I have bought my Pit Bull about 7 cages over the last 10 years. Prior to this one that last cage I bought he was broken within hours of us setting it up. 1st and foremost my dog literally loves this cage. He wants to go into it on his own. Which he has never ever done . 2nd he tried to break out of it but wasn't able to compromise the bars so he gave up. Occasionally he tries again but I guess he remembers it wont work. It is easy to clean the board at the bottom slides out. A nice space for a medium large dog to feel comfy . My dog has no clue the top opens and if you have a dog who is a professional escape artist make sure you don't let him know or he will try and get out from the top. My dog doesn't know the top opens. I learned that particular lesson with the last cage. The only thing " bad " that happen is on of the silver thingies that lock the cage bent but, i bent it back .

This is my first Amazon review. I felt that I needed to save it for a worthy product, so here goes. First let me say that I am an experienced dog mom. I have never needed to seek serious containment of any dog that I have ever lived with.
I have a 1 year old Golden Retriever. She is bad to the bone! She can't be trusted alone for 5 minutes! She actually might be part goat because she eats EVERYTHING!!! Seriously after everything she has eaten, I don't know how she is still standing. No toy, shoe, pvc pipe, patios chair, couch, gate, seatbelt or patio umbrellas is safe around her!!! We have to watch her at all times because she is sneaky! Besides being naughty she has separation anxiety and was no match for the petstore bought metal and plastic airline crates. She destroyed three of them like she was the Incredible Hulk. I was desperate to find something that would work to save my house and keep my curious puppy safe.
I read some negative reviews about this crate, but honestly I was desperate so I purchased it. It was easy to put together. My husband did it and he is not a putter together of the things.
We have had the crate for 4 months and so far so good! It's still standing and more importantly so is my house. We call it the "tiger crate" because it looks like what the circus carries the Tigers in. It's kinda funny to hear my kids, realitives and friends tell my dog to go to her "tiger crate". Everyone usually chuckles over the size and seriousness of the crate when they see it for the first time. It is big! make sure you pick a spot and plan on keeping it there. We keep ours in the office.
I did need to add carabiner locks to the top and front because my dog figured out that if she jumped in the crate hard enough she could wiggle the latches and get out through the top. The latches are very secure so she really had to work at it to get out but she did. She might have magical powers?!? Still undecided about that!
The carabiners solved the problem and no more jailbreaks. They were $2 each at the gate are store. I put 4 on top and 3 to latch the front.
This crate has been a game changer for us. Hopefully it will work for you too. Good Luck! Naughty dog owners of the world unite!!!!

OK, as per usual my M.O. for reviews, I am going to give "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" of this product:

1) The Good:
a. This cage/crate IS INDEED "Heavy Duty" - every one of my huge German Shepherds doesn't even TRY to break out or chew on the bars - while my last steel crate (with thinner steel wire) my Shepherds slowly tore it apart (bar by bar) - the "welds" were just not strong enough on that [other] crate. But with THIS product the bars are absolutely HUGE! (and the welds VERY sturdy!)
b. The latches on this are also very sturdy. I like there are one (1) on top, and two (2) on the front, not just one, like with/on 80% of all other heavy-duty crates. Another reviewer noted they had issues with the latch, but it's only a problem if you DON'T know how to "properly" operate them - the KEY is to close the latch, and then SLIDE it backwards, till it LOCKS into place (when locked, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE for an animal to un-latch it, since it is a TWO way action [but see "UPDATE" (below)]).
c. I LOVE the top door opening, which is VERY handy for popping-the-top to feed your dog (without letting the dog out, the front part). There is one MAJOR weakness though (listed in the up-coming bad/ugly [#3] section).
d. Lastly, the price is Definitely RIGHT on this (over HUNDREDS $$ lower than other "premium" heavy-duty crates).

2) The Bad:
a. One of the bars was bent (minor). Looks like a shipment issue (this isn't surprising, as the crate wasn't/didn't ship with much insulation/foam (To manufacturer: If you want LESS "damage" on your stuff then you had better add MORE foam to these in the future).
b. Two (2) screws were totally USELESS (being cheap/striped). The screws, in particular, were/was one of the 12 that secured the latches. It was OK since I easily found them at the local hardware store (I could have contacted the vendor but I felt it was faster just to get it locally). - (To manufacturer: Please think about providing an "extra" screw or two, for possible problems/defects [like this]).
c. The lower trays are not really "secured" much. I was afraid that the dog would be able to "scoot" [or slide] the grate tray out the backside, but so far, it hasn't happened. I'll probably have to get some self-drilling screws to secure these on the back-side a little better. The crate does come with a "support" bar (in the center), but it is somewhat useless since a welded piece came off during shipping (so it may still "support" but not "secure" much) - but it hasn't diminished the crates overall effectiveness much, so this is NOT a major mark against.
d. I am "concerned" [a little] with the "plastic" wheels, since these may not last (I hope I can find/and modify some more [sturdy] steel wheels, in the future).

