I really like this pen. I’ve been using it for a month now. I purchased the 30 inch for my beagle puppy and I was nervous it wouldnt be tall enough. But so far it is perfect. If I jeed to order a taller one down the line, I will but so far its working fine. I live in an apartment with tile floors in the kitchen. I read a comment from someone else saying you should put something down over tile because pee can soak into the grout lines. I obviously didnt want this. For the first 3 weeks I was buying those rolls of plastic that you put down when you paint. Take my advice and dont do that. It was a hot kess. The puppy had it messed up and bunched up making me fix it multiple times a day, he chewed it up, and its also dangerous. Everytime I walked in the pen the plastic would slide on the tile floor and I about broke my neck lol so I went to menards and bought a precut 6 foot roll of vinyl flooring. It comes 6 foot length and 9 feet of it. I used about 4 or 5 feet of it. Its working perfectly so I highly recommend doing that. It would work perfect on carpet too. Thats really the only down fall for this pen is that it doesnt come with any sort of bottom for people that want to use it in doors. I have also noticed that the vinyl has helped it from moving around as much. And also i have found that if I put the pen in a square shape my puppy doesnt move it around and mess up the shape that much. Ive tried it in every shape and was having issues. I do use the plastic pieces on the pen but I’m not so sure how much it actually helps. I def recommend this pen. I dont use a cage with it. My puppy hates the cage so I just keep a dog bed and a couple blankets in there and he loves it.
Rated 5 out of 5
waiohaiwaiohai –
Quality product.
I am using this product to keep my dog from running under my rig and out on the street. The 4 ft. height fits perfectly under the skirt of my RV. It is already linked together so I just unfold and place it where I want it. When not in use it is going to be just as easy to fold back up and store it in the rig bay. Unless I scratch the paint off I don’t see there being a problem with rust. If you want to use it as described it should make a nice small dog pen. The box it came in was pretty beat up but the product was fine.
Rated 5 out of 5
April Zee –
Very handy!!!
Purchased two of these. My family uses it to put a rabbit at a time in it to get some air and exercise. It is great! My brother has a small yard with no fence and has 3 rabbits. He uses this pen on the grass and will let the rabbit run around in it. My 4 year old niece loves to sit inside with the rabbit. She is now able to play more with the rabbits without the fear of them running off. I also use it to attach to the cage so that they can run in and out for more space. It is very sturdy and easy to fold up into storage. This item has been so handy for us! Thank you!
Rated 5 out of 5
fwa –
Easy to use & Budget friendly – SECOND ONE I’VE BOUGHT
This is the second one I have purchased.I loved the first one so much that I bought another to use for other dog “safety” scenarios both indoor and outdoor. It’s possible to link both together to make a larger area where smaller dogs could wrestle and chase a little. The way these are made, you can tweak the panels in different shapes to accommodate your living situation. Not ugly at all.Comes with tent stakes to secure to grass/dirt area if you need it and have a jumper.Our dogs are French Bulldogs and Boston Terriers. Basically 15lbs to 25lbs. Could work for larger dogs like border collies, brittany spaniels, jack russell terriers, australian cattle dogs. Pretty much up to 50lbs.I will probably be buying 2 or 3 more of these. They are just so handy.
Rated 5 out of 5
Lynda J. –
The Best for Pets!!
I have MANY of these Midwest Exercise pens in different heights. I’ve used them for decades (fostering puppies/kittens, for my own dogs, etc). They fold flat for quick and easy storage. You can link as many together as you want to enclose a large yard. Use them across large doorways — just swing out of the way to walk through. This past summer, after years of trying to decide how to temporarily fence two dogs (8 pound Papillon and 12 pound Poodle mix) into the yard around our summer home (about 1/4 acre) and keep the neighbor’s visiting lab out, I purchased a bunch of these, pounded in a few metal fence stakes, attached zip ties to the stakes (NOT to the fence itself), and clipped the fence to the zip ties. Easy to open or even fold up the fence along the waterfront for our or party use. Kept the lake geese off our lawn! Next year I’ll get some more and use them to surround my vegetable garden. Some of my older ones (years old) that have been used outside alot have shown patches of rust (which I probably could fix with a rust spray), but it doesn’t affect their usefulness outdoors. Ones used inside are perfect. Gates in the fence are (for me) unnecessary; I just overlap one section of gate over part of another and swing to open. Can clip together if your pet challenges the overlapped section. I don’t think I’d recommend for children, but perfect for pets! Caution: Watch the spacing if you have kittens/toy puppies, as I often did. Might need to line the bottom foot+ with cardboard, plexiglass, cookie racks with smaller holes til the pups are big enough not to get their heads caught. Kittens by the age of 6 weeks will climb these fences.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Amazon Customer –
It holds my 90lb lab pup
I love this pen. I got it about a year ago when my Fox Red puppy was a few months old and used it all around the house when we needed to pen up the pup. Now my pup is 15 month 90 lb. teen boy and we use it to crate him at night mostly since he no longer fits in his crate and he likes to sleep in the confines of the pen. Its a great size because even as he has grown to be an extra large lab, he still fits fine and loves the space. What has turned out to be one of the best features of this pen is that it can be shaped how you need it and/or use it as a fence and not make it form a shape at all. Our lab loves his snacks and always wants to “help” us in the kitchen so this pen makes for a great gate/fence to block off any area where you may not want your pup or dog to go.The gate comes with little clips you can attach to ensure the pen stays closed and you dog doesn’t escape. It also has some ground pegs in case you use it outside and done want the dog to push the cage around or knock it over. On the topic of knocking it over, my dog has never knocked it over or escaped when I used the provided clips. Although the pen is a metal wire, it is very durable. I have accidentally knocked it over and stepped on it many times and it hasn’t broken any bars yet. My only dislike is that the pieces that hold the panels together are plastic and after a year of wear and tear and folding and unfolding, the some of the plastic pieces are starting to crack and break, but I assume if it becomes and issue a solid zip tie will suffice in replacing the piece.All in all it is a solid pen and has really come in handy.
6 people found this helpful
Rated 2 out of 5
Alex GAlex G –
Not suitable for energetic puppies, not very stable and not sturdy
We purchased it for our 9 weeks old Miniature Schnauzer puppy. His current weight is about 5-6lbs. Product description clearly mention “dogs: 26 to 40 pounds”. While playpen is easy to install, the construction is not very sturdy and can be moved easily. Plastic “corner stabilizers” are absolutely useless, since they not really work in any configuration but rectangle.We installed the playpen on carpet. With that, our 5-6lbs puppy was able to drag playpen walls, modify shape (we tried octagon and rectangle) and finally climb out using horizontal bars. Attaching images from separate days after having a puppy there for approx. ~2 hours of what was rectangular playpen initially.To sum it up, maybe the playpen is okay for bunnies/kittens/etc., but I cannot recommend it for energetic dog owners of any size.
One person found this helpful
Rated 3 out of 5
Laurie B. Chapman –
Very useful product
I really liked this product. I have a new puppy who chews everything and doesn’t come when she is called. I have these gates in multiple places – one on the grass where we place her to go potty, one around the tomato plants, two across the back lawn so she doesn’t get in the flower beds on the lower lawn, one at the back door so she doesn’t get out if the garage is opened, one at the back of the couch between the hardwood in the kitchen and area rug in the family room so she doesn’t go on the rug. I have two panel ones on each side of the end tables so that she doesn’t get to the underside of the couch and chew the fabric, one at the top of the stairs so that she doesn’t get on the deck and fall off, one by the gate of the chain link fence so she doesn’t slip through the gap between the gate and the fence, and one between my bathroom and bedroom so she doesn’t have an accident on my carpet. We call my home Alcatraz because of all the gates. I kidded that I should be the spokesperson for this product. The reason that I am giving this product a lower than five star rating is that when I ordered my last eight-panel pen with a gate on June 9, 2020, it was $34.99. I guess I drove the price up because today on June 27, 2020, when I wanted to order the same product again, it was $52.00.
3 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Renaissance Woman –
Awesome alternative to crating!
This did the job perfectly. We introduced a new pooch to our family about 2 months ago, as company for our 5 year old Boston. Our new girlis a 5 year old Frenchie. We quickly came to understand one of the reasons her previous family let her go – she is highly destructive and not fully potty trained (they didn’t share this with us, uggh!) So we were shocked after leaving the house for a shopping trip – she had gone from room to room destroying everything she could find and leaving a surprise package in the hallway and a few puddles on the carpet. Double uggh! (How can she go to the potty that many times in an hour?) After this event repeated itself many times I started thinking I might have to crate her, which I hated the idea of because it feels so cruel, even though I understand it’s sometimes necessary. I thought I’d give this playpen a try and I’M SO GLAD I DID! Both dogs go in there any time I’m out of the house for more than 20 minutes. I put a warm bed and blankies and some chewing toys and a snack in there with them, and to my delight, the playpen keeps them safe and secure, and our Frenchy seems to feel more secure that way – she doesn’t leave any surprises whilst in there! It is a sturdy playpen, light enough (I’d estimate about 30 pounds) to lift and move around, and you can change the shape by moving the sides into whatever configuration you like (so it will even fit in a narrow room. I tend to keep it in an oval shape. It comes with several locks, which are easy to use and perfectly secure. One word of advice: Be sure to use at least two locks – one at the top and one at the bottom – because I tried using only one at the top and they managed to sneak out 🙂 You can also open it up and use it as a temporary ‘fence’ to keep pets (or chickens, as was my case), away from a certain deck! I know I’ve been using it for other than what I think it was designed for, but I love this product and I’m so glad I don’t have to crate my pooch!
6 people found this helpful
Rated 1 out of 5
AtekamTAtekamT –
Not for me
This is definitely an outside pen because using it inside, it’s flimsy and moves all over the place. I bought it for a new pup but he climbed over it, and he was only 10 weeks. It’s very awkward to move and situate, and slides all over my floor, even with a pad beneath. Ridiculous. The pieces that come with it do not hold the sides together, so they’re useless. This will be going to the recycling center because it’s pretty useless for me.As you can see in my pictures, I have it slightly folded because the new pup I have is very small and doesn’t need all the space while I’m training her. It doesn’t fold easily and that’s the best I could get it to stand.
Rated 5 out of 5
Huimalu –
Great Product
Great item. I have purchased 2, and they hook together to make one big pen. They are a little heavy (combined weight), and come with ground stakes to anchor the base to ground. I would only use them on grass., otherwise there is no way to prevent dogs from pushing them around. Depending on your breed, you may want to get extra stakes. I got the 46″ size. Maybe overdoing it for my 16 and 26 lb Shiba Inus, but I didn’t want to chance a turned back and dog loose. This comes with some flimsy plastic clips to seal the panels once the dog is in. There is no dedicated door, you just open one of the panels and the secure with the clips. I replaced mine with some inexpensive metal ones. NEVER LEAVE YOUR DOGS UNATTENDED IN AN EX-PEN! Make sure you get the right size for your breed. Too large is better than too small.
4 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
ADKADK –
Great for small dog
We have an area with this pen for my miniature daschshund. It’s not that we don’t trust her to be loose in the house at night, but we know she’d be scratching at our bedroom door all night and we prefer not to sleep with the animals. It’s a routine for her to go into her pen where her bed, food, and water are every night and it works very well for us. She has a tiny bladder so a litter box with a pee pad in it helps her out in case of bathroom emergency (honestly sometimes I think she’s just too lazy to wake us up to let her out at night when it’s cold).Right now it’s helpful because she hurt her back doing something silly like leaping off the couch to chase a cat. She’s under strict bed rest for a while and this pen is so useful for that! This way she won’t be shut in a cage with just her bed–especially because the medication she on during recovery causes her to drink and pee a lot (the towel is acting like a small step for her to not have to hop into her bed).We flipped the pen upside-down so that she doesn’t have to hop over the bottom door frame.
One person found this helpful
Rated 3 out of 5
Crystal M Ventura –
Puppy climbs out and jumps off at 3 months old
This seemed like a great idea then worked for about a month. Although everybody trips over the entry point as it is higher off the ground than you might expect. About 3 months old are labradoodle puppy climbed right up it like an easy ladder. So unfortunately not effective for smart dogs. We had to see it to believe it… I should have bought one without all the horizontal bars. Hopefully you make a better decision for nimble dogs. 🙂
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
barngirl99barngirl99 –
Perfect for rabbits
This works GREAT for our rabbits in giving them more space. We used to allow them free roam in the entire house, but when we moved we no longer had that option. They are happy with this arrangement and seem content that they are close to us much of the time. The x pen is very easy to move so that we can trade off which rabbit gets out (split time between 24 hours), and the clips make it handy to attach to their cages to make it secure. An all around great purchase!
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Julie A VanBeusekomJulie A VanBeusekom –
Great playpen for rabbits!
I bought the Midwest Exercise pen with a door for my 8 week old Netherland Dwarf bunny. It’s easy to set up/take down, folds nicely, and has good security features (such as double door latches). I opted for the 36″ height (per the internet’s recommendations) and am quite satisfied with the decision. Seemingly this should prevent her from escaping; however, she’s still young so we’ll see what happens as she gets older. I love that this pen provides her with an ample amount of room to stretch her muscles and I know that she loves it too. She gets so excited when I put her in the pen and spends the majority of her time doing lots of binkies and zoomies (see photo for an extremely content bunny). Besides activity, this playpen allows my family and I to easily interact with her for bonding time. Now, my one concern prior to ordering was the bar spacing. Being that she’s under one pound right now and will only get to 2-2.5 lbs, her body frame is in fact small enough to completely fit through the bars. So just be aware of this when making your purchasing decision; nevertheless, it’s easy to fix the problem by blocking off the open bars with a hidey house, litter box, etc. Overall, I think this is a fantastic product and hope to use it for many years. My last recommendation is to buy it used from the Amazon Warehouse, you can save a few dollars and take a pen off their hands! Mine arrived in Like New condition and I’m thrilled 🙂
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Ashlynd –
Nothing is perfect but this does the job well.
I have 3 dogs. I used it as a gate to separate my puppy from the older dogs. Logistically its hard to describe how through text. Just so you understand that we may have different issues…My only thing is that somehow my puppy can randomly figure out how to escape. This is made for larger dogs so I’m not blaming the product. Also, my 15″ dog figured out how to climb the 48″ gate. Again… not the products fault. Although, I recommend replacing the clips with something a bit more sturdy.The product itself is a better design than the other one I have… And a few dollars cheaper. The gate opening has a larger lip so it doesn’t bend and the medal bars are thicker.Overall, great buy. I gave it 4 stars on “easy to fold” because it is solid. That makes it heavy. So, its kinda a sacrifice of quality.
Rated 4 out of 5
Miranda –
Good buy
I like this play pen for my pup (shes about 4 lbs right now). Our other dog is about 2 years old- miniature golden doodle (about 26 lbs) and it is taller than her and she’s not able to jump over it. My dogs are escape artists -no matter what we do. This pen holds up! Finally get to put away the puppy kennel!The only negative is the instructions. All it really tells you what pieces come with it and vague description on how to use them. Took me about 20 mins to figure it out and put it together
3 people found this helpful
Rated 4 out of 5
S. L. Cutler –
Useful Device but Get the Right Height
The fence was easy to install. However, you have to push the pens pretty deep into the ground to have a sturdy base. As other comments have mentioned, there are sharp pieces to the fence that could injure a dog. Also, there are attached appendages such as the clips that our puppies love to find and chew on.The door to the pen is functional but if you’re potty training puppies that need to go to the bathroom like what seems every 15 minutes, it’s a pain getting in and out of the door frequently to perform cleanup.Lastly, the height we ordered was for small dogs. However, in about two weeks, our 2month old puppy had learned to climb the fence and jump out over the other side so pet owner be ware. We already have to order the tallest height to keep him in.Overall, the pen has proven to be useful. My recommendation is that pet owners supervise their dog while they are in the pen.
Rated 2 out of 5
Jen C –
Disappointing…
So I researched a ton on the best playpen and the great reviews on this product compelled me to order it. Well, I’ve been wholly unimpressed. I have it in a rectangle configuration and it’s less than stable with the black plastic pieces, it’s super wobbly. I’m using it indoors and purchased a piece of linoleum to put underneath as suggested by another reviewer. While it looks decent I’m concerned about it collapsing on my 8 week old puppy. Further, there is a metal hook/clip that I assume when it’s not in use is to clip the whole thing together. My pup is chewing on it and I’m super worried he’s going to hurt himself. Oh and those black plastic “stabilizers?” He’s chewing on those too. If I had it to do over again, I would have picked something else.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
ElizabethElizabeth –
Great pen but 48″ really is tall!
This pen is great. I think we’ll like having a door. We bought it for camping so the dogs wouldn’t always have to be on leashes. Our medium sized dog (35 lbs) is a good jumper and could probably clear a 4’ fence if he really wanted to however the 48” high that we got is so tall! We’re going to return it and get the 36” since the 48” is such a site. I’m attaching a picture so you can get an idea of it’s height. We know what 48” is but it was still surprising. We got the Used but Good option and I have a feeling it was returned by a previous purchaser for the same reason we’re returning. My husband (in the picture) for reference, is 5’11”.
Rated 5 out of 5
Fooled –
Best Idea
I have a beach house and have wanted for years to be able to just open the back door and let the pups out, but had no way to contain them. I couldn’t put a fence up because of the lawn care service and the fact we are not there all the time and didn’t know if it would be allowed by the HOA. I accidentally found these gates. I ordered three of them. They arrived quickly and I was impressed with the quality. The hardest part was opening the box and pulling them out. I set them up in less than 10 minutes and hooked them all together. I put it at the end of the stairs off the deck and used the side of the deck and one of the “walls”. Worked perfectly. The pups loved it and so did I. I enjoyed watching them run around and not having to worry about them. When we left to come home, I just folded them up and left them sit under the covered area. Great idea.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Arthur Digby Sellers –
Worked great with new puppy
This worked great with a new puppy to help house train it and keep an eye on it. Despite having someone home with the puppy all day, it we let it just roam around, it would pee on the floor every 5 minutes or chew up a piece of furniture. Using this allowed us to keep an eye on the puppy while in the same area as it.At first, our dog did not like going into the play pen and viewed it as punishment or a time out. After two weeks, we started just leaving the door open to the play pen and our dog would go in there on her own and lay down.Our dog became house trained at three months old (about 4 weeks after we took her home) and we stopped using this pen altogether.
