In the past I’ve only fostered small dogs, but a few months ago I decided to try to foster a larger dog. She is a shepherd-kelpie mix and about the same size as my dogs (40 pounds, mediumish size).
Never in my life have I had a dog that hated the crate as much as she did. I use standard collapsible wire crates and have never had an issue with them with any other dog. Enter new foster.
First, she escaped by unlatching it from the inside. Okay, I’ve had that happen before. No problem. I put carabiners on the top and bottom of each door so that wouldn’t happen again.
I come home to find she’s managed to break the carabeners off and squeezed through a four-inch gap between the crate and the door. Truly shocking. In the roughly two weeks we had her she’d managed to escape every time left alone in the crate and also managed to pry the bars apart. She trashed the crate and it was obvious this wasn’t going to work.
I talked to a shepherd-specific dog trainer and she recommended the Ruff Land™ Dog Kennel. It’s made of plastic, not metal, which is safer for the dog and lighter to carry which was nice. She was unable to escape this crate and while she did scratch up the inside a bit it was just minor cosmetic damage. I can’t guarantee this crate will work for every dog, but it certainly was a life saver with this particular foster dog. If you’re struggling I highly recommend giving it a try. It’s on the pricey side but in my experience was 100% worth it.
You can buy them through their website, but they are also available through other stores like L.L. Bean and Cabela’s. They come in a variety of sizes, too, I bought the Intermediate size for this medium-sized 40 pound dog. It was a bit on the small side, I thought, so consider that when choosing your size. Photos above and below from the Ruff Land website.
This is a great option if you’re looking for a crate for escape artist dogs or a crate for a destructive dog.
aussiedoodleadventures.com 