3) The UGLY:
a. The most "ugly" thing with this item is the design of the TOP door. When I first tried to use (open) it, it surprisingly SWUNG open [backwards]...so FAST, that I couldn't catch it in time. In the process, it damaged [greatly] the steel mounts - so bad, that they bent (and almost broke). For better (or worst) the top door is VERY heavy, so be VERY careful when you [first] open it. In fact, if you don't want to damage it then I would suggest you "modify" it, like I did, by adding a thick rubber door stop (on the back) and/or screwing in two "support" cables, on both sides of the top door (so that it can't swing all the way back [wards]), as found [again] at the local hardware store - (To manufacturer: I feel this is a design "flaw" - How about adding this [door stop/protector], or cable, on ALL future crates).

Overall, believe it or not, even though I SOUNDED more critical - there really wasn't much "bad" and/or "ugly" with this product. I would say, as a percentage, that there was about 70% good and 30% bad/ugly - so to sum it up, I can say I'm VERY HAPPY with this purchase/product.

There was/is a competing product in Pro Select Empire Cage - LARGE - but cost A LOT more then this one (with that kind of money, I'd rather buy an ENTIRE Kennel [at Costco] ;-)

So for the PRICE, it is the BEST "Bang-For-The-Buck!"

PS/FYI - If you'd like to get a really GREAT laugh then please check out the YouTube Video (titled: Pitbull Escapes From Steel Crate - by Tristan Smith). It shows a HILARIOUS pit bull, tearing apart a "heavy duty" cage (that looks VERY similar to this one! -- [only KIDDING! - This product is GREAT!]) - the video is FUNNY Nevertheless!)

>>>>> UPDATE: Well!!! It HAPPENED!!! - Surprisingly one of my dogs was able to UN-LOCK the front door latches. I must admit, that I was somewhat SURPRISED by this, as I always "heard" about/from other reviewers [A LOT] about the latches being a problem, but for Months NONE of my [5] (other) dogs could figure out how to un-latch the doors, but then recently [as of Nov 17th, 2014] my SMART female Shepherd escaped from the front entrance (un-locking BOTH front latches).

In the short-term, I used some standard tie-wraps to properly secure the door, but this is a PAIN cause you have to cut/add these constantly/daily, so needed a more permanent solution.

I tried to find some large "climbing/climbers" metal latches (as others had mentioned) as double-locks, to support the original door latches, but NOTHING is/was big enough.

Then I found these clamps (which worked PERFECTLY!) - IRWIN Tools QUICK-GRIP Handi-Clamp, 2-Inch (59200CD)

(There is ONE drawback to using this clamp - since it's Plastic the [smart] dog will try to "Chew" this off - but if you use some HOT sauce on it then this should "discourage" chewing.)

So LISTEN UP ALL!! - LEARN from me, and my experiences!!! (The latches WILL [eventually] be "figured out" by a SMART dog, but you can use "Clamps" (like the ones I suggested), or, steel chains (as others have suggested) to easily have as a "back up" security/lock.

Lastly, the metal grate [floor] so far is also a PAIN [still], but have found that placing a blanket within the crate does minimize (somewhat) the grate "shifting" around.

Other than that, I hope this helps (the People Mad over the latch, that is). --- Again, even with the few shortcomings, it's STILL my opinion that this is [still] the very BEST heavy duty crate out there, for the money$$$)).

I've had the crate for a week and so far I'm liking it had to get the crate because my dog recently underwent surgery and he needs to be confined for a while. Features that I do like is that the door comes off easily and I'll slide right back in so I'm that way the dog can go in and out of the crate on his own and not feel trapped. I also like the wheels and how it's easily movable from the living room back into the bedroom. I only gave it a four-star because the wrench that comes with the crate is a little bit too big for the bolts and the nuts so if you're not careful you could easily round out the bolts and nuts on the crate. Another downfall is that the latches appear to be flimsy and if they ended up failing on me I'm going to end up going to Lowe's and get something a little bit more sturdier. Another thing is that the hinge points the welds don't look great but as I stated before my dog's recovering from surgery so he's not rowdy a bunch. Rowdier dog might break the welds but I'm pretty sure that it can be easily fixed with some hinges from Lowe's or Home Depot. Another thing I noticed that would help a lot of people is that the catch pan can fit on top of the bars where the little mess great goes for support as an added support so the little mess great doesn't get broken as I've noticed in a lot of previous reviews. Yeah that leaves you with not being able to have a catch dish for any accidents that may happen but if your dog is house trained it's perfect. Other than that it's got everything that I was looking for, it appears sturdy nice thick bars and it's perfect size for my 55 pound Labrador. The biggest mistake people make with crates as they get them too big for their dog which causes them to damage the crate because they have too much room to play around. What you're really looking for is something where it's big enough for them to comfortably lay down in and turn around any bigger than that and your dog becomes destructive because he can.

Great cage, but I did have some issues with getting the locks to work smoothly