Rated 5 out of 5
I’ll Buy It 4U –
These work fine for small breed dogs (36″ Size”)
I own several of these (36″). Can’t fault them for my poms and long hair chihuahuas. Though I do have a pom who can climb these with little to no problem…. so he goes into a run with a top on it.I’ve read a couple of reviews about people wanting to use these for larger breed dogs and they aren’t going to hold up to the weight of large breeds without toppling over or being pushed about. At least ones that aren’t well behaved. If you show dogs that are well behaved then you should be able to put them out into the taller pens to do their business, but to leave them in without keeping a eye on them, then you may be tempting fate.If we go on a trip I can simply fold it up, lay it in the bottom of the van or trunk and stack everything else on top of it with no damage to it. So being able to flat pack is nice.The black ones will rust if left outside for extended periods of time in the weather. I left one out for a year as a divider for a much larger permanent kennel run and it did rust, however it still works fine and if I get 3-4yrs out of it in total then I look at it as a 10-15.00 year investment. I’ve not tried the zinc version outside yet, though I did just purchase one, so we’ll find out. If it last 4-5 years then the savings really are about the same since it is at a higher cost.If you have pups and this is why you are looking at these pens, think ahead about the height you need for a full size dog for your breed. Sure you can by a shorter one for a few dollars less which will work with pups, but if you plan to keep any of the pups or even keep your own adult dogs in it later down the road, the taller the better. As you never know how athletic those pups are going to get, especially if one is a climber and becomes a escape artist and the others learn and follow suit.You’ll want to put a border around the bottom if you have a litter of small breed pups as they can (and will) stick their heads through the bars and get stuck. A simple fix to that is a cheap roll of chicken wire that is a foot high or so, just put that on the inside to create a border and zip tie it to the pen. Once they are big enough so that their heads don’t fit though the bars anymore you can roll the chicken wire up and use it down the road again if you need to. A litter of poms we just had could get their heads through the bars up to 3wks of age. Mind you it’s not something they do on purpose at that age.. they just wiggle and squirm their way out of the crate bottom/ whelping box and into the main pen area and it happens. At 4wks when they start toddling about more they run their heads into the bars, but no longer between them.I’ve clipped several of these together to create a much larger run for 6-7 poms. To help give support over the longer length of the sides I simply zig-zag it in a couple of sections to give it added support to keep it from toppling over if they all decide to run to one section and jump on it as to greet someone or bark at something.The clips that come with it are so-so. They are ok if you plan to put the pen together and not undoing them constantly. But overtime they are going to wear out and they aren’t exactly rust proof so rain and morning dew does cause them rust and corrode up making their small size just that much more difficult to open/close. I bought some better ones that are easier to grasp.The rods that come with the runs to help hold them down to the ground are suitable, but over time they are going to bend and wear if you use them much. They aren’t made out of the thickest of metal stock, so they can and will bend if trying to force them into hard ground or hit a rock. My suggestion if you are traveling or plan to put the pen down on hard ground for extended periods of time, metal tent stakes. Plastic ones become chew points.
7 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Priscilla –
I was NOT disappointed
It comes together already, all you have to do is simply open it & place it how you want it. (I chose the octagon style so my pups would have more of a play area) there were no sharp edges, no flaking paint on the little bars & it’s versatile to basically any shape you need it to be in. I have it set up inside my home on ceramic tile flooring with a large sized moving blanket underneath it with puppy pads in the center. (The pups have YET to knock it over) And I can leave the door open so the momma dog can go in & out ( I did have to cut a piece of cardboard & place it at the door entrance because they started climbing over it after a while & that REALLY helped a lot ) other than that, it’s been a HUGE HUGE help for me. Soooo…. No disappointments here????????♀️❤️❤️❤️
Rated 3 out of 5
holly –
Wanted to love this
I really wanted to love this. Looks super cute and held my puppy in, but I do have three pretty major complaints. First, this thing is SO NOISY. My puppy would paw at the sides and I just about went nuts after a couple of weeks of use. Really noisy with the constant sound of clanging metal. Second, the metal left awful marks on my wooden floors. I’m not sure if it was paint coming off of the bottom of the corners or just metal running. The marks would wipe off with a bit of cleaner and a scrub, but really sucked. It does come with corner protectors, but my small pup easily popped these off. I believe it was made worse by my final complaint – movement. Every time my dog would paw at the side of the pen, it would move. My pup weighed less than ten pounds at the time of use and we had to weigh down every corner with big weights. Definitely stubbed my toes more than once. The constant movement of the pen combined with the floor scuffs and noise made having a puppy harder than it would have been already. We are getting another puppy this upcoming weekend, and I bought a different play pen to use made out of canvas material.I gave three stars because it technically got the job done, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this product to a friend. It may work for someone with carpets, but I really don’t have relevant observational data to support that hypothesis
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Poop –
If you have a big dog, go for at least the 48 inch tall. Consider linking two of these together to make a sizable area.
quite high. I have the 48 in one. 48 inches is about the height of children that are allowed to get on six flags rides. That’s quite tall. 48 inches works pretty well for our pup that is now the size of a small dog. He will grow to be 70or so lbs and this may no longer contain him well if he learns that the kennel is not super steady if its knocked far enough. The wire is adequate enough to keep his tiny paws inside so itll work for dogs no problem. It comes with a neat plastic connector to link the ends together. You can always keep the gates overlapped to make the area smaller OR link multiple together to make the area bigger. The door is alright and is open at the top so you can walk in and out easily. All in all this was a pretty great purchase. Now I dont have to feel bad about leaving my dog in the kennel all day because hes a little s*** and gets into everything.
10 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
David W –
24×30 fenced barrier
I’m using this to fence out my dog from digging in the kids playground sand pit and to the other side of my neighbors yard. Yeah, my dog is a digger and loves to roll around in the freshly watered grass and sand before coming in the house to roll all over the off-white carpet and couches. So, I NEEDED something to keep my dogs and kids from letting the dog out to run a muck.These gated fence are pretty nice and sturdy for what it is. Since I was running 2 sets of fence together in a long straight run, I used some wooden stakes that were about 3′ long at every other chained fence and simply zip tied it to the fence. I also put 2 doors next to each other where I now have a door that swings open from each side that are 6 inches apart from each other, which is nice for kids to open the door according to which side they are in. I placed a 3′ stake at the joining door fence and one on each side of the doors for the ultimate stability. Some may say that they don’t like the raised section where the dog or kid has to step/jump over to get through the door, well I absolutely needed it since it was in between the concrete and grass. Imagine trying to open the door with a huge slab of concrete between the grass or simply opening the door without a bottom frame on the grass, it’s impossible. So the raised bottom frame of the door is a necessity, in my case.While measuring out my yard I thought I’d only need 3 sets considering I wanted to section off the grass and concrete patio. Don’t be like me and just measure the total distance and divide by 2′ or 24″. What I should have done was measure a certain section of the run and divide by 2′. So for instance my total distance is 48′ and 3 sets would be perfect, but a long straight running area of my back yard is 41′ before the concrete patio ended before cornering off to the wall. So I had to either run 1 fenced section a foot over the area and be 1 fence short of the wall, or be a fence too long at the wall. I opted to be a link too long to route it all weird, but that’s my fault. Lesson learned for someone else at my expense.
2 people found this helpful
Rated 1 out of 5
doxmom –
Another Chinese-made junk
This x-pen started to rust before we even had a chance to use it! Do not waste your $ and time. Not to mention that it took weeks to deliver (yes, with Prime shipping!). It’s going back right after we first took it out of the box.Spend a little more and purchase the IRIS USA brand. They’re US made, much lighter, and will never rust. I have one that we’ve been using for the past 8 years and it’s still good as new. So I’m replacing this one with another IRIS USA brand.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Reviewer mom –
Perfect for puppies
I needed a pen to put my puppies in so they could go potty outside. Our yard is too big to let them wander at night. I ordered 2 and put them together into one larger pen. It works perfectly. I thought about a 3rd one but once they are a few months older I wont need them so 2 will work. Still plenty of space for them to do their business. I put them in when it’s dark, let them go potty, then take them in the house. When they need to go out at 2am we do the same. It keeps them safe and it is easy for me to bring them right back inside. It’s tall enough that my little jumper can’t get out. Once I don’t need them outside, I will use one inside since she can jump the baby gate. It is sturdy, holds up perfect when it’s super windy. It is easy to move. Very, very happy with these.
Rated 5 out of 5
ScottScott –
A great portable pen/gate to keep your pup safe
This exercise pen served us in multiple ways this past Christmas. We brought home a new puppy a few weeks prior to Christmas this year. The tree was already up and we have two small children so we needed a way to keep both parties safe. Enter the Midwest Foldable Metal Exercise Pen.We set up a nice safe space for the puppy to sleep and relax while also keeping her safe and away from the kids toys she could destroy and choke on.When our pup was house broken and more used to her surroundings, we use the exercise pen to house the tree to keep not only the pup away from it, but also our 18 mos. old who has a tendency to remove ornaments and hide them throughout the house.All in all – a great product that we even use outdoors when we want to give the puppy some alone time, but the ability to exercise in the yard.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
JananJanan –
amazing for pups, way more space than a kennel
this has been a life saver. we didn’t want to kennel train our dog because we didn’t want her to feel cooped up, so we got this play pen and it has been amazing.our pup was just 10 lbs when we got her, and she did not stand a chance against this pen. her belly scraped a little when going in and out of the door because she was so tiny and didn’t quiet know how to jump, but that wasn’t a problem after a week or two and she grew like a sprout.our dog is now 40 lbs and fully respects the pen. she can jump up and put her paws on the side of the pen, and it will slide a little if you have it on just wood or tile floors, but we have it on a carpet and it doesn’t budge.it is her safe space and she goes in there to sleep or lay down while we’re bustling around the house.the little plastic guys that keep the sides of the pen straight? as soon as your dogis tall enough to reach them they will not last. our pup chewed up a couple before we just took them off, but as long as you have a big bed or something in there to help keep the pens shape, you shouldn’t need to use them.we got a second one of these because it works so great, one for the main floor of the house by the front door so she can hangout in there while we’re at work, and one for our bedroom so she can sleep in the room with us without romping around and causing trouble.would definitely recommend this over a kennel if you have the space.
Rated 5 out of 5
CK. –
Perfect
We ordered this exercise pen (black) after looking at and comparing to other brands. It arrived 2 days earlier than expected, which was a pleasant surprise. Super simple to unfold and set up, no dents, chips, or missing paint. Unfortunately the pen was missing the snaps to clip it shut. We immediately called the 800 number and person said the clips would be in the mail and arrive within a few days. Since we didn’t need the pen immediately, this was not a big deal. Very pleasant phone conversation, customer service excellent! We chose Midwest because we have purchased Midwest products in the past, we trust Midwest products to last since over the years our other crates are still in great shape! We plan on getting another exercise pen, and it will be a Midwest.Update: April 2, 2020. We purchased our second exercise pen because we found so many helpful uses for the first. It was perfect by our outside door to keep dogs contained from running through house with muddy feet. They can be connected together to enlarge play area, or stretched out to act like a fence, etc. For us, the fence only acts as a visual barrier to keep our dogs contained, but if your pets are jumpers, or diggers, this probable won’t work as well for you. Our dogs know when the exercise pen is in place not to jump over it. We will be using this for camping, also when visiting others. It is light weight enough to carry, compact when folded for transportation, and works perfectly for our needs. Very pleased with the product, with customer service and delivery was quick.
2 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Amanda –
Great aid for puppy training in apartment
This has been a great tool used in conjunction with my puppy crate. I got two sided caribeners to attach the edge of the gate to my crate since my crate is a different pattern than most square ones. The quality is ok. Had a smell when it came out of the box. Puppy likes to lick it so partly question what’s in the metal. Somewhat flimsy depending on the shape you do and if you anchor it or secure with the black tube pieces. He is able at 5 pounds to shove it over some. He has a lot of energy for a tiny dog. The height works. Right now he can’t reach the top of the 24 inch one. He is a bouncer so concerned might need a higher one in the future.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Amazon Customer –
Decent playpen & great customer service
I use this playpen for my puppy every day. I use it when doing house activities where I can’t watch my puppy every minute. He’s at a stage where everything goes in his mouth, so this playpen has given me needed breaks when I’m home. It was a good price when I bought it, although I’ve seen the price go up. One suggestion is to get one with a door or be prepared to undo the clips every time you place your puppy in or take them out. I had a puppy instructor warn that if you pick up your pup and lift him over the fencing, he will eventually learn he can jump over it. I didn’t want to train him to jump over our outdoor chain link fence & I didn’t purchase one with a gate, so there is a lot of clipping and unclipping. FYI when I received my order, I had one broken clip so I called the manufacturer & they immediately sent me a new clip in the mail. Great customer service!
Rated 5 out of 5
Danni1226 –
Life saver! Highly recommend!
This literally saved my life! My golden retriever whelped puppies and once they were big enough to roam, this was great and saved my sanity! It allows access to the pen itself but also connects to her wire kennel which also had 2 doors. Made it super easy to let her in and out while we were weaning. Extremely durable and now has given the puppy we kept a place to play in, plenty of room for XL puppy pad, plus food and water with still room-while connected to his kennel where his bed is. It’s perfect for dogs in general if you want to give them more space then their kennels. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
Rated 5 out of 5
JBry23 –
Great for new puppy!
This was a great purchase for our new puppy. With my husband working from home, and myself and the kids still at school each day, it gives him space to move around when my husband is on a call and can’t tend to him. We have it lined with pee pads, which has been helpful on super rainy days or in the middle of the night as he knows if the bell isn’t available, he goes in there. His large crate is attached to it as well, so at night, he lays in there, and then can use the pads and will either lay back down giving me a full night of sleep (YESSSSS) or will bark once until I move him into the crate in our bedroom where he sleeps the rest of the night. It has been a nice little routine so far. He is 16# now and is starting to jump up on the sides, but with the crate attached, I think it is more sturdy than if it wasn’t, so that is helpful.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Leha Carpenter –
A Great Divider of On and Off Limits Areas
This pen is ideal, although I never use it for a pen. I use it to block off areas I need to keep my Husky/Malamute out of, and it has not fallen over or given way to her once. (I suspect she could knock it over if she was trapped inside of it for too long, but as I said, that’s not how I use it.)You don’t have to put a lot of angle into most of the panels to keep them standing as long as at least two have some angling. So you can get it to be quite long. It’s also super easy to open or adjust the panels to create a corridor when walking through is permissible, so it can serve as a passage through an otherwise off-limits area.The construction is solid, and it’s also the same height and color as my MidWest dog crate, so I can achieve harmony in using them together.When I’m done with it inside the house I will stake it down outside around my one toxic shrub so that becomes off limits to potential chewing activities.It’s a very versatile thing to have! You should go ahead and get one–don’t be on the fence!
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
chellychelly –
its nice to have
i have 2 of these i was gonna use it for my puppy while im at work and make it double the size but my puppy is an escape artist so this wont hold her all day she likes to be with the other dog but it works while she can see me working in the front yard she okay to be in it i ended up putting one around my AC unit so she wouldnt chew on the wires while im at work and this one ill just keep for holding her while i work in the front yard n stuff with the garage door open until she learns she cant run off its a nice accessory to have while training your puppy if you have extra money but if you have an escape artist who wont be held in a cell for more than 10min this probally wont work for you my puppy 3 months 20 pounds and i got an extra large she gets out of it
2 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Jamie Kaercher –
Lifesaver
This product has been a lifesaver. As a new puppy owner and someone who doesn’t have a lot of extra money for doggy daycare nor someone to help with pup on the ocassions I’m gone for several hours, I hooked this to his crate with the included clips, formed it into the octagon shape, and he is able to be confined safely, yet still have access to food, water, toys, playing space, and a puppy pad or small grass puppy potty system( bought separately). I noticed a few of the metal ends were very sharp when I was first putting it together, but I was able to flatten the sharp protruding parts with a pair of pliers and it’s fine now. The plastic bars can be positioned on top or bottom. They fall off kind of easy, so I just added a small piece of clear tape around each end. It can be taken off and replaced easily when I pack this up to travel. When it’s set up in my house, I put the plastic bars on the bottom, and then I added small adhesive skid-proof foam pads underneath each one so that it protects my wood floor and also stops the panels from sliding when pup jumps up on the sides or bumps into it while playing. He seems happy, and I’m happy and able to do what I need to do AND have my dog. This exercise pen has fit the bill, even with the minor tweaks I had to do, and the price was perfect. I have a friend going through a similar issue, feeling bad keeping her pup crated all day, so I sent her the link to this exact product.
Rated 3 out of 5
Arielle Atienza –
Wish the walls had a different design to prevent climbing
I bought this playpen for my 10 week old corgi/toy fox terrier mix. It was easy to assemble and shape. For now I have it as a rectangle shape next to my bed with a blanket under and her bed and food and water bowls in it. You could attach your crate to it, but the door of the playpen is a little higher than the Midwest 18 in. crate’s door.. I use this to keep my dog in their own space and not be kept in her small crate all day. Unfortunately, since the first day we got the playpen she has managed to climb over it because of the horizontal parts of the playpen. I’ll probably have to cover the sides with a blanket or put something else to prevent her from climbing so she doesn’t get hurt.
4 people found this helpful
Rated 4 out of 5
S. Munro –
Versatile option at a great price
This is great for keeping your pet contained without having to go back to the crate all the time. We used this with our second German Shepherd so she felt like she was still part of the family and could interact with the older GSD without risking too rough play in her early weeks. As a potty training tool, I would say it’s ok, but not the best. You have to use potty training pads in this and puppies tend to just want to shred those. I’m still very happy with my purchase and enjoy the flexibility this provides. We can take it outside and hook it up to our fence to extend the puppy’s play area. That makes it ideal. We can also use it inside as a slightly curved fence from the doggie door to the indoor food and crate area, which limits their access to the whole house when needed. Overall, I think this is a great option at a great price!
2 people found this helpful
Rated 1 out of 5
TravStefTravStef –
DONT ORDER “GOLD”
This review is not directed towards Amazon in any way, but intended for MidWest Homes. I really needed an enclosure for my new pup and wanted to go with this company because of their positive reviews. Unfortunately, the black playpens would not ship for one to two months and I could not wait that long. The only other option was gold. My wife and I agreed that gold would be okay, but this is not gold… More like burnt bronze as it gradually changes from yellow to green to purple… Not to sure if this company has a quality control department, but judging by the product I received I’d say they don’t. Quite dissatisfied.
