I broke this into sections, so that the reader can jump to whatever part they want. Weigh down the top of the crate: We almost had a mishap with our small breed puppy (a poo-chi). She was about 6 months old at the time and had been potty trained in it. Since I am early retired, I am home all the time. I also never left the house without her. This is what she became accustomed too. As long as she heard me doing things around the house, she was perfectly fine. I finally decided to take this one step further and leave her in there with the gate locked while I went out for quick errands without her (not more than an hour). She seemed to have no problems with this. When she was 4 months old, my siblings and I threw a 60th anniversary party for my parents. She was crated far longer than normal as the party took place at a catering hall. We got home 5 hours after I left her. Inexplicably, She was able to tear apart a bag of dog food that was sitting on top of her crate as I was staying with my parents for the anniversary party and really didn't have any room to put the dog food bag except on top of the crate. It was inside a brown paper shopping bag and when we got home, my puppy had torn a good section of one side of the bag into little pieces, yet the bag and my dog remained where I left them 5 hours ago. This always puzzled me. Now reading other reviews, it sounds like leaving the bag on top of her crate may have saved her life. It's possible that she was able to stick her nose out enough to get at the bag. Had the 5lb bag not been there, she might not be with me right now. Have bolt cutters nearby: What I did witness scared the living daylights out of me. One time Iwhen I was leaving her behind when she was almost 8 months old and now 8lbs, (I always stay with her for a good hour before I leave just to keep her relaxed.) She already knew what was going to happen and immediately started protesting by trying to bite the bars. I was trying to get her to stop as she has done this before and stopped whenever I asked. Unfortunately, this time, somehow, she fit her snoot through the bars, top jaw on one side of the bar and bottom jaw on the other (this occurred on the vertical bars which are spaced further apart than the horizontal bars). She continued biting despite my asking her to stop. Then in one of the bites, she was completely stuck with the bar in her mouth and her upper and lower jaw not having enough room to slip out. I thought she was a goner as she was starting to struggle so bad and calming her down wasn't working. I tried helping too, but didn't have any good angles to work with. She finally obtained an angle with her lower jaw that she slipped it out and then was able to get the upper jaw out. I was so relieved. She won't even try to bite the bars now, but I never wanted trauma to be the reason why she stopped. While she was struggling, I was going to ask my father if he still had bolt cutters. Just as I went to ask, she freed herself. Customer Service: The part about customer service had nothing to do with this event. I ordered the double door crate for the flexibility of orienting the crate any way I wanted (In fact, I'm about to rotate it 90 degrees today). When I took the crate out of the box and assembled it, ,which was extremely easy, including pushing the clamps down to hold every wall in place, I couldn't figure out where the 2nd door was. It's the first time I was looking at a crate to be honest. There were lots of clamps and other items like the 1 door I did see. I even thought maybe the second door slid up vertical some how, but nope in all aspects. This was a single door unit without a doubt. The box said double door, so I immediately thought someone switched out a double door crate and put a single door crate back in. They have a plaque welded on the side which includes the model number. The model number on this single door crate was, in fact, the model number for the double door crate. Go figure! Amazon customer service referred me to the manufacturer as this was a warranty problem (um, okay?). Midwest customer service asked me to take pictures on all sides including the side with the welded plaque with the model number. I sent the pics in and no less than 10 minutes they called and told me they were sending me a new crate. No questions asked. Beautiful!! Advice #1 (only advice, you don't have to take it :-) ) My dog goes in and out of it all the time because I throw her toys and chews in there to keep her familiar with it. I am using it as a piece of furniture, too. I got a beautiful custom crate cover from Etsy (not unreasonably priced) in a pattern that fits my bedroom. I am looking to get a glass top to make it a table top, too. My puppy is completely comfortable with the crate and I love the idea I have turned it into a piece of furniture without the $400 price tags of furniture crates (well, it will be a piece of furniture once the glass top comes in). The glass top easily showcases the pretty crate cover while protecting it from spills and dust. Once I get the glass top, which is quite heavy, it will also serve to weigh down the top so my puppy can't get stuck between the top and one of the walls. Plus, I am putting other things on top of the table, so it will truly be weighed down well. Advice #2 (only advice, you don't have to take it :-) ) Lastly, don't throw away your old phones. There are apps on android and iphones that help you monitor your pup while you are gone. The one I have functions in infrared light as well, so I can make sure she is okay well into the evening.
