Midwest Home for Pets, makers of Midwest Ovation Dog Crate is a subdivision of the mother brand, Midwest Metal Products. It was founded in 1921 which means that this brand has been around for more than 100 years.
As a brand, Midwest specializes in the fabrication of wire and sheet metal. Little wonder Midwest Home for Pets is mostly known for its metal dog crates.
How has the reception of this brand been among customers? Well, of course, Midwest remains one of the most popular pet brands. And from the number of reviews its products receive, it does appear to have good popularity among pet parents as well.
As we review its Midwest Ovation Dog Crate, we will be discussing every aspect of this crate including its pros and cons. Check it out and let it help you make your most informed buying decision.
Table of Contents
Who Is The Midwest Ovation Dog Crate For?
This crate is for crate-trained, well-behaved dogs only. This is not a heavy-duty unit and such, should not be treated as one. It will not contain aggressive dogs or dogs with behavioral issues.
This crate comes with doors that open like a garage door. So, it’s great for pet owners that have only a limited living space. Since there’s no need for extra space where the door will open, you can save some space in that respect.
Now, before we forget, this crate might just work for an escape artist. Since there are no locks or levers to manipulate, your dog shouldn’t be able to jimmy any locks to get out of the crate.
Features Of The Midwest Ovation Dog Crate
1. Single and Double Door Options
With this crate, you have the option to choose between a single door crate and the double door crate.
Of course, you should already know that a double door will give you much more convenience than a single door crate. But then again, it might cost you a bit more, naturally.
Anyway, that’s not our focus right now… The major distinguishing factor of this crate is the style of its doors. It does not come with the swinging doors that you find in the Life Stages and iCrate crates. Instead, the doors open like your garage doors.
NB: If you get the double door option, note that only one door will come garage style. The other will be the regular swing door style.
2. Divider Panel
As usual, this crate comes with a divider panel. This helps with large dogs that grow super fast. This way you can crate-train your puppy with the same crate while giving him the right space he needs per time.
3. Plastic Pan
It comes with a plastic pan which helps to make cleaning your crate easier. Although we won’t say we are completely confident that this pan will stand up to prolonged use. But that’s a story for another day.
4. Foldable
All Midwest crates come foldable and this is no exception. It’s also foldable, which makes it very convenient to fold and store. Plus, it also comes with a handle so you can conveniently carry this crate around.
5. Steel Channel Track
This helps to keep the door secure when you close it. We asked around and it seems there aren’t many dogs that can open this crate. So, we would say that this crate is pretty secure for most dogs.
However, we did observe that many customers weren’t exactly taken by the catch as it seemed to make closing inconvenient. In fact, a lot of customers ended up taking off the catch altogether.
6. Metal Construction
Most Midwest crates are made of metal.
Now, this is not to say that this crate is super secure because chewers exist. They can chew this thing through and make an escape.
Also, for the really aggressive dogs, it’s not impossible for them to break this crate with their large sizes and big bones. This isn’t exactly a heavy-duty unit so, be careful of whom you crate with this crate.
7. All Sizes Available
This crate comes in 6 different sizes. So, it caters to all sizes and breeds of canines.
Pros Of The Midwest Ovation Dog Crate
1. Easy opening garage-style door which helps to conserve space.
2. Single and double door options available.
3. Roller feet to protect your floors.
4. Relatively lightweight and quite portable.
5. Folds flat for convenient storage and travel.
6. Easy to set up and fold down.
Cons Of The Midwest Ovation Dog Crate
1. 2. A few sharp edges to file on this crate.
2. Plastic pan isn’t exactly chew-proof and is, therefore, not very durable.
3. A few complaints about the divider panel being difficult to install, especially on the single door dog crate.
4. Many complaints about shipping damage.
5. Many customers ended up taking out the safety latch altogether as it seemed to be getting in the way a lot.
Alternative Options
More Affordable Option- Midwest iCrate Folding Metal Dog Crate
Thankfully, Midwest offers a slightly lower-priced alternative to the Midwest Ovation Dog Crate. So, if our featured product is a bit out of reach for you, then consider getting the Midwest iCrate Folding Metal Dog Crate.