3 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
holland1945holland1945 –
Gorgeous!!
Okay so we are getting a pomeranian puppy next month. We have one gate/pen like this that’s around 42″ and black, but doesn’t have a door. That one is good for keeping cats out of rooms, but I wanted a second one to leave outside for creating a smaller potty space than the whole fenced in yard. Plus a door would be nice, and our dogs will not jump over gates as short as 18″ so we don’t need them all to be tall.Anyway. Gold was the cheapest color in stock, so I went for it. I don’t like gold, so I expected to not like it. Holy crap was I surprised to find this is not gold, it is multi chrome! If you are a holo or multi chrome person at heart, this “gold” is the color for you. It shifts between gold, orange, pink, green, and in some spots even blue and purple. It’s AMAZING. Now I don’t want to put it outside lol.Beyond the gorgeous color, it has great features. A clamp to hold it in the folded position. A teeny clamp to help keep the door closed. Clips to close the ends together. Joint supports. Grass stakes. What more could you want?? A top cover? Don’t get greedy.I added pictures to hopefully show some features, but most importantly the COLOR!
Rated 5 out of 5
Sebastian –
Great for camping.
We have three of these that we put together for a big pen. It is big enough to go from our tent trailer and around the picnic table at most camp sites. The dogs are very happy to have so much room and be close to us. My wife also got collapsable beds for the dogs to keep them off the ground.I have taken four panels and laid them down sideways for the section next to the trailer, cutting out for the step. I have also taken the gate panel apart so that I can move it around depending on how the camp site is set up. I also use shock cord loops with the balls to hook to the gate in a way that keeps it closed but it dose not need to be latched. It makes it much easier to get in and out of. Just make sure it opens inward. Otherwise the dogs can get out.
One person found this helpful
Rated 1 out of 5
Clary –
Used only 3 hours, dog escaped!
I read good review, so decided to buy. We set up the pento attached with the L- size create, unfortunately we didnt take the picture. We put our female puppy inside the pen, she was 11 weeks old, 22-23 lbs.and we went out for 3 hrs. When we back home, she was already out ! The pen still attached with the crate 🙁 locks were not loose. Beside this incident, I also found the material wasnt si good. It was much thinner than I thought.
9 people found this helpful
Rated 1 out of 5
JM –
Door is NOT secure
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We have a large rabbit and bought three of these to use as a large enclosure. After a few weeks we saw via camera that his big head was stuck between the wires in the fencing. Come to find out he learned how to shake the door open and was trying to squeeze back inside the pen. Thankfully a neighbor was able to save him, however I was shocked at how easy it is to get the gate door to open just by lightly shaking it. We are adding 1/4″ mesh to prevent him from getting stuck and additional clamps to keep the gate open. See attached video
4 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Xander and Patrick’s Nana –
Think outside the pet corral idea
I used this fence to shield my cotton plants from deer. I wanted to grow it to spin. It is not growing very well, but that is a function of the soil, I think. I may use this in the orchard next spring to protect a young tree from the deer. The deer won’t jump into small enclosures, they say, and they certainly have not jumped in to eat my tiny cotton plants. They had no compunction about eating the tops of my sunflowers, which had no protection. So, if your dog doesn’t need a fence, you can use this one to keep the deer from eating your favorite plants.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
ANDREC –
You probably don’t need the big one
I ordered two of these for my two big dogs (70lbs +, Rhodesian Ridgeback and a Black lab) to make it easier to let them be outside when camping and not trapped in the camper when I need to work. Unless your dog is actively aggressive or an escape artist you do not need the 48″ fence. This thing looks like I’m setting up a FOB to storm the campground lol. They are strong, well made, but I wish I had gotten the 36″ or 42″ at most.
3 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Heather –
It still stands after being destroyed
Purchased it for an oldie Goldie who hates kennels. She will destroy herself destroying kennels. Dont know what sparked this since shes been kenneled for her life (it started when she was around 6). She forgot house/potty manners since the person she stayed with (I was at college) let her get away with everything, kennel free.It first started out okay since she had room to maneuver and what not. Then she realized she was trapped. THEN she realized it moves when shoved around with her nose but combined with her panicking made it unsafe. So we drilled it to the floor. She legit destroyed the damn thing within a week and we could no longer close the door. On an upside it only took that week to correct her house behaviors so she now can be kennel free.Now the raggedy, zipped tied together thing is being used as a no dog zone barrier for the cats. Its multifunctional! Overall it’s good and will work for training, just dont use it for a dog with kennel issues.
3 people found this helpful
Rated 4 out of 5
Las Vegas Engineer –
Bought 2 for a doberman.
Bought 2 of them for a doberman puppy (largest size). The problem with it is, that it is a bit flimsy and not heavy duty, but this comes with the low price and is acceptable. The puppy can now open the door so we added an additional lock that does the trick. All this is expected with the low price for this product. However, what is a real problem is that it scratches your hardwood floors as the dog moves the panels. The locking plastic device does not work so you need to re-arrange the panels daily. I put furniture protector pads under each corner of the panels and fixed it with black electrical tape to the panel. This prevents now the metal to scratch the floor. Considering the price it is a 4.5 stars, as you can’t expect heavy duty with low price. For us this is ok as we hope the dog will not need it anymore once grown and trained and it is only temporary. Plus there are many horror reviews with higher priced models of others so you would pay more but don’t get better. For a temporary solution this is recommended.
Rated 3 out of 5
Carlos Aguilo –
Gets the job done, just one big issue
If you are planning on using this indoors, you will want to consider getting something to weigh the pen down. For outdoors, there are stakes included to make sure the pets don’t move or tip over the pen. However, for indoor use there is nothing included to weigh it down.I have a puppy that is very small (8lbs) and she can almost tip over the pen. I imagine that in two weeks when she grows a bit more, she will be able to tip this over with no problem. I have gotten around this by using some velcro straps and tying the pen to other furniture around.Also, the clips that it comes with to put it together are not very good. They “get the job done”, but they stick out which leads for my dog to chew on them, which is not good.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
2dogz –
works great for keeping small dog in one area
My small dog (10#) had very painful leg surgery that required him to be in a confined space while he was recovering for 8 weeks and stoned out of gourd on pain medicine. He was only in a crate at night in another room.I liked that I could easily adjust the size of the pen. Very small the first few weeks, then larger as he got better. He was not doing any jumping on the side of the pen, but it did seem very sturdy to me.It is currently packed up in the original box in case I need it later. It was perfect for what I needed to use it for when I needed it. Ernie is all better and back to hopping up on the couch.
Rated 4 out of 5
B. Anderson –
So many good things about this.
So my 24 year old cocker can jump high, and he does not jump out. I got the one with the door, there are no sharp parts, he does try to open it. It folds up small (I slide between my fridge and counter), It’s actually pretty large, larger than I thought. I fit my 2 cockers in it (25ish lbs each) just fine, a 3rd dog could fit. I got it for CAMPING. It was a miracle. I usually tie my dogs up and they get tangled, bark at everything and get filthy. I put them in here, I staked a tarp down FIRST, so they were not lying in dirt. I then staked it down (it comes with some) and it was sturdy for that use (they could not push over or slide it around or anything). With that said, it is flimsy when using on hardwoods floors, because it slides around and you can push on it, all I can say is that on carpet or outdoors when you can stake it down is better. It is not the sturdiest and I would never leave them unattended for that reason, if planning on leaving unattended then I would not use this (we were at the camp site, so we could see them), we also put a sheet or towels over sides so they could not see other dogs to bark. Worked well for camping needs.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Sherry AhFerretSherry AhFerret –
Great size
This is perfect. I need a place to put my guinea keets when they are too young for the coop but too big for the brooder box. I also bought the 4×4 cage top. I will have to cover with hardware cloth and keep in a secure area in my coop and that will also make the transition into their large coop easier for my guineas. My German Shepherd wanted to be in the picture and is a good to see how large/tall this 4×4 cage is.
One person found this helpful
Rated 4 out of 5
MinaMina –
Good makeshift gate
I tried finding a pet gate for my new kitten to slowly introduce her to the house, but found that pet gates seemed to be much pricier than I expected?? I found this and thought it would be a decent solution at a better price. It doesn’t come with “feet” or any stands of some sort to help it stay upright (but that’s because it’s supposed to be a connected and enclosed pen), but we were able to arrange it so that it was fairly stable. Even with my cat trying to climb and jump up the fence, it didn’t topple over! I was fairly impressed.It’s great all the panels are pretty much connected together, but with our setup it made for accessing the door a little difficult, since we couldn’t rearrange it to be on a middle panel, and it’s connected as an end piece on the right side. We were able to make it work though, using only about 2-3inches of the end of the door panel to lean against the wall and being propped up with extra support from a fake plant stand.This gate situation for our kitten is meant to be temporary until she gets used to the rest of the house. After she gets more confident going outside of her “room,” we plan on using it for outdoors in our backyard when it’s much cooler, so she can experience the outdoors in an enclosed space.
Rated 5 out of 5
~ XLNTMOMMY ~ –
MidWest Homes 42″ Folding Metal Pet Exercise Pen/Playpen Gold
this review is for the MidWest Homes Folding Metal Pet Exercise Pen/Playpen .. I purchased the 42″ height in Gold .. I hav to tell you this was for a bunny but my GSD went inside of this once time (we pick it up and take it outside and sit it in the grass over the weekend sometimes for our bunny ..) and it would hold her, its that sturdy . but then my GSD (German Shepherd Dog) is is exquisitely trained (pre-shutzhund) and includes the little bunny as part of our “pack” .. but she was wonderful with both the cage and the bunny . This versatile cage is sturdy, flexible, well-made, easily handled (2 people is best but one can do it) and all for an incredible price point .. I got the taller because I knew I would hav cardboard boxes inside for the little bunny rabbit and was told she would hop on top of those and gain easier access to jumping out over the cage, though she never attempted to do this .. maybe in time, but in time the idea is to hav her litter box trained (almost there !) and open this pen up for access to the rest of the main area of the downstairs of our house .. but as far as this cage/pen, it is made of a durable metal, there are stabilizers included which go at the the top folding ‘joints’, as well as some gold clasps which help stabilize the area just adjacent to the door of the cage .. overall, this was a tremendous buy for me because the price was under $50 .. you cant go wrong with the quality of this product .. all day long, 5 Stars .. !
Rated 4 out of 5
R –
Good product and hope the customer service is too
We have one of these for inside the house and it works great; we can move it from one room to another depending where we need to put him. However, this second one we ordered to use outdoors came last night without any of the anchors or stability supports (the box was open and it probably fell out in the truck!).So I just called MidWest product support and they said they’d mail me the 8 anchors and “only some anchors, as they’ve changed it and now only include 4 instead of the 8 supports”! The box and instructions say it included 8 and I feel I should get what I ordered and what fell out of the box. So I’ll see what comes and may change my review depending…UPDATE: I have edited my rating to reflect that I did receive the 8 anchors and 4 supports. Happy with my purchase in the end.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
TheRealDealTheRealDeal –
So Versatile and easy to use!
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The best purchase I’ve made for my puppy! I can use the gate like a pen and it to her crate to keep her confined when we’re gone, but it’s big enough to block off entire sections of a room. Once my pup was old enough to roam the house, I used it block off the plants and fireplace from her getting to those, and then brought it back out when she got spayed to keep her in a small area to recover. I LOVE this gate. I’ve even used it to blcok off the garage opening while I worked with my car and she sat outside and looked out to the neighborhood, nice and safe from getting out. Anyways, would highly recommend. It’s sturdy and easy to attach to a wire crate. The only thing I wish it did was detach so I could use it in smaller sections but that’s ok!
Rated 5 out of 5
Amanda H –
The 2nd one we’ve bought! Fits so many different needs.
We bought a 2nd one for our vacation home because of how useful this was for our Cavachon puppy. We use it for everything — penning him off when we leave him for a few hours, blocking certain rooms/rugs off, etc. Right now we’re actually using it cordon off the Christmas tree because he wouldn’t stop nibbling on it! We’ve taken this on multiple trips, banged it up a ton, and it still looks and works great.Only 2 things I don’t like is: 1) a few times I’ve gotten my fingers pinched in between the metal when I’m closing it up but not exactly the product’s fault 2) sometimes when you set it up as a “wall” it can be unstable. We or our puppy have knocked it over a few times & it’s scared him. Just make sure to always have part of it at an “angle” to keep it more secure.
Rated 2 out of 5
Kellyn McClanahan –
Sharp joints injured my dog
I’m not a fan. I have it set up in front of my door to help keep the dogs from escaping so I haven’t tried it as a play pen. In it’s octagon type shape it’s pretty sturdy, it gets pushed around a little if it gets run into but that’s to be expected. In the shape I have it in, you can’t use the corner stabilizers, and it has scratched up my hardwood but I board dogs so my hardwood is scratched up anyway. However, the joints between the panels are sharp (some more than others) and injured my dog to the point of needing stitches when she ran into it while playing with another dog. Thank goodness it was my dog and not one of the dogs I was boarding, but now my energetic furbaby can’t run around and play. We put tape over the joints to prevent future injuries so keep that in mind when buying. I also could have sworn the description said the panels came apart, but they don’t. That was probably my mistake because I looked at several options before choosing this one
One person found this helpful
Rated 1 out of 5
jet snailjet snail –
Not for puppy use!!!!
I disliked that once assembled there isn’t a “door” to open and close. My 11 pound boxer puppy was able to climb over the top at 11 weeks old. I ended up purchasing the cover which solved that problem, but made the lack of a door worse. When used indoors the puppy is able to jump on walls and distort shape and move pen. The cover helps with this somewhat. It needs fasteners to stabilize the octagon shape. It is rather large and heavy for transporting.UPDATE: I’m downgrading this fromb3starvto 1. My 15week old 20 pound puppy is able to jump against the wall enough to collapse wall (even with cover on it) and the whole thing tipped over. I could hear her barking and barking on camera but couldn’t see her. Didn’t know if she was trapped or hurt. This is certainly not puppy material!!!!!
Rated 4 out of 5
mountainmover –
A good exercise pen is a must for every dog owner
I have 2 of these. A good exercise pen will come in handy for the lifetime of your pet. I’ve used this when my dogs weren’t housebroken yet, as a barrier to keep them out of an area or on vacation as a way to contain them when I am not in the house / hotel with them. Much more space for them than a crate. However, if you have a dog that jumps a lot and doesn’t want to be in the pen, for safety you should use a crate.The only problem I have had with this product is with the brackets that they use to hold the panels together. Although I will say this was after considerable use, the brackets not longer held together the pen. I had to switch to snap hooks like on the end of the leash which is not quite as secure but my dogs do not try to get out so it works.
Rated 5 out of 5
SiobhanSiobhan –
Terrific, sturdy, versatile, easy to use crate/fence/playpen
This product has worked wonders training my small breed puppy. It comes already assembled and it’s super easy to maneuver and fold. I love how versatile it is too. As you can see from my photos, it can fold into obscure shapes to fit in essentially any space with most configurations. It can be purchased in several different sizes with many different accessories. The hinge door works great and it comes with stakes to secure it to the ground outside if needed. Terrific crate, fence or playpen – the options are abundant. My puppy loves being in it and it’s big enough that I don’t feel bad leaving him in it for longer hours when needed. The only thing I didn’t like about it are these small plastic tubes that come with it to secure the panels together and are supposed to help it stay rigid. They are hard to put on and don’t stay easily especially if there on a bend where you need to put it. I personally just choose not to use them and it still functions great and feels very sturdy without them. Very durable and secure product, I highly recommend!
5 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Suz –
Perfect Pooch Playpen
We already had this same pen by Midwest but in black. It really stood out too much in our living room. We wanted one in white to blend into our decor but have yet to find a manufacturer. This blue one coordinates much better than the black metal did and now we use the original one for traveling.It folds nicely, cleans easily and you can configure it in different shapes to fit your space.We keep our dog’s food bowls, bed, extra toys and pee pad inside and he is free to come and go from it during the day. When we go to sleep, we shut the door and he stays out of trouble until morning.The door latch system is a little wonkier than our original black one but the pen works fine as a little ‘apartment’ for our small dog.
Rated 5 out of 5
PaulaSC –
best decision i’ve made yet for my puppy!
i bought this for my dog as an indoor replacement for his crate. i have a pitbull mix: he’s 1.5 years old, about 50lbs, and 3 or so feet long. he’s very energetic, so we’ve tried to keep him out of his crate when we’re gone for the day, but he always ends up destroying something/many things.having this sweet boy in a crate all day while i’m at work has really been bothering me, so i got him this playpen. best decision i’ve made yet! i was going to get the 48″H pen because my boy will jump out of the pen if he knows he can or stand up on one of the sides and knock the whole thing over; still, i ended up going with the 42″H pen. it’s the absolute perfect height for him (maybe too tall for his size, but i know my dog, so i’d rather be safe than sorry).it is quite easy to configure and put together (except for the stabilizers, but i’m a moron). i was scared the octagon configuration would take up too much space, but it’s not bad at all. i’m just so happy with how roomy and sturdy it is, and i’m even happier for my dog.
Rated 5 out of 5
Kandyce –
Adjustable
Would recommend this product hands down! I’ve since have passed it to a newer puppy owner. I purchased this item in 2018 due to having two sister doodles at once. I would use this to partition off a room or area so they could have their own separate areas but still be able to be with one another. I have also used it as shown in picture when I didn’t want to kennel them separately for a short time. My doodles aren’t climbers so they never attempted to scale it. It’s very sturdy if you “bend” the meeting points if you want it to be a free standing barrier, otherwise i recommend connecting it together as shown in pic. It is heavy but collapses perfectly for easy storage.
Rated 3 out of 5
Amazon Customer –
Bendable
I do like the size and the variations to set this up. But after almost 2 months the door is starting to bend a little bit and get off center. This is bolted and anchored to the cement floor and to the wall. It likes to try and pop out of size. Which I have it set up as a square. The little black joint doohickers don’t do anything. We ended up zip tying every panel and joint as much as possible. The two latch features seem to be off set from the door so you have to wiggle and pick the door up a little bit. It didn’t matter which formation I used, they are both off. Measured them as well, almost 1/4″ . Which to me is quite a bit. And yes there are some areas that have sharp joints or weld areas. I suggest using a dremel for those. I was expecting this to hold shape better, but you have to be creative. It works for now.
