are generally super heavy so I don't think of them as crates that you'd take in/out of your car. They also work because they'd be ratcheted to the anchor points in the car. They're generally super expensive, so we haven't gotten one yet.
We ended up going with a Sleepypod harness instead, which is certified but doesn't mitigate the potential debris like a crate would but would slow down the impact in an accident (and is on the order of $100 instead of $1k). It took a little time getting her used to this harness because it is the most movement restrictive (but also safest as a result). It might not be a great fit for some of your dogs, but just throwing it out there in case you haven't heard of these.
A number of friends swear by Ruffland crates for the car, and a friend's dog made it out unscathed from an accident, so there's some anecdotal evidence. These are a one-piece design, so there's no assembly, which has its pros and cons. Pretty easy to hose down. They're a bit more lightweight and easier to get in/out of the car, and around $300-500 but you might be able to find used ones for cheaper. I'd probably go for this when we get a bigger car.
People often pair the Rufflands with Primopads which have mats sized for popular crates, but my dog isn't very destructive so I've also been eyeing something like this for an easy dog mat, which you can cut to size, but also comes in common crate sizes.
Also would check what would fit in your car and potential dogs-- a friend couldn't figure out 2 crates that could accommodate their great pyr mix and another similarly-sized dog with the available space in the car, so they compromised with harnesses.
posted by sincerely yours at 2:17 PM on March 20
Apologies for the second post but inspired me to look at what some shelters nearby may need and saw that the SF SPCA also has the Varicrates on their wishlist for transporting dogs, so might be a good fit for your needs as well. Maybe other shelters might have recs too.
Thanks for doing all the amazing work you do in fostering dogs!
posted by sincerely yours at 2:51 PM on March 20
Thanks for doing all the amazing work you do in fostering dogs!
posted by sincerely yours at 2:51 PM on March 20
Response by poster: Thanks.
As clarification for any other answerers, my car is not big enough to hold this sized crate assembled, so the crash testing is not important, but might be an interesting metric for overall quality.
Aesthetically pleasing also isn't a big factor - I only see it a few minutes a day.
posted by Candleman at 5:08 PM on March 20
As clarification for any other answerers, my car is not big enough to hold this sized crate assembled, so the crash testing is not important, but might be an interesting metric for overall quality.
Aesthetically pleasing also isn't a big factor - I only see it a few minutes a day.
posted by Candleman at 5:08 PM on March 20
Livestock people use dog crates like this example, which I've just learned is called a varicrate, reinforced with ratchet straps and additional fasteners between the two halves as needed. Having experience with both, pigs are much harder on a crate than even a very large dog.
Like you, I find this style best for dogs as well. Hose it out before switching from pigs to dog though.
posted by stet at 2:28 PM on March 21
Like you, I find this style best for dogs as well. Hose it out before switching from pigs to dog though.
posted by stet at 2:28 PM on March 21
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posted by Candleman at 12:50 PM on March 20