Worth Every Cent: Running Edits at Beginning and End of Introduction
Six Month Edit: Absolutely zero chew or scuff marks and punctures on either of the two pads in six months. The inside pad is a little dirty as it is used night and day, on and off, but the one in the outside crate is in as-new condition as it is stored inside the house when not in use on the covered deck. Another customer asked how to launder it if it is in a solid frame and my reply was to just wipe the pad down with a rag. I guess, since the frame was initially screwed together, it could be disassembled too, but that is a lot of work for a product that can be easily cleaned with a washcloth and some elbow grease. Early Edit: Two or so months in and the original pad still looks new, no tears, gashes, or chew marks. I guess the dog recognized he wasn’t going to be able to get a grip on the pad and gave up. I like this pad so much I just ordered a second one of the same size for his larger solid barstock kennel outside on the deck. Even though the deck kennel and stainless steel pan are larger, I wanted the same size pad and frame so I could get it in and out of the crate door quickly in wet weather. He just fits on the 35 by 22 inch size and it is better than the hard steel pan, so good enough is good enough. Bottom Line Edit Up Front: This pad looks brand new after several weeks of daily and nightly use. My problem child has house priviledges, but is crated at night and off and on during the day if I can't keep my eyes on him, so he is in and out of jail a lot. The monster has made no attempt to damage the pad, probably because it does not have the liabilities of all the others, such as chewy seams, tasty corners, and tempting loose threads. I am shocked as he has a mouth the size of an alligator and has to grab everything in his environment with it, chunks of concrete, flower pots, weeds, me, etc. Enough about the dog; I am going to put my money where my review is and buy another for his outside solid bar stock kennel on the deck when the weather gets warmer, with the understanding that it may be chew-proof, but not waterproof, and has to be brought in during storms. Hopefully this is the final edit and nothing changes. Well, it arrived. A great looking product. I wish this pad had shown up in the list of similar products much earlier. Maybe it is new to Amazon. I would have saved bunch of money on other "indestructible" pads. I had to get a solid bar stock jail cell style kennel for my monster, one of the most expensive available, that should show up as a top CRITICAL review under my tag, so click on "all reviews" if interested. After several destroyed pads, the beast was reduced to sleeping on a 36 by 23 inch stainless steel pan intended for under the crate, but placed inside instead, not the most comfortable situation, but the best I could do considering my dog's destructive capabilities. Then I saw this pad. At a true 35 by 22 inches, it fits perfectly inside the existing metal pan for a solid base. My German Shephard mix seems happy so far and has left it alone. The proof of the pudding will be when I leave the house for a few hours and he gets bored. First Week Edit: So far so good. The monster loves the pad as it is cushy and warm. I like it as it is not a cold uninsulated stainless steel sheet pan with an air gap between the bottom kennel slats and the floor. One of my dumb fully-clawed cats ran through the house into the open kennel door, followed immediately by the 85 pound GS mix, so I had a WWE cage match inside a 42 by 30 inch jail cell crate until I could get them both out again. I thought the cat's claws would damage the pad fabric, the dog, and me, but we all eventually came came out fine and the pad still looked brand new. I am impressed so far with the pad, but not so much with the judgement of the cat. Part of the secret to the pad's integrity is there are no loose pieces of fabric material or threads to chew on or flexible corners to get a grip with. The sturdy aluminum frame helps hold it in place and the material is appaprently pretty tough. So far. Oh, in regards to size, the pad I ordered claims 35 by 22 inches and it measures exactly as advertised at the reinforcing plastic corner pieces, which are rounded at the apex, so the pad and frame should fit accurate and true dimensional spaces. Just measure carefully. Read more