Rated 5 out of 5
Keith LaBorde –
Outstanding Product !
I have a 4 Year Old Beagle, that can be destructive when I am not at home. I have two of these units assembled in my Garage, and connected to her Midwest Crate, and it works very well. She has a nice size surroundings to do her Business, play, and go to her Bed. I don’t like the concept of locking a dog in a Crate, but having this unit connected to it gives her a sense of having a small yard. I have also purchased a number of the Two Door Midwest Crates and donated them to the SOS Beagle Group so they can use them for Transport, or give them a way to New Adopters of Beagles.
Rated 5 out of 5
Beach Girl –
Good Price for a House Rabbit exercise pen
I purchased two of these to create a large exercise pen for my two rabbits. I’ve set it up in the basement with a comfort mat underlay, and it provides a large and secure area for them to play. Since rabbits can jump – high – I opted for the 30″ height, which is still comfortable enough for me to reach over. There is the possibility that they will climb it, but that hasn’t happened yet, and the 30″ height should be enough of a deterrent. It is sturdy without being unmanageably heavy, and I can dismantle and move it easily without help. My only complaints – which were not material enough to knock off a star – are the latching mechanisms and the inability to easily reconfigure by removing panels. Both are easily remedied however; I use carabiners to close the “gates”, and the panel connectors could be removed with a snips or wire cutter and reattached using zip ties, similar to what I use with the buns’ old x-pens. The rabbits have the run of the house, so if this becomes unused in the future, I can see a new life for it encircling my veggie bed. One solution keeps the rabbits in, the other keeps them out. Good purchase, multi-purpose.
2 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
J. Daniels –
protects my plum tree from the dog
I bought this not to contain my dog, but to keep my dog away from my plum tree. Plums are toxic to dogs, and my tree is dropping plums. I ordered two of these fences and clipped them together (using enclosed metal clips) to make one large fence. I used the large staples (provided with fence) to secure the gates to the ground, and I used the plastic clips to make the joins between each panel more sturdy. My 21 lb dog has jumped up on the fence a couple of times already but the fence held up well. When the plums are all gone I can just fold up the fence and store it away until next season. So far it’s a perfect solution.
Rated 2 out of 5
Sarah –
Probably Okay for Placid Dogs, But Not for Active Pups
Our golden retriever puppy is only eight, nearly nine, weeks old. We’ve had him for a week and a half We bought this pen to train our dog to enjoy prolonged isolation and to serve as his holding pen until he’s old enough to be vaccinated and old/well-trained enough to not destroy our patio furniture or hurt himself in our huge back yard by keeping him in it for gradually longer periods. With the included plastic closures, he got out of this pen after about 12 total (non-consecutive) hours of being in his pen. Once he knew how to get out of the plastic closures, he just kept at them until he could get out in just a few minutes of being left alone. We tried holding it together with paracord, and while the cord held the pen shut and he didn’t chew on the cord, his jumping and running around inside caused the whole pen to pinch from and octagon into a bowtie shape, trapping and confusing him in a too small space. Fortunately, we were watching him on camera or he might have been stuck like that for an hour or longer. This pen might work outside with the included anchors driven into the ground, but as a standalone pen, it’s just too flimsy to contain an active or intelligent and determined dog for more than an hour. It is easy to fold and assemble, and it did come with all of the necessary parts. It does not suit our purposes, but as I said, if you have a really calm and small dog (maybe a yorkie or a maltese) you’d be fine with this. We’re building an outdoor pen for him now, but wish that we hadn’t wasted our money on what proved to be a VERY temporary puppy containment solution.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
aaustadaaustad –
Great rabbitat pen.
This was just what I wanted. There was an inconvenient delay in delivery. Which made housing my Holland lops challenging until it arrivesd. It was supposed to be on a Friday but it didn’t show up until the following Monday. Anyway. Works just as expected. I wish the gate somehow was moveable, but I guess that would change the structure and make it more expensive. For the price you can’t beat it. I’ve checked a ton of places. Pet stores way expensive, Walmart, target, blah blah, everyone was noticeably higher. I actually ordered a second one so that I don’t have to move their indoor rabbitat when we go outside to play with them.
2 people found this helpful
Rated 4 out of 5
DJD –
Useless gate if using as a straight barrier and not a pen
Price is great. Material is good. Friend loaned me a similar, folding pet fence while I was shopping to replace my broken one…bought this one to replace my wooden one that broke (wood not good outside where sprinklers get to it lol). Anyway, my friend’s is a “Precision” brand that has the actual gate portion in the middle of all the other sections. This looked the same, tho I didn’t notice the gate placement difference because they only show it as a pen (hence the star deduction). We use ours to stretch across a u-shaped patio which needs only one side fenced off (make sense?), so we just stretch it across in a zigzag (stands by itself; two older dog who don’t realize that the way we place it they could push it over if they stood up and leaned on it, but they don’t do that, so all is good for us). The price is great, and the material is good. I’m going to buy another one and connect this one and another one together in one large circle around a shade tree we have come the fall when it is cooler and they lay out (we live where it is heading into 100-117 degrees non-stop for months…desert).
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
DreamchaserDreamchaser –
Perfect Solution For Puppy (Or Other Furry Friends) Containment . . .
I have 2 sizes of this pen, and they have been a godsend for my puppy!! I bought the 30″ (no door) for using in motel rooms, as I traveled cross-country with my pup, and it worked just perfect!! I folded it to be six-sided, instead of all 8, placed it on a cheap, plastic tarp, and covered the tarp with newspapers. He was happy to have his own secure space; put his food and water dishes in with him (plus toys) and no chance to have any ‘accidents’ on actual motel floors. One place waived their extra pet fee when they saw my set-up. These are handy, convenient, easy to fold up and move; PERFECT for so many things with a little puppy. I take it with me wherever I take him, just in case he needs his own little exercise spot.My guy has grown, so I now have the 48″ size, with a door and has all the same great portability features as my 30″.
9 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
teja –
Great for Housebreaking Puppy Inside
I wasn’t sure how this would work for indoor use on tile floors. I attached one end to a heavy coffee table, and have had no problems with it not collapsing on the slippery tile.It took me over a week to figure out I could make two squares, instead of one big square. This has really helped in potty training for my puppy, as he had no problem doing his business in the one large square. Putting him in one of the two small squares has kept him in housebroken mode.There are some plastic pieces to use to keep the shape as you want it, but I couldn’t figure out how to use them, even going on line and watching a video. I don’t care if the shape moves a bit, so no big deal to me.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Love shoppingLove shopping –
Works well alone or with the crate!
Excuse the messy room.I love this play pen! I do not like my puppy being cooped up in a small space but sometimes we next time a part. He likes his new space too.I added some wire strategically place to secure the pen to the crate in addition to the fasteners included just to make me feel more confident.The only thing I struggled with was with what to use for flooring since the pen is in a carpeted space. It’s great to contain and train but what about the accidents that are going to happen?My goal was something without a huge price tag, water proof, wide enough, flat with no edges to catch for biting. Searched on line to no avail. I decided to use a piece of inexpensive linoleum. Went to local hardware bought a 6×9 roll. Ta da!!! It worked out brilliantly. Unfortunately my fur baby got sick the same night I installed the flooring. Knarly! As I cleaned up wondering what he ate I was so grateful for my choice. This pen crate combo is a permamant fixture for us. This is where my baby sleeps in his room.
Rated 5 out of 5
Todd L. Owens –
Fantastic dog gate/kennel
I got this kennel/gate on somewhat of a whim but, it was a needed whim due to have a 20 year old dog.You did not read that wrong he is a 20 year old bishon.Understandably, he has some accidents and with this item I can either contain him to an area where accidents are easily cleaned by opening it up fully to divide a room or turn it into a makeshift kennel by making it a square or rectangle.This is very sturdy and I am super pleased with the different ways I can deploy this.My old guy is happy that he has some space to move around and I don’t have to worry that with his poor eyesight he will fall down steps and I didn’t have to worry about cleaning up a mess on carpets, etc because he was contained in a certain area.My only regret is not finding this sooner!
Rated 1 out of 5
Rachel Davis –
If you need a sturdy Ex-Pen, this is NOT the product for you
I ordered this to use for containing my dog in my living room. He recently had orthopedic surgery, so he has to be on heavily restricted activity, but I wanted him to have a bit more space than a kennel. The size is great, the height is great, and the fact that there’s a door/gate to get in and out is a nice bonus. Otherwise, this thing is a pile of junk.When assembling this, I discovered just how flimsy it really is. The “corner stabilizer” pieces do nothing to actually stabilize the panels. If a dog were even slightly motivated to escape this, he’d have zero issue doing so. One of my cats jumped out of it after assembly, and literally collapsed the whole thing. I have it propped in the corner of the room so the 2 walls provide support. I can’t imagine this would work outside at all, although it does come with anchors to sink in the grass.I am going to end up keeping it, since it’s only needed for a few weeks, and it’s fairly stable wedged into the corner. Otherwise, I’d advise anyone else to not waste his/her money on this product.
12 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Meaghan –
Great Quality!
I’ve been wanting to purchase a pen for my bunnies for a long time. The only thing holding me back is the absurd amount these things sell for! I found this on Amazon and the price was right, reviews were great, so I decided to buy. I am SO happy with this product. It comes already assembled so all you have to do is unfold, set up, and secure. Easy as 1, 2, 3! It’s tall enough that my bunnies can’t jump over and get into mischief. It’s also great for when I have my maintenance come by my apartment to fix something. We normally have to secure our dog in a room with the door closed the whole day while we’re at work and I feel terrible confining him. Now we can set up the pen so he can roam the place and keep him out of the area that maintenance will be so he has access to his water, toys, and can get his entertainment from looking out the living room window. I like that it’s versatile and can be used indoor or outdoors (pegs included to keep the pen secured in the grass). Would definitely recommend this product!
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
amazon queen –
Shakes when dog jumps on gate
This is a decent gate. It is very easy to assemble & fold. I purchased the 30″ one & my two pups learned how to jump over it so I had to purchase a cover. But they never knocked the gate down. When they get excited they jump on the gate & it shakes a little but it hasn’t ever fellbdown. They are 3 month old pitbulls mixed with mountain cur & about 12 pounds each. I haven’t used the gate outside. It does come with stakes to secure when outside. The gate is very roomy. I have a large single bed inside the gate & they still have plenty of room. I am very satisfied with the quality & durability of the gate.
Rated 2 out of 5
Jana D. –
Great for calm dogs, jumping pups, not so much
After getting a new German Shepherd pup it was obvious that our original smaller fences that we used for yorkies, were not going to work. She would jump up and then hang there from her armpits. We ordered the taller fence hoping that it would help contain her while indoors, which it did, however, she would jump up on it when she got excited and the whole cage would walk across the kitchen. When she jumped, it changed shape, square to oblong to rectangle, etc., and it just wasn’t what we had hoped for. If it had a base or a bottom frame that would help hold it in place it would probably be a good idea but without a frame to hold it in place, the whole thing is useless. As we live in the desert, staking it outside and letting her have play time, just isn’t an option at 107 degrees during the day. Hopefully we will be able to get out of this “stay at home” crap soon and get her into some training. She needs it….
Rated 5 out of 5
C –
Great for the price
My dog injured her leg and her activity needed to be limited to rest it, but I didn’t want her to be stuck in a kennel where she could just turn around and that was about it so I got this. It’s been great. It gives her enough room to walk around but not enough to run which was exactly what we needed. I ended up setting it up upside down so she doesn’t have to lift her leg over the bottom to go in and out, and it works fine like that. The quality seems good, it seems very sturdy, and set up took about 5 min or less. If I ever needed another one (which hopefully I won’t), I would buy this one again.
Rated 4 out of 5
M. Thomas –
Great puppy safe space.
This is a great product! We have been using it to create our puppy safe space. My last puppies used my bathroom and chewed up the bottom of my cabinets. This one we attached to his crate (this helps to anchor it, we read that bigger dogs are able to push it around) and our puppy can be free in the space. We attach it with carabiners to itself or the crate. I just wish you could rearrange the order of the panels or add/subtract panels as needed. When we first got the dog, we had the door open into the house, when we were potty training it was good to have the door face our door to the yard, now it would be nice to have the door open in the middle for easy feeding. Now that our puppy has been able to keep his space free of accidents, we would love to give him more space, but in order to do that we would have to buy another fence and we don’t have enough room for 2 full fences.
Rated 5 out of 5
C.M. –
Excellent exercise pen! We now own two of these, connected to an x-large portable kennel.
We had a surprise birthing of puppies from our youngest female dog and needed a solution to keep our two older house dogs from the young mother and her newborns. The male, who’s 1yr, 6mons(The father) and another female rescue who’s 7yrs. All three of them are house dogs. Anyway, we bought this exercise pen and connected it to a x-large portable kennel we already owned. We felt the portable kennel alone, which can hold a 100lbs dog, was too small to house our 10lb mother and her four newborns. So with the exercise pen connected to the kennel, the newborns would be able to stay in the kennel with bedding, while the mother could go in and out, when needed, to eat, drink, relieve herself or to take a break and rest. The height and length of this exercise pen, in addition to the kennel, was a perfect solution to keep the mother and newborns safe and keeping the two older ones out. As the newborns grew, we bought a second exercise pen, connected it to the other pen and expanded the kennel. Easy to assemble, clean and maintain. The puppies are now 7 months old and they’re able to mix with the older ones in the evenings, while we’re home and are placed back into the kennel while we’re at work. More to keep them safe and out of mischief as well as to give the older ones a break from the monster energetic trouble making puppies. It’s a win win for all of us. Great product. Will buy again if and when necessary.
2 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Ale Bryant –
Excellent for my purpose
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This is a 5 star for me but probably will not be for everyone. I was nervous buying this because I didn’t know how I would make it stay up to function in a “long gate weight”. My dog is not big or strong so he cant push the fence so it worked for me. I suspect it will not work for everybody if you mean to have it inside in a “long gate “kind of way. If your dog is heavy enough he can push it down or jump over it. Of course if you mean to use it outside it does have some pinchers that will make it stay but if you mean to use it inside it may be a little bit more tricky. My dog is only 16 pounds and he has a Shih Tzu in the 30 inch one worked well
3 people found this helpful
Rated 2 out of 5
Ekay –
Box was opened- frame bent- Beautiful color though
1. I ordered a “new” item but I was delivered an open box.2. Everything looks fine inside though but when I took it out, I noticed the ziptie had been cut. The accessories and instructions were still sealed though. I think I got a returned product.3. Parts of the pen was bent but it didn’t affect function. I bothered me but not to the point of returning it. Especially because I didn’t have time to wait for a new one.4. I love the color. It’s not all gold like gold jewelry but it’s like a holographic gold finish. The finish is not as smooth as my other all black play pen is probably because the gold finish is matte and not glossy like the black one.5. I have a 22inch crate inside it the 30″ pen I ordered and my 5lb puppy can climb the crate and still jump out! I had to gerry rig it so he doesn’t jump out.Overall, if I knew I was going to get an opened box, I’d probably just bought one for less from Amazon Warehouse.
Rated 1 out of 5
Alana SmitheeAlana Smithee –
item appears to have already been used. very disappointed!
Was extremely disappointed to find that the product I received appears to be a used / returned product. Half of the items inside were opened, some of the little clips are missing the clip latches (can’t remove one from the pen because the latch is missing) and the box was pretty dented. There are dings in the paint of the metal. It looks like a previous purchasers name had been cut off of the box. I run a dog rescue so was very disappointed that I was sold a faulty x pen. I expected a brand new product straight from the warehouse.
One person found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
Amazon CustomerAmazon Customer –
Two fences solved two problems
We used one fence to run from the back door to the fenced in back yard. I no longer have to worry about the dogs not going directly to the back yard. An added bonus, they can now be on the deck with us without constant monitoring. We used Velcro straps to fasten the fence to the rail by the back door so we can open the fence to get to the driveway. It is a pain to open and close the fence but it is worth it for the security for the dogs. We then bought a 30” fence for the front porch. Now the dogs can sit out there with us and we don’t have to worry about them leaving the porch if the mailman or another dog walks by. We used zip ties to attach it to the porch railings and Velcro for open and closing. We did have to separate it into two sections to get the opening where we wanted it. We are very happy with these fences and with a little outside the box thinking they did exactly what we wanted them to do.
2 people found this helpful
Rated 5 out of 5
SuzSuz –
A sturdy short-term pen for hen and chicks
This proved to be an excellent way to create a short-term enclosure for my broody hen and her chicks. I used zip ties to attach half-inch hardware cloth to the bottom 18 inches of each panel, because the spaces between the bars are big enough for a chick or other small animal to fit through. (If you cut off one square on a 24-inch wide roll, it fits a panel perfectly.) I used the clips that came with the pen to attach it to some pre-existing fencing on the two ends, and put in a few of the ground staples. It’s staying upright and feels plenty sturdy. The door is working well to get in and out while still keeping mama and babies inside. I’m very happy with this purchase, and am sure I will continue to use it for making temporary pens as needed even after the youngsters join the flock. Included a pic of how I set it up initially, and a closer view in use.
Rated 5 out of 5
JDJD –
MidWest Foldable metal dog exercise pen
I like it. I can use it in a number of ways. The picture on the front porch is because my dog I cannot take out in the rain to potty because he has a drinking problem and won’t potty so I had to come up with an alternative. My cemented patio is the only place that won’t get wet. I can’t take him outside because all he’ll do is look for a place to drink. He won’t focus on his business.I’ve also had it in the house an added the universal panels. I have two universal panels and each panel comes with two 24 x 24 so a total of four 24 x 24. Very easy to connect together and take apart. And whether you take the panels or the entire exercise pen it is very easy. It folds up like an accordion and fits nicely in the carAnyways using both universal panels which again is a total of four 24 x 24 was very large area for him.He’s difficult to potty train so the other picture you see is my house looking so messy because of the stuff on the floor but I use the two extra panels Which is 96 inches. I don’t even use the corner stabilizers. The hooks aren’t the strongest but for the most part they’re pretty good and if I needed more I would just go to the hardware store. I also use hair ties and make a slipknot for added security.I’ll try to get a pictureAlso the one picture I have the universal panel the start of it connected to his crate.I’ve also taken the two extra universal panels with me in the car to my fathers to block off two entrances. You can see the picture of my dog so we can’t jump it. I do recommend it.Having it on the porch with a piece of turf really has helped plus I can play with them out there without a leash.I planned on putting it outback to make it 4‘ x 8‘ but I never did that however it can be done. AnywhereAnyways on the cement it does not move around.Oh And I see there is reviews about the Door latches. Well they work just fine you just have to make sure you actually have it closed properly. It’s not the gates fault it’s the humans fault
Rated 5 out of 5
Ashley –
Make sure you research pen/crate training before using this for the first time.
