Those of you who use plastic kennels - Page 2

I'm using X-large vari-kennels, 40" x 27" x 30"; plenty big enough for a large dog.

When Caleb lies down in it, he has nowhere to put his paws. He has to tuck them under himself. He's kind of long, I guess. He's pretty big; when I say he's 100lbs...if a "normal" person had him, he'd probably weigh 120. He's quite thin and there's no way he'd fit in most things meant for a 100lb dog. I got a few dog houses "up to 120lbs" yeah, right. One was plastic, and he went into it and the roof popped, lol. I hve a solid metal crate (jail cell type) that was "for dogs up to 110lbs" and he literally can't scrunch enough to shut the door. I use it for my Pit Bull, who it fits perfectly.  Now,  I can put Caleb in a certain style 500 for a short time, but to sleep in, he's too big and no way would they ship him in it. He doesn't really curl up; he's never been the curl up kind of sleeper, so that's probably part of it. He's more of a sprawl all out and make himself as big as possible. I really only crate him if my other male is loose. I used to have a Furarri and I liked it for the reason you stated, but Caleb never fit in it because of the way it's angled and it's not tall enough. 

And on another topic, 4pack,  I haven't forgotten you and hope to have good news to send your way very shortly;-) Things just haven't gone as planned lately. 

LOL...maybe I should have qualified "large" by saying pushing the upper limits of the standard.  I haven't sticked him but I'm guessing he's every bit of 64 and pushing 65cm and currently between 85 and 90 lbs.

LOL Jen I forgot about that...could use it though. Just too busy to think.

Argh, me and my big mouth, lol. Gotta go reminding people. 

Keith, the "large" one I'm talking about is 26 -26.5 1/2" at shoulder, so not ginormously huge and oversized, but very heavy boned. There are dogs who weigh far less who are much bigger, actually. Like I said, he just isn't a curl-up type like the others so he looks really uncomfortable in a normal 500. He's definitely a big boy, but he's not a monstrosity by any means. 

Whoohoo! I just got a phone call and I think you'll be pleased;-)

Sorry everyone; didn't mean to derail the thread. Just saw someone I'd been meaning to email and it was just too easy. 

Back to plastic crates...

I would look on craigslist; I would not buy a new one if I could help it. I have found several that were used ONCE to ship a dog and never used again. You can save lots of money!

I bought one of the green/tan Remingtons at Tractor Supply earlier this year for the back seat of my crewcab, and I think it's a piece of crap.  The spring in the latch is weak, and I have to carefully and individually line the top and bottom holes.  It's of the exact same mold of brown/tan one I purchased at Walmart two years ago, except the latch on the Walmart one is much better quality, and secures quickly and easily.  I took it back to exchange it, and every crate in the store had the same crappy latch.

I like the Vari-Kennel models, with the metal side windows.  Ozzy has destroyed multple crates with the plastic side slits, beginning by hooking his teeth in them.  But, the 700 series Sky-Kennel or Vari-Kennel has withstood the usual punishment. 

I was at Farm and Fleet last night and looked at crates, and not only have the prices gone up on the Remingtons, but they seem flimsier all around. I bought a great one there several years ago-only paid $46.00 for it, it had wheels you could slide in which was great for whizzing a big dog through the airport, and it was pretty heavy duty. It was so nice I had it sent back to me after I shipped the dog because the buyer didn't want it. 

Seems like everything, crates included, has declined dramatically in quality. My crazy best friend had a meltdown over the piss poor construction of modern equipment so he just made himself a huge dog box for his truck out of super solid hardwood...the kind you get from the sawmill where the dimensions for a 2x4 are actually 2x4. It weighs about 600lbs and took 2 hours to load it in there, but it oughta last a while. 

I looked at the Remington crates at Menard's, who used to have the best prices on Vari-Kennels, and my impression of the flimsiness is the same as Jenn and Daryl report.