The small door at the end is OK but the crate has to be pulled out to open and close it, and is difficult for me to get to to change her bedding, but the larger door on the side, where I should be able to open and close the door, not only for Tikva to get in and out but I can get to from the end of my bed. Easy to get out bedding to change as well. No way can I do that from the small door at the end. How long should a crate last? I know I bought this when Baby Ziva arrived - just after I lost Pereg on 1 April 2015 and only had her for and 11 days before 1 May 2015. And Tikva turned up not long later, having been born on 25 May and with me when she only 3 weeks later. Ziva was the first to use this, or any crate, and she was small. Tikki is even smaller and and plus/minus 6kg is is still small.Baby Ziva would have been a lot bigger. She curls up at her sleeping end but has has enough room to stand up, turn around, and flonk out flat from side to side or length to length. And she is only in it at night. Never during the day. And it is for sleeping only. But I cannot get the side door to close easily - sometimes Tikki gets so frustrated with me. Is the crate maybe too old? It was on display when I bought it although not for long. I think maybe I should telephone Eviyatar and ask him to bring me a new, boxed one, and to put it up for me.
I think a crate should last much longer then the length of time you’ve had yours and I don’t think that it was a display should make much of a difference. I wonder if something got bent and could be repaired.. i just donated 3 crates to a rescue organization that fosters and rehomes older dogs, they were too small for my dogs now. I bought a used one for Katie Mae recently in case I needed it after her spay. She hates it and drools heavily while in it, a waste of $50.. I’ll keep it a few months and probably donate it too. I know that doesn’t help you though..
I still have my first Cavalier crate from 1970, though it just sits in the attic and only gets loaned out for baby puppies these days. It has had a spot weld under the tray but is otherwise OK. In '95 I bought a 36" Rosewood crate for transporting Mia Lurcher. It has lost its shine in the shed, but it is so heavy to move around. It hasn't fitted in any of the cars we have had since the one it was bought for - though, strangely, it did fit in my little old Cinquecento. I think it is probably time that it was rehomed to a rescue.
Maybe it is Tikva's weight that moves the door down, because I always close it after I have changed her bedding and it closes with no problem. The crate is definitely large enough for her as she has more than enough room to move around in it.