I love this pen and I love that it can hook up to the crate. It was very easy to set up. If you have trouble lifting heavy things, I recommend getting someone to help you set it up. I was very surprised by how heavy it was. When I was first looking at these, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get the one with or without the door. I ended up choosing the one without the door and I am very happy that I chose that one. I just slide the panel to the side to let my dog in and slide it back to close it, and this works perfectly! I didn’t like that the door option has that little ledge at the bottom that they have to step over. So overall I’m glad I chose the no door option.Also I just have to add this – never ever use this as a punishment for your dog! You will make them hate their pen and associate it (and you) with fear. You need to train them to love their crate/pen. It should always be a positive experience when they go in it. There are tons of free resources and videos online and on YouTube that explain in detail how to properly crate/pen train your dog. Please do some research on how to use the pen with your dog before you just lock them in there and leave. If they are not properly trained (using positive reinforcement) to like their crate/pen, locking them in there and leaving can be very traumatic and can cause or worsen behavioral issues. If they haven’t been trained to like the pen, they might even hurt them self trying to escape. My rescue dog was nervous around the crate at first, but I took the time to slowly train him to enjoy his pen and now he goes in there (voluntarily!) all the time and he loves it. It’s his safe area; his “room”. Training takes time and patience, but it is so worth it! It is your responsibility to train your dog to understand that the pen is a safe, positive place. If you have the financial ability, you can hire a dog trainer to help you do this. Or, there are many free resources online that explain positive reinforcement and crate/pen training. You can do it! It is so worth the effort.
Amazon CustomerAmazon Customer –
I really like this pen. I’ve been using it for a month now. I purchased the 30 inch for my beagle puppy and I was nervous it wouldnt be tall enough. But so far it is perfect. If I jeed to order a taller one down the line, I will but so far its working fine. I live in an apartment with tile floors in the kitchen. I read a comment from someone else saying you should put something down over tile because pee can soak into the grout lines. I obviously didnt want this. For the first 3 weeks I was buying those rolls of plastic that you put down when you paint. Take my advice and dont do that. It was a hot kess. The puppy had it messed up and bunched up making me fix it multiple times a day, he chewed it up, and its also dangerous. Everytime I walked in the pen the plastic would slide on the tile floor and I about broke my neck lol so I went to menards and bought a precut 6 foot roll of vinyl flooring. It comes 6 foot length and 9 feet of it. I used about 4 or 5 feet of it. Its working perfectly so I highly recommend doing that. It would work perfect on carpet too. Thats really the only down fall for this pen is that it doesnt come with any sort of bottom for people that want to use it in doors. I have also noticed that the vinyl has helped it from moving around as much. And also i have found that if I put the pen in a square shape my puppy doesnt move it around and mess up the shape that much. Ive tried it in every shape and was having issues. I do use the plastic pieces on the pen but I’m not so sure how much it actually helps. I def recommend this pen. I dont use a cage with it. My puppy hates the cage so I just keep a dog bed and a couple blankets in there and he loves it.
waiohaiwaiohai –
I am using this product to keep my dog from running under my rig and out on the street. The 4 ft. height fits perfectly under the skirt of my RV. It is already linked together so I just unfold and place it where I want it. When not in use it is going to be just as easy to fold back up and store it in the rig bay. Unless I scratch the paint off I don’t see there being a problem with rust. If you want to use it as described it should make a nice small dog pen. The box it came in was pretty beat up but the product was fine.
April Zee –
Purchased two of these. My family uses it to put a rabbit at a time in it to get some air and exercise. It is great! My brother has a small yard with no fence and has 3 rabbits. He uses this pen on the grass and will let the rabbit run around in it. My 4 year old niece loves to sit inside with the rabbit. She is now able to play more with the rabbits without the fear of them running off. I also use it to attach to the cage so that they can run in and out for more space. It is very sturdy and easy to fold up into storage. This item has been so handy for us! Thank you!
fwa –
This is the second one I have purchased.I loved the first one so much that I bought another to use for other dog “safety” scenarios both indoor and outdoor. It’s possible to link both together to make a larger area where smaller dogs could wrestle and chase a little. The way these are made, you can tweak the panels in different shapes to accommodate your living situation. Not ugly at all.Comes with tent stakes to secure to grass/dirt area if you need it and have a jumper.Our dogs are French Bulldogs and Boston Terriers. Basically 15lbs to 25lbs. Could work for larger dogs like border collies, brittany spaniels, jack russell terriers, australian cattle dogs. Pretty much up to 50lbs.I will probably be buying 2 or 3 more of these. They are just so handy.
Lynda J. –
I have MANY of these Midwest Exercise pens in different heights. I’ve used them for decades (fostering puppies/kittens, for my own dogs, etc). They fold flat for quick and easy storage. You can link as many together as you want to enclose a large yard. Use them across large doorways — just swing out of the way to walk through. This past summer, after years of trying to decide how to temporarily fence two dogs (8 pound Papillon and 12 pound Poodle mix) into the yard around our summer home (about 1/4 acre) and keep the neighbor’s visiting lab out, I purchased a bunch of these, pounded in a few metal fence stakes, attached zip ties to the stakes (NOT to the fence itself), and clipped the fence to the zip ties. Easy to open or even fold up the fence along the waterfront for our or party use. Kept the lake geese off our lawn! Next year I’ll get some more and use them to surround my vegetable garden. Some of my older ones (years old) that have been used outside alot have shown patches of rust (which I probably could fix with a rust spray), but it doesn’t affect their usefulness outdoors. Ones used inside are perfect. Gates in the fence are (for me) unnecessary; I just overlap one section of gate over part of another and swing to open. Can clip together if your pet challenges the overlapped section. I don’t think I’d recommend for children, but perfect for pets! Caution: Watch the spacing if you have kittens/toy puppies, as I often did. Might need to line the bottom foot+ with cardboard, plexiglass, cookie racks with smaller holes til the pups are big enough not to get their heads caught. Kittens by the age of 6 weeks will climb these fences.
One person found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
I love this pen. I got it about a year ago when my Fox Red puppy was a few months old and used it all around the house when we needed to pen up the pup. Now my pup is 15 month 90 lb. teen boy and we use it to crate him at night mostly since he no longer fits in his crate and he likes to sleep in the confines of the pen. Its a great size because even as he has grown to be an extra large lab, he still fits fine and loves the space. What has turned out to be one of the best features of this pen is that it can be shaped how you need it and/or use it as a fence and not make it form a shape at all. Our lab loves his snacks and always wants to “help” us in the kitchen so this pen makes for a great gate/fence to block off any area where you may not want your pup or dog to go.The gate comes with little clips you can attach to ensure the pen stays closed and you dog doesn’t escape. It also has some ground pegs in case you use it outside and done want the dog to push the cage around or knock it over. On the topic of knocking it over, my dog has never knocked it over or escaped when I used the provided clips. Although the pen is a metal wire, it is very durable. I have accidentally knocked it over and stepped on it many times and it hasn’t broken any bars yet. My only dislike is that the pieces that hold the panels together are plastic and after a year of wear and tear and folding and unfolding, the some of the plastic pieces are starting to crack and break, but I assume if it becomes and issue a solid zip tie will suffice in replacing the piece.All in all it is a solid pen and has really come in handy.
6 people found this helpful
Alex GAlex G –
We purchased it for our 9 weeks old Miniature Schnauzer puppy. His current weight is about 5-6lbs. Product description clearly mention “dogs: 26 to 40 pounds”. While playpen is easy to install, the construction is not very sturdy and can be moved easily. Plastic “corner stabilizers” are absolutely useless, since they not really work in any configuration but rectangle.We installed the playpen on carpet. With that, our 5-6lbs puppy was able to drag playpen walls, modify shape (we tried octagon and rectangle) and finally climb out using horizontal bars. Attaching images from separate days after having a puppy there for approx. ~2 hours of what was rectangular playpen initially.To sum it up, maybe the playpen is okay for bunnies/kittens/etc., but I cannot recommend it for energetic dog owners of any size.
One person found this helpful
Laurie B. Chapman –
I really liked this product. I have a new puppy who chews everything and doesn’t come when she is called. I have these gates in multiple places – one on the grass where we place her to go potty, one around the tomato plants, two across the back lawn so she doesn’t get in the flower beds on the lower lawn, one at the back door so she doesn’t get out if the garage is opened, one at the back of the couch between the hardwood in the kitchen and area rug in the family room so she doesn’t go on the rug. I have two panel ones on each side of the end tables so that she doesn’t get to the underside of the couch and chew the fabric, one at the top of the stairs so that she doesn’t get on the deck and fall off, one by the gate of the chain link fence so she doesn’t slip through the gap between the gate and the fence, and one between my bathroom and bedroom so she doesn’t have an accident on my carpet. We call my home Alcatraz because of all the gates. I kidded that I should be the spokesperson for this product. The reason that I am giving this product a lower than five star rating is that when I ordered my last eight-panel pen with a gate on June 9, 2020, it was $34.99. I guess I drove the price up because today on June 27, 2020, when I wanted to order the same product again, it was $52.00.
3 people found this helpful
Renaissance Woman –
This did the job perfectly. We introduced a new pooch to our family about 2 months ago, as company for our 5 year old Boston. Our new girlis a 5 year old Frenchie. We quickly came to understand one of the reasons her previous family let her go – she is highly destructive and not fully potty trained (they didn’t share this with us, uggh!) So we were shocked after leaving the house for a shopping trip – she had gone from room to room destroying everything she could find and leaving a surprise package in the hallway and a few puddles on the carpet. Double uggh! (How can she go to the potty that many times in an hour?) After this event repeated itself many times I started thinking I might have to crate her, which I hated the idea of because it feels so cruel, even though I understand it’s sometimes necessary. I thought I’d give this playpen a try and I’M SO GLAD I DID! Both dogs go in there any time I’m out of the house for more than 20 minutes. I put a warm bed and blankies and some chewing toys and a snack in there with them, and to my delight, the playpen keeps them safe and secure, and our Frenchy seems to feel more secure that way – she doesn’t leave any surprises whilst in there! It is a sturdy playpen, light enough (I’d estimate about 30 pounds) to lift and move around, and you can change the shape by moving the sides into whatever configuration you like (so it will even fit in a narrow room. I tend to keep it in an oval shape. It comes with several locks, which are easy to use and perfectly secure. One word of advice: Be sure to use at least two locks – one at the top and one at the bottom – because I tried using only one at the top and they managed to sneak out 🙂 You can also open it up and use it as a temporary ‘fence’ to keep pets (or chickens, as was my case), away from a certain deck! I know I’ve been using it for other than what I think it was designed for, but I love this product and I’m so glad I don’t have to crate my pooch!
6 people found this helpful
AtekamTAtekamT –
This is definitely an outside pen because using it inside, it’s flimsy and moves all over the place. I bought it for a new pup but he climbed over it, and he was only 10 weeks. It’s very awkward to move and situate, and slides all over my floor, even with a pad beneath. Ridiculous. The pieces that come with it do not hold the sides together, so they’re useless. This will be going to the recycling center because it’s pretty useless for me.As you can see in my pictures, I have it slightly folded because the new pup I have is very small and doesn’t need all the space while I’m training her. It doesn’t fold easily and that’s the best I could get it to stand.
Huimalu –
Great item. I have purchased 2, and they hook together to make one big pen. They are a little heavy (combined weight), and come with ground stakes to anchor the base to ground. I would only use them on grass., otherwise there is no way to prevent dogs from pushing them around. Depending on your breed, you may want to get extra stakes. I got the 46″ size. Maybe overdoing it for my 16 and 26 lb Shiba Inus, but I didn’t want to chance a turned back and dog loose. This comes with some flimsy plastic clips to seal the panels once the dog is in. There is no dedicated door, you just open one of the panels and the secure with the clips. I replaced mine with some inexpensive metal ones. NEVER LEAVE YOUR DOGS UNATTENDED IN AN EX-PEN! Make sure you get the right size for your breed. Too large is better than too small.
4 people found this helpful
ADKADK –
We have an area with this pen for my miniature daschshund. It’s not that we don’t trust her to be loose in the house at night, but we know she’d be scratching at our bedroom door all night and we prefer not to sleep with the animals. It’s a routine for her to go into her pen where her bed, food, and water are every night and it works very well for us. She has a tiny bladder so a litter box with a pee pad in it helps her out in case of bathroom emergency (honestly sometimes I think she’s just too lazy to wake us up to let her out at night when it’s cold).Right now it’s helpful because she hurt her back doing something silly like leaping off the couch to chase a cat. She’s under strict bed rest for a while and this pen is so useful for that! This way she won’t be shut in a cage with just her bed–especially because the medication she on during recovery causes her to drink and pee a lot (the towel is acting like a small step for her to not have to hop into her bed).We flipped the pen upside-down so that she doesn’t have to hop over the bottom door frame.
One person found this helpful
Crystal M Ventura –
This seemed like a great idea then worked for about a month. Although everybody trips over the entry point as it is higher off the ground than you might expect. About 3 months old are labradoodle puppy climbed right up it like an easy ladder. So unfortunately not effective for smart dogs. We had to see it to believe it… I should have bought one without all the horizontal bars. Hopefully you make a better decision for nimble dogs. 🙂
One person found this helpful
barngirl99barngirl99 –
This works GREAT for our rabbits in giving them more space. We used to allow them free roam in the entire house, but when we moved we no longer had that option. They are happy with this arrangement and seem content that they are close to us much of the time. The x pen is very easy to move so that we can trade off which rabbit gets out (split time between 24 hours), and the clips make it handy to attach to their cages to make it secure. An all around great purchase!
One person found this helpful
Julie A VanBeusekomJulie A VanBeusekom –
I bought the Midwest Exercise pen with a door for my 8 week old Netherland Dwarf bunny. It’s easy to set up/take down, folds nicely, and has good security features (such as double door latches). I opted for the 36″ height (per the internet’s recommendations) and am quite satisfied with the decision. Seemingly this should prevent her from escaping; however, she’s still young so we’ll see what happens as she gets older. I love that this pen provides her with an ample amount of room to stretch her muscles and I know that she loves it too. She gets so excited when I put her in the pen and spends the majority of her time doing lots of binkies and zoomies (see photo for an extremely content bunny). Besides activity, this playpen allows my family and I to easily interact with her for bonding time. Now, my one concern prior to ordering was the bar spacing. Being that she’s under one pound right now and will only get to 2-2.5 lbs, her body frame is in fact small enough to completely fit through the bars. So just be aware of this when making your purchasing decision; nevertheless, it’s easy to fix the problem by blocking off the open bars with a hidey house, litter box, etc. Overall, I think this is a fantastic product and hope to use it for many years. My last recommendation is to buy it used from the Amazon Warehouse, you can save a few dollars and take a pen off their hands! Mine arrived in Like New condition and I’m thrilled 🙂
One person found this helpful
Ashlynd –
I have 3 dogs. I used it as a gate to separate my puppy from the older dogs. Logistically its hard to describe how through text. Just so you understand that we may have different issues…My only thing is that somehow my puppy can randomly figure out how to escape. This is made for larger dogs so I’m not blaming the product. Also, my 15″ dog figured out how to climb the 48″ gate. Again… not the products fault. Although, I recommend replacing the clips with something a bit more sturdy.The product itself is a better design than the other one I have… And a few dollars cheaper. The gate opening has a larger lip so it doesn’t bend and the medal bars are thicker.Overall, great buy. I gave it 4 stars on “easy to fold” because it is solid. That makes it heavy. So, its kinda a sacrifice of quality.
Miranda –
I like this play pen for my pup (shes about 4 lbs right now). Our other dog is about 2 years old- miniature golden doodle (about 26 lbs) and it is taller than her and she’s not able to jump over it. My dogs are escape artists -no matter what we do. This pen holds up! Finally get to put away the puppy kennel!The only negative is the instructions. All it really tells you what pieces come with it and vague description on how to use them. Took me about 20 mins to figure it out and put it together
3 people found this helpful
S. L. Cutler –
The fence was easy to install. However, you have to push the pens pretty deep into the ground to have a sturdy base. As other comments have mentioned, there are sharp pieces to the fence that could injure a dog. Also, there are attached appendages such as the clips that our puppies love to find and chew on.The door to the pen is functional but if you’re potty training puppies that need to go to the bathroom like what seems every 15 minutes, it’s a pain getting in and out of the door frequently to perform cleanup.Lastly, the height we ordered was for small dogs. However, in about two weeks, our 2month old puppy had learned to climb the fence and jump out over the other side so pet owner be ware. We already have to order the tallest height to keep him in.Overall, the pen has proven to be useful. My recommendation is that pet owners supervise their dog while they are in the pen.
Jen C –
So I researched a ton on the best playpen and the great reviews on this product compelled me to order it. Well, I’ve been wholly unimpressed. I have it in a rectangle configuration and it’s less than stable with the black plastic pieces, it’s super wobbly. I’m using it indoors and purchased a piece of linoleum to put underneath as suggested by another reviewer. While it looks decent I’m concerned about it collapsing on my 8 week old puppy. Further, there is a metal hook/clip that I assume when it’s not in use is to clip the whole thing together. My pup is chewing on it and I’m super worried he’s going to hurt himself. Oh and those black plastic “stabilizers?” He’s chewing on those too. If I had it to do over again, I would have picked something else.
One person found this helpful
ElizabethElizabeth –
This pen is great. I think we’ll like having a door. We bought it for camping so the dogs wouldn’t always have to be on leashes. Our medium sized dog (35 lbs) is a good jumper and could probably clear a 4’ fence if he really wanted to however the 48” high that we got is so tall! We’re going to return it and get the 36” since the 48” is such a site. I’m attaching a picture so you can get an idea of it’s height. We know what 48” is but it was still surprising. We got the Used but Good option and I have a feeling it was returned by a previous purchaser for the same reason we’re returning. My husband (in the picture) for reference, is 5’11”.
Fooled –
I have a beach house and have wanted for years to be able to just open the back door and let the pups out, but had no way to contain them. I couldn’t put a fence up because of the lawn care service and the fact we are not there all the time and didn’t know if it would be allowed by the HOA. I accidentally found these gates. I ordered three of them. They arrived quickly and I was impressed with the quality. The hardest part was opening the box and pulling them out. I set them up in less than 10 minutes and hooked them all together. I put it at the end of the stairs off the deck and used the side of the deck and one of the “walls”. Worked perfectly. The pups loved it and so did I. I enjoyed watching them run around and not having to worry about them. When we left to come home, I just folded them up and left them sit under the covered area. Great idea.
One person found this helpful
Arthur Digby Sellers –
This worked great with a new puppy to help house train it and keep an eye on it. Despite having someone home with the puppy all day, it we let it just roam around, it would pee on the floor every 5 minutes or chew up a piece of furniture. Using this allowed us to keep an eye on the puppy while in the same area as it.At first, our dog did not like going into the play pen and viewed it as punishment or a time out. After two weeks, we started just leaving the door open to the play pen and our dog would go in there on her own and lay down.Our dog became house trained at three months old (about 4 weeks after we took her home) and we stopped using this pen altogether.
I’ll Buy It 4U –
I own several of these (36″). Can’t fault them for my poms and long hair chihuahuas. Though I do have a pom who can climb these with little to no problem…. so he goes into a run with a top on it.I’ve read a couple of reviews about people wanting to use these for larger breed dogs and they aren’t going to hold up to the weight of large breeds without toppling over or being pushed about. At least ones that aren’t well behaved. If you show dogs that are well behaved then you should be able to put them out into the taller pens to do their business, but to leave them in without keeping a eye on them, then you may be tempting fate.If we go on a trip I can simply fold it up, lay it in the bottom of the van or trunk and stack everything else on top of it with no damage to it. So being able to flat pack is nice.The black ones will rust if left outside for extended periods of time in the weather. I left one out for a year as a divider for a much larger permanent kennel run and it did rust, however it still works fine and if I get 3-4yrs out of it in total then I look at it as a 10-15.00 year investment. I’ve not tried the zinc version outside yet, though I did just purchase one, so we’ll find out. If it last 4-5 years then the savings really are about the same since it is at a higher cost.If you have pups and this is why you are looking at these pens, think ahead about the height you need for a full size dog for your breed. Sure you can by a shorter one for a few dollars less which will work with pups, but if you plan to keep any of the pups or even keep your own adult dogs in it later down the road, the taller the better. As you never know how athletic those pups are going to get, especially if one is a climber and becomes a escape artist and the others learn and follow suit.You’ll want to put a border around the bottom if you have a litter of small breed pups as they can (and will) stick their heads through the bars and get stuck. A simple fix to that is a cheap roll of chicken wire that is a foot high or so, just put that on the inside to create a border and zip tie it to the pen. Once they are big enough so that their heads don’t fit though the bars anymore you can roll the chicken wire up and use it down the road again if you need to. A litter of poms we just had could get their heads through the bars up to 3wks of age. Mind you it’s not something they do on purpose at that age.. they just wiggle and squirm their way out of the crate bottom/ whelping box and into the main pen area and it happens. At 4wks when they start toddling about more they run their heads into the bars, but no longer between them.I’ve clipped several of these together to create a much larger run for 6-7 poms. To help give support over the longer length of the sides I simply zig-zag it in a couple of sections to give it added support to keep it from toppling over if they all decide to run to one section and jump on it as to greet someone or bark at something.The clips that come with it are so-so. They are ok if you plan to put the pen together and not undoing them constantly. But overtime they are going to wear out and they aren’t exactly rust proof so rain and morning dew does cause them rust and corrode up making their small size just that much more difficult to open/close. I bought some better ones that are easier to grasp.The rods that come with the runs to help hold them down to the ground are suitable, but over time they are going to bend and wear if you use them much. They aren’t made out of the thickest of metal stock, so they can and will bend if trying to force them into hard ground or hit a rock. My suggestion if you are traveling or plan to put the pen down on hard ground for extended periods of time, metal tent stakes. Plastic ones become chew points.
7 people found this helpful
Priscilla –
It comes together already, all you have to do is simply open it & place it how you want it. (I chose the octagon style so my pups would have more of a play area) there were no sharp edges, no flaking paint on the little bars & it’s versatile to basically any shape you need it to be in. I have it set up inside my home on ceramic tile flooring with a large sized moving blanket underneath it with puppy pads in the center. (The pups have YET to knock it over) And I can leave the door open so the momma dog can go in & out ( I did have to cut a piece of cardboard & place it at the door entrance because they started climbing over it after a while & that REALLY helped a lot ) other than that, it’s been a HUGE HUGE help for me. Soooo…. No disappointments here????????♀️❤️❤️❤️
holly –
I really wanted to love this. Looks super cute and held my puppy in, but I do have three pretty major complaints. First, this thing is SO NOISY. My puppy would paw at the sides and I just about went nuts after a couple of weeks of use. Really noisy with the constant sound of clanging metal. Second, the metal left awful marks on my wooden floors. I’m not sure if it was paint coming off of the bottom of the corners or just metal running. The marks would wipe off with a bit of cleaner and a scrub, but really sucked. It does come with corner protectors, but my small pup easily popped these off. I believe it was made worse by my final complaint – movement. Every time my dog would paw at the side of the pen, it would move. My pup weighed less than ten pounds at the time of use and we had to weigh down every corner with big weights. Definitely stubbed my toes more than once. The constant movement of the pen combined with the floor scuffs and noise made having a puppy harder than it would have been already. We are getting another puppy this upcoming weekend, and I bought a different play pen to use made out of canvas material.I gave three stars because it technically got the job done, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this product to a friend. It may work for someone with carpets, but I really don’t have relevant observational data to support that hypothesis
One person found this helpful
Poop –
quite high. I have the 48 in one. 48 inches is about the height of children that are allowed to get on six flags rides. That’s quite tall. 48 inches works pretty well for our pup that is now the size of a small dog. He will grow to be 70or so lbs and this may no longer contain him well if he learns that the kennel is not super steady if its knocked far enough. The wire is adequate enough to keep his tiny paws inside so itll work for dogs no problem. It comes with a neat plastic connector to link the ends together. You can always keep the gates overlapped to make the area smaller OR link multiple together to make the area bigger. The door is alright and is open at the top so you can walk in and out easily. All in all this was a pretty great purchase. Now I dont have to feel bad about leaving my dog in the kennel all day because hes a little s*** and gets into everything.
10 people found this helpful
David W –
I’m using this to fence out my dog from digging in the kids playground sand pit and to the other side of my neighbors yard. Yeah, my dog is a digger and loves to roll around in the freshly watered grass and sand before coming in the house to roll all over the off-white carpet and couches. So, I NEEDED something to keep my dogs and kids from letting the dog out to run a muck.These gated fence are pretty nice and sturdy for what it is. Since I was running 2 sets of fence together in a long straight run, I used some wooden stakes that were about 3′ long at every other chained fence and simply zip tied it to the fence. I also put 2 doors next to each other where I now have a door that swings open from each side that are 6 inches apart from each other, which is nice for kids to open the door according to which side they are in. I placed a 3′ stake at the joining door fence and one on each side of the doors for the ultimate stability. Some may say that they don’t like the raised section where the dog or kid has to step/jump over to get through the door, well I absolutely needed it since it was in between the concrete and grass. Imagine trying to open the door with a huge slab of concrete between the grass or simply opening the door without a bottom frame on the grass, it’s impossible. So the raised bottom frame of the door is a necessity, in my case.While measuring out my yard I thought I’d only need 3 sets considering I wanted to section off the grass and concrete patio. Don’t be like me and just measure the total distance and divide by 2′ or 24″. What I should have done was measure a certain section of the run and divide by 2′. So for instance my total distance is 48′ and 3 sets would be perfect, but a long straight running area of my back yard is 41′ before the concrete patio ended before cornering off to the wall. So I had to either run 1 fenced section a foot over the area and be 1 fence short of the wall, or be a fence too long at the wall. I opted to be a link too long to route it all weird, but that’s my fault. Lesson learned for someone else at my expense.
2 people found this helpful
doxmom –
This x-pen started to rust before we even had a chance to use it! Do not waste your $ and time. Not to mention that it took weeks to deliver (yes, with Prime shipping!). It’s going back right after we first took it out of the box.Spend a little more and purchase the IRIS USA brand. They’re US made, much lighter, and will never rust. I have one that we’ve been using for the past 8 years and it’s still good as new. So I’m replacing this one with another IRIS USA brand.
One person found this helpful
Reviewer mom –
I needed a pen to put my puppies in so they could go potty outside. Our yard is too big to let them wander at night. I ordered 2 and put them together into one larger pen. It works perfectly. I thought about a 3rd one but once they are a few months older I wont need them so 2 will work. Still plenty of space for them to do their business. I put them in when it’s dark, let them go potty, then take them in the house. When they need to go out at 2am we do the same. It keeps them safe and it is easy for me to bring them right back inside. It’s tall enough that my little jumper can’t get out. Once I don’t need them outside, I will use one inside since she can jump the baby gate. It is sturdy, holds up perfect when it’s super windy. It is easy to move. Very, very happy with these.
ScottScott –
This exercise pen served us in multiple ways this past Christmas. We brought home a new puppy a few weeks prior to Christmas this year. The tree was already up and we have two small children so we needed a way to keep both parties safe. Enter the Midwest Foldable Metal Exercise Pen.We set up a nice safe space for the puppy to sleep and relax while also keeping her safe and away from the kids toys she could destroy and choke on.When our pup was house broken and more used to her surroundings, we use the exercise pen to house the tree to keep not only the pup away from it, but also our 18 mos. old who has a tendency to remove ornaments and hide them throughout the house.All in all – a great product that we even use outdoors when we want to give the puppy some alone time, but the ability to exercise in the yard.
One person found this helpful
JananJanan –
this has been a life saver. we didn’t want to kennel train our dog because we didn’t want her to feel cooped up, so we got this play pen and it has been amazing.our pup was just 10 lbs when we got her, and she did not stand a chance against this pen. her belly scraped a little when going in and out of the door because she was so tiny and didn’t quiet know how to jump, but that wasn’t a problem after a week or two and she grew like a sprout.our dog is now 40 lbs and fully respects the pen. she can jump up and put her paws on the side of the pen, and it will slide a little if you have it on just wood or tile floors, but we have it on a carpet and it doesn’t budge.it is her safe space and she goes in there to sleep or lay down while we’re bustling around the house.the little plastic guys that keep the sides of the pen straight? as soon as your dogis tall enough to reach them they will not last. our pup chewed up a couple before we just took them off, but as long as you have a big bed or something in there to help keep the pens shape, you shouldn’t need to use them.we got a second one of these because it works so great, one for the main floor of the house by the front door so she can hangout in there while we’re at work, and one for our bedroom so she can sleep in the room with us without romping around and causing trouble.would definitely recommend this over a kennel if you have the space.
CK. –
We ordered this exercise pen (black) after looking at and comparing to other brands. It arrived 2 days earlier than expected, which was a pleasant surprise. Super simple to unfold and set up, no dents, chips, or missing paint. Unfortunately the pen was missing the snaps to clip it shut. We immediately called the 800 number and person said the clips would be in the mail and arrive within a few days. Since we didn’t need the pen immediately, this was not a big deal. Very pleasant phone conversation, customer service excellent! We chose Midwest because we have purchased Midwest products in the past, we trust Midwest products to last since over the years our other crates are still in great shape! We plan on getting another exercise pen, and it will be a Midwest.Update: April 2, 2020. We purchased our second exercise pen because we found so many helpful uses for the first. It was perfect by our outside door to keep dogs contained from running through house with muddy feet. They can be connected together to enlarge play area, or stretched out to act like a fence, etc. For us, the fence only acts as a visual barrier to keep our dogs contained, but if your pets are jumpers, or diggers, this probable won’t work as well for you. Our dogs know when the exercise pen is in place not to jump over it. We will be using this for camping, also when visiting others. It is light weight enough to carry, compact when folded for transportation, and works perfectly for our needs. Very pleased with the product, with customer service and delivery was quick.
2 people found this helpful
Amanda –
This has been a great tool used in conjunction with my puppy crate. I got two sided caribeners to attach the edge of the gate to my crate since my crate is a different pattern than most square ones. The quality is ok. Had a smell when it came out of the box. Puppy likes to lick it so partly question what’s in the metal. Somewhat flimsy depending on the shape you do and if you anchor it or secure with the black tube pieces. He is able at 5 pounds to shove it over some. He has a lot of energy for a tiny dog. The height works. Right now he can’t reach the top of the 24 inch one. He is a bouncer so concerned might need a higher one in the future.
One person found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
I use this playpen for my puppy every day. I use it when doing house activities where I can’t watch my puppy every minute. He’s at a stage where everything goes in his mouth, so this playpen has given me needed breaks when I’m home. It was a good price when I bought it, although I’ve seen the price go up. One suggestion is to get one with a door or be prepared to undo the clips every time you place your puppy in or take them out. I had a puppy instructor warn that if you pick up your pup and lift him over the fencing, he will eventually learn he can jump over it. I didn’t want to train him to jump over our outdoor chain link fence & I didn’t purchase one with a gate, so there is a lot of clipping and unclipping. FYI when I received my order, I had one broken clip so I called the manufacturer & they immediately sent me a new clip in the mail. Great customer service!
Danni1226 –
This literally saved my life! My golden retriever whelped puppies and once they were big enough to roam, this was great and saved my sanity! It allows access to the pen itself but also connects to her wire kennel which also had 2 doors. Made it super easy to let her in and out while we were weaning. Extremely durable and now has given the puppy we kept a place to play in, plenty of room for XL puppy pad, plus food and water with still room-while connected to his kennel where his bed is. It’s perfect for dogs in general if you want to give them more space then their kennels. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
JBry23 –
This was a great purchase for our new puppy. With my husband working from home, and myself and the kids still at school each day, it gives him space to move around when my husband is on a call and can’t tend to him. We have it lined with pee pads, which has been helpful on super rainy days or in the middle of the night as he knows if the bell isn’t available, he goes in there. His large crate is attached to it as well, so at night, he lays in there, and then can use the pads and will either lay back down giving me a full night of sleep (YESSSSS) or will bark once until I move him into the crate in our bedroom where he sleeps the rest of the night. It has been a nice little routine so far. He is 16# now and is starting to jump up on the sides, but with the crate attached, I think it is more sturdy than if it wasn’t, so that is helpful.
One person found this helpful
Leha Carpenter –
This pen is ideal, although I never use it for a pen. I use it to block off areas I need to keep my Husky/Malamute out of, and it has not fallen over or given way to her once. (I suspect she could knock it over if she was trapped inside of it for too long, but as I said, that’s not how I use it.)You don’t have to put a lot of angle into most of the panels to keep them standing as long as at least two have some angling. So you can get it to be quite long. It’s also super easy to open or adjust the panels to create a corridor when walking through is permissible, so it can serve as a passage through an otherwise off-limits area.The construction is solid, and it’s also the same height and color as my MidWest dog crate, so I can achieve harmony in using them together.When I’m done with it inside the house I will stake it down outside around my one toxic shrub so that becomes off limits to potential chewing activities.It’s a very versatile thing to have! You should go ahead and get one–don’t be on the fence!
One person found this helpful
chellychelly –
i have 2 of these i was gonna use it for my puppy while im at work and make it double the size but my puppy is an escape artist so this wont hold her all day she likes to be with the other dog but it works while she can see me working in the front yard she okay to be in it i ended up putting one around my AC unit so she wouldnt chew on the wires while im at work and this one ill just keep for holding her while i work in the front yard n stuff with the garage door open until she learns she cant run off its a nice accessory to have while training your puppy if you have extra money but if you have an escape artist who wont be held in a cell for more than 10min this probally wont work for you my puppy 3 months 20 pounds and i got an extra large she gets out of it
2 people found this helpful
Jamie Kaercher –
This product has been a lifesaver. As a new puppy owner and someone who doesn’t have a lot of extra money for doggy daycare nor someone to help with pup on the ocassions I’m gone for several hours, I hooked this to his crate with the included clips, formed it into the octagon shape, and he is able to be confined safely, yet still have access to food, water, toys, playing space, and a puppy pad or small grass puppy potty system( bought separately). I noticed a few of the metal ends were very sharp when I was first putting it together, but I was able to flatten the sharp protruding parts with a pair of pliers and it’s fine now. The plastic bars can be positioned on top or bottom. They fall off kind of easy, so I just added a small piece of clear tape around each end. It can be taken off and replaced easily when I pack this up to travel. When it’s set up in my house, I put the plastic bars on the bottom, and then I added small adhesive skid-proof foam pads underneath each one so that it protects my wood floor and also stops the panels from sliding when pup jumps up on the sides or bumps into it while playing. He seems happy, and I’m happy and able to do what I need to do AND have my dog. This exercise pen has fit the bill, even with the minor tweaks I had to do, and the price was perfect. I have a friend going through a similar issue, feeling bad keeping her pup crated all day, so I sent her the link to this exact product.
Arielle Atienza –
I bought this playpen for my 10 week old corgi/toy fox terrier mix. It was easy to assemble and shape. For now I have it as a rectangle shape next to my bed with a blanket under and her bed and food and water bowls in it. You could attach your crate to it, but the door of the playpen is a little higher than the Midwest 18 in. crate’s door.. I use this to keep my dog in their own space and not be kept in her small crate all day. Unfortunately, since the first day we got the playpen she has managed to climb over it because of the horizontal parts of the playpen. I’ll probably have to cover the sides with a blanket or put something else to prevent her from climbing so she doesn’t get hurt.
4 people found this helpful
S. Munro –
This is great for keeping your pet contained without having to go back to the crate all the time. We used this with our second German Shepherd so she felt like she was still part of the family and could interact with the older GSD without risking too rough play in her early weeks. As a potty training tool, I would say it’s ok, but not the best. You have to use potty training pads in this and puppies tend to just want to shred those. I’m still very happy with my purchase and enjoy the flexibility this provides. We can take it outside and hook it up to our fence to extend the puppy’s play area. That makes it ideal. We can also use it inside as a slightly curved fence from the doggie door to the indoor food and crate area, which limits their access to the whole house when needed. Overall, I think this is a great option at a great price!
2 people found this helpful
TravStefTravStef –
This review is not directed towards Amazon in any way, but intended for MidWest Homes. I really needed an enclosure for my new pup and wanted to go with this company because of their positive reviews. Unfortunately, the black playpens would not ship for one to two months and I could not wait that long. The only other option was gold. My wife and I agreed that gold would be okay, but this is not gold… More like burnt bronze as it gradually changes from yellow to green to purple… Not to sure if this company has a quality control department, but judging by the product I received I’d say they don’t. Quite dissatisfied.
3 people found this helpful
holland1945holland1945 –
Okay so we are getting a pomeranian puppy next month. We have one gate/pen like this that’s around 42″ and black, but doesn’t have a door. That one is good for keeping cats out of rooms, but I wanted a second one to leave outside for creating a smaller potty space than the whole fenced in yard. Plus a door would be nice, and our dogs will not jump over gates as short as 18″ so we don’t need them all to be tall.Anyway. Gold was the cheapest color in stock, so I went for it. I don’t like gold, so I expected to not like it. Holy crap was I surprised to find this is not gold, it is multi chrome! If you are a holo or multi chrome person at heart, this “gold” is the color for you. It shifts between gold, orange, pink, green, and in some spots even blue and purple. It’s AMAZING. Now I don’t want to put it outside lol.Beyond the gorgeous color, it has great features. A clamp to hold it in the folded position. A teeny clamp to help keep the door closed. Clips to close the ends together. Joint supports. Grass stakes. What more could you want?? A top cover? Don’t get greedy.I added pictures to hopefully show some features, but most importantly the COLOR!
Sebastian –
We have three of these that we put together for a big pen. It is big enough to go from our tent trailer and around the picnic table at most camp sites. The dogs are very happy to have so much room and be close to us. My wife also got collapsable beds for the dogs to keep them off the ground.I have taken four panels and laid them down sideways for the section next to the trailer, cutting out for the step. I have also taken the gate panel apart so that I can move it around depending on how the camp site is set up. I also use shock cord loops with the balls to hook to the gate in a way that keeps it closed but it dose not need to be latched. It makes it much easier to get in and out of. Just make sure it opens inward. Otherwise the dogs can get out.
One person found this helpful
Clary –
I read good review, so decided to buy. We set up the pento attached with the L- size create, unfortunately we didnt take the picture. We put our female puppy inside the pen, she was 11 weeks old, 22-23 lbs.and we went out for 3 hrs. When we back home, she was already out ! The pen still attached with the crate 🙁 locks were not loose. Beside this incident, I also found the material wasnt si good. It was much thinner than I thought.
9 people found this helpful
JM –
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We have a large rabbit and bought three of these to use as a large enclosure. After a few weeks we saw via camera that his big head was stuck between the wires in the fencing. Come to find out he learned how to shake the door open and was trying to squeeze back inside the pen. Thankfully a neighbor was able to save him, however I was shocked at how easy it is to get the gate door to open just by lightly shaking it. We are adding 1/4″ mesh to prevent him from getting stuck and additional clamps to keep the gate open. See attached video
4 people found this helpful
Xander and Patrick’s Nana –
I used this fence to shield my cotton plants from deer. I wanted to grow it to spin. It is not growing very well, but that is a function of the soil, I think. I may use this in the orchard next spring to protect a young tree from the deer. The deer won’t jump into small enclosures, they say, and they certainly have not jumped in to eat my tiny cotton plants. They had no compunction about eating the tops of my sunflowers, which had no protection. So, if your dog doesn’t need a fence, you can use this one to keep the deer from eating your favorite plants.
One person found this helpful
ANDREC –
I ordered two of these for my two big dogs (70lbs +, Rhodesian Ridgeback and a Black lab) to make it easier to let them be outside when camping and not trapped in the camper when I need to work. Unless your dog is actively aggressive or an escape artist you do not need the 48″ fence. This thing looks like I’m setting up a FOB to storm the campground lol. They are strong, well made, but I wish I had gotten the 36″ or 42″ at most.
3 people found this helpful
Heather –
Purchased it for an oldie Goldie who hates kennels. She will destroy herself destroying kennels. Dont know what sparked this since shes been kenneled for her life (it started when she was around 6). She forgot house/potty manners since the person she stayed with (I was at college) let her get away with everything, kennel free.It first started out okay since she had room to maneuver and what not. Then she realized she was trapped. THEN she realized it moves when shoved around with her nose but combined with her panicking made it unsafe. So we drilled it to the floor. She legit destroyed the damn thing within a week and we could no longer close the door. On an upside it only took that week to correct her house behaviors so she now can be kennel free.Now the raggedy, zipped tied together thing is being used as a no dog zone barrier for the cats. Its multifunctional! Overall it’s good and will work for training, just dont use it for a dog with kennel issues.
3 people found this helpful
Las Vegas Engineer –
Bought 2 of them for a doberman puppy (largest size). The problem with it is, that it is a bit flimsy and not heavy duty, but this comes with the low price and is acceptable. The puppy can now open the door so we added an additional lock that does the trick. All this is expected with the low price for this product. However, what is a real problem is that it scratches your hardwood floors as the dog moves the panels. The locking plastic device does not work so you need to re-arrange the panels daily. I put furniture protector pads under each corner of the panels and fixed it with black electrical tape to the panel. This prevents now the metal to scratch the floor. Considering the price it is a 4.5 stars, as you can’t expect heavy duty with low price. For us this is ok as we hope the dog will not need it anymore once grown and trained and it is only temporary. Plus there are many horror reviews with higher priced models of others so you would pay more but don’t get better. For a temporary solution this is recommended.
Carlos Aguilo –
If you are planning on using this indoors, you will want to consider getting something to weigh the pen down. For outdoors, there are stakes included to make sure the pets don’t move or tip over the pen. However, for indoor use there is nothing included to weigh it down.I have a puppy that is very small (8lbs) and she can almost tip over the pen. I imagine that in two weeks when she grows a bit more, she will be able to tip this over with no problem. I have gotten around this by using some velcro straps and tying the pen to other furniture around.Also, the clips that it comes with to put it together are not very good. They “get the job done”, but they stick out which leads for my dog to chew on them, which is not good.
One person found this helpful
2dogz –
My small dog (10#) had very painful leg surgery that required him to be in a confined space while he was recovering for 8 weeks and stoned out of gourd on pain medicine. He was only in a crate at night in another room.I liked that I could easily adjust the size of the pen. Very small the first few weeks, then larger as he got better. He was not doing any jumping on the side of the pen, but it did seem very sturdy to me.It is currently packed up in the original box in case I need it later. It was perfect for what I needed to use it for when I needed it. Ernie is all better and back to hopping up on the couch.
B. Anderson –
So my 24 year old cocker can jump high, and he does not jump out. I got the one with the door, there are no sharp parts, he does try to open it. It folds up small (I slide between my fridge and counter), It’s actually pretty large, larger than I thought. I fit my 2 cockers in it (25ish lbs each) just fine, a 3rd dog could fit. I got it for CAMPING. It was a miracle. I usually tie my dogs up and they get tangled, bark at everything and get filthy. I put them in here, I staked a tarp down FIRST, so they were not lying in dirt. I then staked it down (it comes with some) and it was sturdy for that use (they could not push over or slide it around or anything). With that said, it is flimsy when using on hardwoods floors, because it slides around and you can push on it, all I can say is that on carpet or outdoors when you can stake it down is better. It is not the sturdiest and I would never leave them unattended for that reason, if planning on leaving unattended then I would not use this (we were at the camp site, so we could see them), we also put a sheet or towels over sides so they could not see other dogs to bark. Worked well for camping needs.
One person found this helpful
Sherry AhFerretSherry AhFerret –
This is perfect. I need a place to put my guinea keets when they are too young for the coop but too big for the brooder box. I also bought the 4×4 cage top. I will have to cover with hardware cloth and keep in a secure area in my coop and that will also make the transition into their large coop easier for my guineas. My German Shepherd wanted to be in the picture and is a good to see how large/tall this 4×4 cage is.
One person found this helpful
MinaMina –
I tried finding a pet gate for my new kitten to slowly introduce her to the house, but found that pet gates seemed to be much pricier than I expected?? I found this and thought it would be a decent solution at a better price. It doesn’t come with “feet” or any stands of some sort to help it stay upright (but that’s because it’s supposed to be a connected and enclosed pen), but we were able to arrange it so that it was fairly stable. Even with my cat trying to climb and jump up the fence, it didn’t topple over! I was fairly impressed.It’s great all the panels are pretty much connected together, but with our setup it made for accessing the door a little difficult, since we couldn’t rearrange it to be on a middle panel, and it’s connected as an end piece on the right side. We were able to make it work though, using only about 2-3inches of the end of the door panel to lean against the wall and being propped up with extra support from a fake plant stand.This gate situation for our kitten is meant to be temporary until she gets used to the rest of the house. After she gets more confident going outside of her “room,” we plan on using it for outdoors in our backyard when it’s much cooler, so she can experience the outdoors in an enclosed space.
~ XLNTMOMMY ~ –
this review is for the MidWest Homes Folding Metal Pet Exercise Pen/Playpen .. I purchased the 42″ height in Gold .. I hav to tell you this was for a bunny but my GSD went inside of this once time (we pick it up and take it outside and sit it in the grass over the weekend sometimes for our bunny ..) and it would hold her, its that sturdy . but then my GSD (German Shepherd Dog) is is exquisitely trained (pre-shutzhund) and includes the little bunny as part of our “pack” .. but she was wonderful with both the cage and the bunny . This versatile cage is sturdy, flexible, well-made, easily handled (2 people is best but one can do it) and all for an incredible price point .. I got the taller because I knew I would hav cardboard boxes inside for the little bunny rabbit and was told she would hop on top of those and gain easier access to jumping out over the cage, though she never attempted to do this .. maybe in time, but in time the idea is to hav her litter box trained (almost there !) and open this pen up for access to the rest of the main area of the downstairs of our house .. but as far as this cage/pen, it is made of a durable metal, there are stabilizers included which go at the the top folding ‘joints’, as well as some gold clasps which help stabilize the area just adjacent to the door of the cage .. overall, this was a tremendous buy for me because the price was under $50 .. you cant go wrong with the quality of this product .. all day long, 5 Stars .. !
R –
We have one of these for inside the house and it works great; we can move it from one room to another depending where we need to put him. However, this second one we ordered to use outdoors came last night without any of the anchors or stability supports (the box was open and it probably fell out in the truck!).So I just called MidWest product support and they said they’d mail me the 8 anchors and “only some anchors, as they’ve changed it and now only include 4 instead of the 8 supports”! The box and instructions say it included 8 and I feel I should get what I ordered and what fell out of the box. So I’ll see what comes and may change my review depending…UPDATE: I have edited my rating to reflect that I did receive the 8 anchors and 4 supports. Happy with my purchase in the end.
One person found this helpful
TheRealDealTheRealDeal –
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The best purchase I’ve made for my puppy! I can use the gate like a pen and it to her crate to keep her confined when we’re gone, but it’s big enough to block off entire sections of a room. Once my pup was old enough to roam the house, I used it block off the plants and fireplace from her getting to those, and then brought it back out when she got spayed to keep her in a small area to recover. I LOVE this gate. I’ve even used it to blcok off the garage opening while I worked with my car and she sat outside and looked out to the neighborhood, nice and safe from getting out. Anyways, would highly recommend. It’s sturdy and easy to attach to a wire crate. The only thing I wish it did was detach so I could use it in smaller sections but that’s ok!
Amanda H –
We bought a 2nd one for our vacation home because of how useful this was for our Cavachon puppy. We use it for everything — penning him off when we leave him for a few hours, blocking certain rooms/rugs off, etc. Right now we’re actually using it cordon off the Christmas tree because he wouldn’t stop nibbling on it! We’ve taken this on multiple trips, banged it up a ton, and it still looks and works great.Only 2 things I don’t like is: 1) a few times I’ve gotten my fingers pinched in between the metal when I’m closing it up but not exactly the product’s fault 2) sometimes when you set it up as a “wall” it can be unstable. We or our puppy have knocked it over a few times & it’s scared him. Just make sure to always have part of it at an “angle” to keep it more secure.
Kellyn McClanahan –
I’m not a fan. I have it set up in front of my door to help keep the dogs from escaping so I haven’t tried it as a play pen. In it’s octagon type shape it’s pretty sturdy, it gets pushed around a little if it gets run into but that’s to be expected. In the shape I have it in, you can’t use the corner stabilizers, and it has scratched up my hardwood but I board dogs so my hardwood is scratched up anyway. However, the joints between the panels are sharp (some more than others) and injured my dog to the point of needing stitches when she ran into it while playing with another dog. Thank goodness it was my dog and not one of the dogs I was boarding, but now my energetic furbaby can’t run around and play. We put tape over the joints to prevent future injuries so keep that in mind when buying. I also could have sworn the description said the panels came apart, but they don’t. That was probably my mistake because I looked at several options before choosing this one
One person found this helpful
jet snailjet snail –
I disliked that once assembled there isn’t a “door” to open and close. My 11 pound boxer puppy was able to climb over the top at 11 weeks old. I ended up purchasing the cover which solved that problem, but made the lack of a door worse. When used indoors the puppy is able to jump on walls and distort shape and move pen. The cover helps with this somewhat. It needs fasteners to stabilize the octagon shape. It is rather large and heavy for transporting.UPDATE: I’m downgrading this fromb3starvto 1. My 15week old 20 pound puppy is able to jump against the wall enough to collapse wall (even with cover on it) and the whole thing tipped over. I could hear her barking and barking on camera but couldn’t see her. Didn’t know if she was trapped or hurt. This is certainly not puppy material!!!!!
mountainmover –
I have 2 of these. A good exercise pen will come in handy for the lifetime of your pet. I’ve used this when my dogs weren’t housebroken yet, as a barrier to keep them out of an area or on vacation as a way to contain them when I am not in the house / hotel with them. Much more space for them than a crate. However, if you have a dog that jumps a lot and doesn’t want to be in the pen, for safety you should use a crate.The only problem I have had with this product is with the brackets that they use to hold the panels together. Although I will say this was after considerable use, the brackets not longer held together the pen. I had to switch to snap hooks like on the end of the leash which is not quite as secure but my dogs do not try to get out so it works.
SiobhanSiobhan –
This product has worked wonders training my small breed puppy. It comes already assembled and it’s super easy to maneuver and fold. I love how versatile it is too. As you can see from my photos, it can fold into obscure shapes to fit in essentially any space with most configurations. It can be purchased in several different sizes with many different accessories. The hinge door works great and it comes with stakes to secure it to the ground outside if needed. Terrific crate, fence or playpen – the options are abundant. My puppy loves being in it and it’s big enough that I don’t feel bad leaving him in it for longer hours when needed. The only thing I didn’t like about it are these small plastic tubes that come with it to secure the panels together and are supposed to help it stay rigid. They are hard to put on and don’t stay easily especially if there on a bend where you need to put it. I personally just choose not to use them and it still functions great and feels very sturdy without them. Very durable and secure product, I highly recommend!
5 people found this helpful
Suz –
We already had this same pen by Midwest but in black. It really stood out too much in our living room. We wanted one in white to blend into our decor but have yet to find a manufacturer. This blue one coordinates much better than the black metal did and now we use the original one for traveling.It folds nicely, cleans easily and you can configure it in different shapes to fit your space.We keep our dog’s food bowls, bed, extra toys and pee pad inside and he is free to come and go from it during the day. When we go to sleep, we shut the door and he stays out of trouble until morning.The door latch system is a little wonkier than our original black one but the pen works fine as a little ‘apartment’ for our small dog.
PaulaSC –
i bought this for my dog as an indoor replacement for his crate. i have a pitbull mix: he’s 1.5 years old, about 50lbs, and 3 or so feet long. he’s very energetic, so we’ve tried to keep him out of his crate when we’re gone for the day, but he always ends up destroying something/many things.having this sweet boy in a crate all day while i’m at work has really been bothering me, so i got him this playpen. best decision i’ve made yet! i was going to get the 48″H pen because my boy will jump out of the pen if he knows he can or stand up on one of the sides and knock the whole thing over; still, i ended up going with the 42″H pen. it’s the absolute perfect height for him (maybe too tall for his size, but i know my dog, so i’d rather be safe than sorry).it is quite easy to configure and put together (except for the stabilizers, but i’m a moron). i was scared the octagon configuration would take up too much space, but it’s not bad at all. i’m just so happy with how roomy and sturdy it is, and i’m even happier for my dog.
Kandyce –
Would recommend this product hands down! I’ve since have passed it to a newer puppy owner. I purchased this item in 2018 due to having two sister doodles at once. I would use this to partition off a room or area so they could have their own separate areas but still be able to be with one another. I have also used it as shown in picture when I didn’t want to kennel them separately for a short time. My doodles aren’t climbers so they never attempted to scale it. It’s very sturdy if you “bend” the meeting points if you want it to be a free standing barrier, otherwise i recommend connecting it together as shown in pic. It is heavy but collapses perfectly for easy storage.
Amazon Customer –
I do like the size and the variations to set this up. But after almost 2 months the door is starting to bend a little bit and get off center. This is bolted and anchored to the cement floor and to the wall. It likes to try and pop out of size. Which I have it set up as a square. The little black joint doohickers don’t do anything. We ended up zip tying every panel and joint as much as possible. The two latch features seem to be off set from the door so you have to wiggle and pick the door up a little bit. It didn’t matter which formation I used, they are both off. Measured them as well, almost 1/4″ . Which to me is quite a bit. And yes there are some areas that have sharp joints or weld areas. I suggest using a dremel for those. I was expecting this to hold shape better, but you have to be creative. It works for now.
Keith LaBorde –
I have a 4 Year Old Beagle, that can be destructive when I am not at home. I have two of these units assembled in my Garage, and connected to her Midwest Crate, and it works very well. She has a nice size surroundings to do her Business, play, and go to her Bed. I don’t like the concept of locking a dog in a Crate, but having this unit connected to it gives her a sense of having a small yard. I have also purchased a number of the Two Door Midwest Crates and donated them to the SOS Beagle Group so they can use them for Transport, or give them a way to New Adopters of Beagles.
Beach Girl –
I purchased two of these to create a large exercise pen for my two rabbits. I’ve set it up in the basement with a comfort mat underlay, and it provides a large and secure area for them to play. Since rabbits can jump – high – I opted for the 30″ height, which is still comfortable enough for me to reach over. There is the possibility that they will climb it, but that hasn’t happened yet, and the 30″ height should be enough of a deterrent. It is sturdy without being unmanageably heavy, and I can dismantle and move it easily without help. My only complaints – which were not material enough to knock off a star – are the latching mechanisms and the inability to easily reconfigure by removing panels. Both are easily remedied however; I use carabiners to close the “gates”, and the panel connectors could be removed with a snips or wire cutter and reattached using zip ties, similar to what I use with the buns’ old x-pens. The rabbits have the run of the house, so if this becomes unused in the future, I can see a new life for it encircling my veggie bed. One solution keeps the rabbits in, the other keeps them out. Good purchase, multi-purpose.
2 people found this helpful
J. Daniels –
I bought this not to contain my dog, but to keep my dog away from my plum tree. Plums are toxic to dogs, and my tree is dropping plums. I ordered two of these fences and clipped them together (using enclosed metal clips) to make one large fence. I used the large staples (provided with fence) to secure the gates to the ground, and I used the plastic clips to make the joins between each panel more sturdy. My 21 lb dog has jumped up on the fence a couple of times already but the fence held up well. When the plums are all gone I can just fold up the fence and store it away until next season. So far it’s a perfect solution.
Sarah –
Our golden retriever puppy is only eight, nearly nine, weeks old. We’ve had him for a week and a half We bought this pen to train our dog to enjoy prolonged isolation and to serve as his holding pen until he’s old enough to be vaccinated and old/well-trained enough to not destroy our patio furniture or hurt himself in our huge back yard by keeping him in it for gradually longer periods. With the included plastic closures, he got out of this pen after about 12 total (non-consecutive) hours of being in his pen. Once he knew how to get out of the plastic closures, he just kept at them until he could get out in just a few minutes of being left alone. We tried holding it together with paracord, and while the cord held the pen shut and he didn’t chew on the cord, his jumping and running around inside caused the whole pen to pinch from and octagon into a bowtie shape, trapping and confusing him in a too small space. Fortunately, we were watching him on camera or he might have been stuck like that for an hour or longer. This pen might work outside with the included anchors driven into the ground, but as a standalone pen, it’s just too flimsy to contain an active or intelligent and determined dog for more than an hour. It is easy to fold and assemble, and it did come with all of the necessary parts. It does not suit our purposes, but as I said, if you have a really calm and small dog (maybe a yorkie or a maltese) you’d be fine with this. We’re building an outdoor pen for him now, but wish that we hadn’t wasted our money on what proved to be a VERY temporary puppy containment solution.
One person found this helpful
aaustadaaustad –
This was just what I wanted. There was an inconvenient delay in delivery. Which made housing my Holland lops challenging until it arrivesd. It was supposed to be on a Friday but it didn’t show up until the following Monday. Anyway. Works just as expected. I wish the gate somehow was moveable, but I guess that would change the structure and make it more expensive. For the price you can’t beat it. I’ve checked a ton of places. Pet stores way expensive, Walmart, target, blah blah, everyone was noticeably higher. I actually ordered a second one so that I don’t have to move their indoor rabbitat when we go outside to play with them.
2 people found this helpful
DJD –
Price is great. Material is good. Friend loaned me a similar, folding pet fence while I was shopping to replace my broken one…bought this one to replace my wooden one that broke (wood not good outside where sprinklers get to it lol). Anyway, my friend’s is a “Precision” brand that has the actual gate portion in the middle of all the other sections. This looked the same, tho I didn’t notice the gate placement difference because they only show it as a pen (hence the star deduction). We use ours to stretch across a u-shaped patio which needs only one side fenced off (make sense?), so we just stretch it across in a zigzag (stands by itself; two older dog who don’t realize that the way we place it they could push it over if they stood up and leaned on it, but they don’t do that, so all is good for us). The price is great, and the material is good. I’m going to buy another one and connect this one and another one together in one large circle around a shade tree we have come the fall when it is cooler and they lay out (we live where it is heading into 100-117 degrees non-stop for months…desert).
One person found this helpful
DreamchaserDreamchaser –
I have 2 sizes of this pen, and they have been a godsend for my puppy!! I bought the 30″ (no door) for using in motel rooms, as I traveled cross-country with my pup, and it worked just perfect!! I folded it to be six-sided, instead of all 8, placed it on a cheap, plastic tarp, and covered the tarp with newspapers. He was happy to have his own secure space; put his food and water dishes in with him (plus toys) and no chance to have any ‘accidents’ on actual motel floors. One place waived their extra pet fee when they saw my set-up. These are handy, convenient, easy to fold up and move; PERFECT for so many things with a little puppy. I take it with me wherever I take him, just in case he needs his own little exercise spot.My guy has grown, so I now have the 48″ size, with a door and has all the same great portability features as my 30″.
9 people found this helpful
teja –
I wasn’t sure how this would work for indoor use on tile floors. I attached one end to a heavy coffee table, and have had no problems with it not collapsing on the slippery tile.It took me over a week to figure out I could make two squares, instead of one big square. This has really helped in potty training for my puppy, as he had no problem doing his business in the one large square. Putting him in one of the two small squares has kept him in housebroken mode.There are some plastic pieces to use to keep the shape as you want it, but I couldn’t figure out how to use them, even going on line and watching a video. I don’t care if the shape moves a bit, so no big deal to me.
One person found this helpful
Love shoppingLove shopping –
Excuse the messy room.I love this play pen! I do not like my puppy being cooped up in a small space but sometimes we next time a part. He likes his new space too.I added some wire strategically place to secure the pen to the crate in addition to the fasteners included just to make me feel more confident.The only thing I struggled with was with what to use for flooring since the pen is in a carpeted space. It’s great to contain and train but what about the accidents that are going to happen?My goal was something without a huge price tag, water proof, wide enough, flat with no edges to catch for biting. Searched on line to no avail. I decided to use a piece of inexpensive linoleum. Went to local hardware bought a 6×9 roll. Ta da!!! It worked out brilliantly. Unfortunately my fur baby got sick the same night I installed the flooring. Knarly! As I cleaned up wondering what he ate I was so grateful for my choice. This pen crate combo is a permamant fixture for us. This is where my baby sleeps in his room.
Todd L. Owens –
I got this kennel/gate on somewhat of a whim but, it was a needed whim due to have a 20 year old dog.You did not read that wrong he is a 20 year old bishon.Understandably, he has some accidents and with this item I can either contain him to an area where accidents are easily cleaned by opening it up fully to divide a room or turn it into a makeshift kennel by making it a square or rectangle.This is very sturdy and I am super pleased with the different ways I can deploy this.My old guy is happy that he has some space to move around and I don’t have to worry that with his poor eyesight he will fall down steps and I didn’t have to worry about cleaning up a mess on carpets, etc because he was contained in a certain area.My only regret is not finding this sooner!
Rachel Davis –
I ordered this to use for containing my dog in my living room. He recently had orthopedic surgery, so he has to be on heavily restricted activity, but I wanted him to have a bit more space than a kennel. The size is great, the height is great, and the fact that there’s a door/gate to get in and out is a nice bonus. Otherwise, this thing is a pile of junk.When assembling this, I discovered just how flimsy it really is. The “corner stabilizer” pieces do nothing to actually stabilize the panels. If a dog were even slightly motivated to escape this, he’d have zero issue doing so. One of my cats jumped out of it after assembly, and literally collapsed the whole thing. I have it propped in the corner of the room so the 2 walls provide support. I can’t imagine this would work outside at all, although it does come with anchors to sink in the grass.I am going to end up keeping it, since it’s only needed for a few weeks, and it’s fairly stable wedged into the corner. Otherwise, I’d advise anyone else to not waste his/her money on this product.
12 people found this helpful
Meaghan –
I’ve been wanting to purchase a pen for my bunnies for a long time. The only thing holding me back is the absurd amount these things sell for! I found this on Amazon and the price was right, reviews were great, so I decided to buy. I am SO happy with this product. It comes already assembled so all you have to do is unfold, set up, and secure. Easy as 1, 2, 3! It’s tall enough that my bunnies can’t jump over and get into mischief. It’s also great for when I have my maintenance come by my apartment to fix something. We normally have to secure our dog in a room with the door closed the whole day while we’re at work and I feel terrible confining him. Now we can set up the pen so he can roam the place and keep him out of the area that maintenance will be so he has access to his water, toys, and can get his entertainment from looking out the living room window. I like that it’s versatile and can be used indoor or outdoors (pegs included to keep the pen secured in the grass). Would definitely recommend this product!
One person found this helpful
amazon queen –
This is a decent gate. It is very easy to assemble & fold. I purchased the 30″ one & my two pups learned how to jump over it so I had to purchase a cover. But they never knocked the gate down. When they get excited they jump on the gate & it shakes a little but it hasn’t ever fellbdown. They are 3 month old pitbulls mixed with mountain cur & about 12 pounds each. I haven’t used the gate outside. It does come with stakes to secure when outside. The gate is very roomy. I have a large single bed inside the gate & they still have plenty of room. I am very satisfied with the quality & durability of the gate.
Jana D. –
After getting a new German Shepherd pup it was obvious that our original smaller fences that we used for yorkies, were not going to work. She would jump up and then hang there from her armpits. We ordered the taller fence hoping that it would help contain her while indoors, which it did, however, she would jump up on it when she got excited and the whole cage would walk across the kitchen. When she jumped, it changed shape, square to oblong to rectangle, etc., and it just wasn’t what we had hoped for. If it had a base or a bottom frame that would help hold it in place it would probably be a good idea but without a frame to hold it in place, the whole thing is useless. As we live in the desert, staking it outside and letting her have play time, just isn’t an option at 107 degrees during the day. Hopefully we will be able to get out of this “stay at home” crap soon and get her into some training. She needs it….
C –
My dog injured her leg and her activity needed to be limited to rest it, but I didn’t want her to be stuck in a kennel where she could just turn around and that was about it so I got this. It’s been great. It gives her enough room to walk around but not enough to run which was exactly what we needed. I ended up setting it up upside down so she doesn’t have to lift her leg over the bottom to go in and out, and it works fine like that. The quality seems good, it seems very sturdy, and set up took about 5 min or less. If I ever needed another one (which hopefully I won’t), I would buy this one again.
M. Thomas –
This is a great product! We have been using it to create our puppy safe space. My last puppies used my bathroom and chewed up the bottom of my cabinets. This one we attached to his crate (this helps to anchor it, we read that bigger dogs are able to push it around) and our puppy can be free in the space. We attach it with carabiners to itself or the crate. I just wish you could rearrange the order of the panels or add/subtract panels as needed. When we first got the dog, we had the door open into the house, when we were potty training it was good to have the door face our door to the yard, now it would be nice to have the door open in the middle for easy feeding. Now that our puppy has been able to keep his space free of accidents, we would love to give him more space, but in order to do that we would have to buy another fence and we don’t have enough room for 2 full fences.
C.M. –
We had a surprise birthing of puppies from our youngest female dog and needed a solution to keep our two older house dogs from the young mother and her newborns. The male, who’s 1yr, 6mons(The father) and another female rescue who’s 7yrs. All three of them are house dogs. Anyway, we bought this exercise pen and connected it to a x-large portable kennel we already owned. We felt the portable kennel alone, which can hold a 100lbs dog, was too small to house our 10lb mother and her four newborns. So with the exercise pen connected to the kennel, the newborns would be able to stay in the kennel with bedding, while the mother could go in and out, when needed, to eat, drink, relieve herself or to take a break and rest. The height and length of this exercise pen, in addition to the kennel, was a perfect solution to keep the mother and newborns safe and keeping the two older ones out. As the newborns grew, we bought a second exercise pen, connected it to the other pen and expanded the kennel. Easy to assemble, clean and maintain. The puppies are now 7 months old and they’re able to mix with the older ones in the evenings, while we’re home and are placed back into the kennel while we’re at work. More to keep them safe and out of mischief as well as to give the older ones a break from the monster energetic trouble making puppies. It’s a win win for all of us. Great product. Will buy again if and when necessary.
2 people found this helpful
Ale Bryant –
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This is a 5 star for me but probably will not be for everyone. I was nervous buying this because I didn’t know how I would make it stay up to function in a “long gate weight”. My dog is not big or strong so he cant push the fence so it worked for me. I suspect it will not work for everybody if you mean to have it inside in a “long gate “kind of way. If your dog is heavy enough he can push it down or jump over it. Of course if you mean to use it outside it does have some pinchers that will make it stay but if you mean to use it inside it may be a little bit more tricky. My dog is only 16 pounds and he has a Shih Tzu in the 30 inch one worked well
3 people found this helpful
Ekay –
1. I ordered a “new” item but I was delivered an open box.2. Everything looks fine inside though but when I took it out, I noticed the ziptie had been cut. The accessories and instructions were still sealed though. I think I got a returned product.3. Parts of the pen was bent but it didn’t affect function. I bothered me but not to the point of returning it. Especially because I didn’t have time to wait for a new one.4. I love the color. It’s not all gold like gold jewelry but it’s like a holographic gold finish. The finish is not as smooth as my other all black play pen is probably because the gold finish is matte and not glossy like the black one.5. I have a 22inch crate inside it the 30″ pen I ordered and my 5lb puppy can climb the crate and still jump out! I had to gerry rig it so he doesn’t jump out.Overall, if I knew I was going to get an opened box, I’d probably just bought one for less from Amazon Warehouse.
Alana SmitheeAlana Smithee –
Was extremely disappointed to find that the product I received appears to be a used / returned product. Half of the items inside were opened, some of the little clips are missing the clip latches (can’t remove one from the pen because the latch is missing) and the box was pretty dented. There are dings in the paint of the metal. It looks like a previous purchasers name had been cut off of the box. I run a dog rescue so was very disappointed that I was sold a faulty x pen. I expected a brand new product straight from the warehouse.
One person found this helpful
Amazon CustomerAmazon Customer –
We used one fence to run from the back door to the fenced in back yard. I no longer have to worry about the dogs not going directly to the back yard. An added bonus, they can now be on the deck with us without constant monitoring. We used Velcro straps to fasten the fence to the rail by the back door so we can open the fence to get to the driveway. It is a pain to open and close the fence but it is worth it for the security for the dogs. We then bought a 30” fence for the front porch. Now the dogs can sit out there with us and we don’t have to worry about them leaving the porch if the mailman or another dog walks by. We used zip ties to attach it to the porch railings and Velcro for open and closing. We did have to separate it into two sections to get the opening where we wanted it. We are very happy with these fences and with a little outside the box thinking they did exactly what we wanted them to do.
2 people found this helpful
SuzSuz –
This proved to be an excellent way to create a short-term enclosure for my broody hen and her chicks. I used zip ties to attach half-inch hardware cloth to the bottom 18 inches of each panel, because the spaces between the bars are big enough for a chick or other small animal to fit through. (If you cut off one square on a 24-inch wide roll, it fits a panel perfectly.) I used the clips that came with the pen to attach it to some pre-existing fencing on the two ends, and put in a few of the ground staples. It’s staying upright and feels plenty sturdy. The door is working well to get in and out while still keeping mama and babies inside. I’m very happy with this purchase, and am sure I will continue to use it for making temporary pens as needed even after the youngsters join the flock. Included a pic of how I set it up initially, and a closer view in use.
JDJD –
I like it. I can use it in a number of ways. The picture on the front porch is because my dog I cannot take out in the rain to potty because he has a drinking problem and won’t potty so I had to come up with an alternative. My cemented patio is the only place that won’t get wet. I can’t take him outside because all he’ll do is look for a place to drink. He won’t focus on his business.I’ve also had it in the house an added the universal panels. I have two universal panels and each panel comes with two 24 x 24 so a total of four 24 x 24. Very easy to connect together and take apart. And whether you take the panels or the entire exercise pen it is very easy. It folds up like an accordion and fits nicely in the carAnyways using both universal panels which again is a total of four 24 x 24 was very large area for him.He’s difficult to potty train so the other picture you see is my house looking so messy because of the stuff on the floor but I use the two extra panels Which is 96 inches. I don’t even use the corner stabilizers. The hooks aren’t the strongest but for the most part they’re pretty good and if I needed more I would just go to the hardware store. I also use hair ties and make a slipknot for added security.I’ll try to get a pictureAlso the one picture I have the universal panel the start of it connected to his crate.I’ve also taken the two extra universal panels with me in the car to my fathers to block off two entrances. You can see the picture of my dog so we can’t jump it. I do recommend it.Having it on the porch with a piece of turf really has helped plus I can play with them out there without a leash.I planned on putting it outback to make it 4‘ x 8‘ but I never did that however it can be done. AnywhereAnyways on the cement it does not move around.Oh And I see there is reviews about the Door latches. Well they work just fine you just have to make sure you actually have it closed properly. It’s not the gates fault it’s the humans fault
Ashley –
I love this pen and I love that it can hook up to the crate. It was very easy to set up. If you have trouble lifting heavy things, I recommend getting someone to help you set it up. I was very surprised by how heavy it was. When I was first looking at these, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get the one with or without the door. I ended up choosing the one without the door and I am very happy that I chose that one. I just slide the panel to the side to let my dog in and slide it back to close it, and this works perfectly! I didn’t like that the door option has that little ledge at the bottom that they have to step over. So overall I’m glad I chose the no door option.Also I just have to add this – never ever use this as a punishment for your dog! You will make them hate their pen and associate it (and you) with fear. You need to train them to love their crate/pen. It should always be a positive experience when they go in it. There are tons of free resources and videos online and on YouTube that explain in detail how to properly crate/pen train your dog. Please do some research on how to use the pen with your dog before you just lock them in there and leave. If they are not properly trained (using positive reinforcement) to like their crate/pen, locking them in there and leaving can be very traumatic and can cause or worsen behavioral issues. If they haven’t been trained to like the pen, they might even hurt them self trying to escape. My rescue dog was nervous around the crate at first, but I took the time to slowly train him to enjoy his pen and now he goes in there (voluntarily!) all the time and he loves it. It’s his safe area; his “room”. Training takes time and patience, but it is so worth it! It is your responsibility to train your dog to understand that the pen is a safe, positive place. If you have the financial ability, you can hire a dog trainer to help you do this. Or, there are many free resources online that explain positive reinforcement and crate/pen training. You can do it! It is so worth the effort.
One person found this helpful