The Midwest iCrate Folding Metal Dog Crate also features the single and double door options. However, then doors here are both swinging doors. That is, there is none that opens garage style as you have on the Ovation crate.
Even Midwest itself advertises this to be not as strong as its other crates. So, be careful with this. You want to use this to contain only well-behaved pups, else you could have your crate destroyed by the chewers and the aggressive pups.
But besides that, this is quite roomy and large beyond most customers’ expectation even. And the single door option also comes in pink and blue if you care for.
Higher-end Option Midwest Ultima Pro Extra-Strong Folding Metal Dog Crate
Doubling as our higher-end option is this super strong dog crate from Midwest – Midwest Ultima Pro Extra-Strong Folding Dog Crate. It is much tougher than our featured product.
And although it is not a heavy-duty crate, at least, we won’t call it that, it would do for most dogs with a moderate level of energy.
So, if you have a dog that’s more than just a little rambunctious but not enough to you know, be a wrecking ball, try this. It costs a little more expectedly, but it then again, it’s stronger.
There’s no single door option for this crate, though. But then again, this is even much more convenient. Check it out.
Soft Dog Crate Option- Arf Pets Soft Dog Crate
If you’ll prefer a soft dog crate, we’ve got you covered. You should try the Arf Pets Soft Dog Crate. It’s super comfy and quite durable too.
It only comes in two sizes though. So, this crate tends more toward the small and medium-breed dogs. It’s a great travel crate too because it’s quite lightweight. And it also has handles too but the size does make it awkward to carry around though.
Furthermore, it won’t be a great choice for you if your car is a small one like a Honda Accord because the crate comes quite large. Also, if we were you, we might not exactly use this outdoors as the base is quite fragile.
So, in all, this makes a good soft crate if you’re just using this indoors alone. But if you are absolutely hard pressed, this could work as a travel crate too.
Hard-Sided Dog Crate Option- Petmate Navigator For Pets Dog Crate
The Petmate Navigator for Pets Dog Crate is a great hard-sided dog crate. It does have its drawbacks, of course. But overall, this crate works well. It’s lightweight so you’ll find this easy to use as a travel crate. And it also comes in a wide range of sizes from small to large.
It only comes with one door, though. But that door does open really conveniently either way. It’s affordable too and also comes with a divider panel too. Quite cool for a hard-sided crate, right? Especially considering the fact that that this is a plastic crate.
Quick Comparison Table
| Featured | More Affordable | More High End | Soft Dog Crate | Plastic Dog Crate | |
| Product |
Midwest Ovation Dog Crate |
Midwest iCrate Folding Metal Dog Crate |
Midwest Ultima Pro Extra-Strong Folding Metal Dog Crate
|
Arf Pets Soft Dog Crate |
Petmate Navigator For Pets Dog Crate
|
| Material | Metal wire | Metal wire | Heavy-duty gauge metal | Tightly woven mesh | Plastic |
| Sizes Available | 6 | 6 | All except extra large | 2: 27.5 and 36 inches | 6 |
| Doors | Single and Double Door options | Single and double door options | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Colors Available | Black | Black, with pink and blue for single door option | Black | Blue | Dark brown |
| Assembly Required? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Best For | All kinds of dogs except aggressive chewers. Should work for escape artists except they are also chewers. | All kinds of dogs except aggressive chewers and escape artists | All dog breeds including moderately rambunctious dogs and chewers | Small and medium crate-trained dogs | Crate trained dogs especially reclusive ones. Great as a pet carrier too. |
What Customers Are Saying About The Midwest Ovation Dog Crate
Customers are loving the garage-style door, especially because it is so convenient for them. Plus, it takes up less room too which a lot of customers seem to be looking to achieve these days.
However, the latch system seems to be a bit difficult to engage even though many customers eventually figured it out.
Other reasons this was a hit was the fact that it came easy to set up and lightweight enough to move around.
But be that as it may, there were still some complaints about the divider. Apparently, it’s quite difficult to fit into the crate. And then there were a number of complaints about damage from shipping. So, it would appear that this isn’t as sturdy as it should be.
Our Verdict
This is a decent crate by our standards, although it appears to be a little weak. There were so many complaints about shipping damage with this crate.
But besides that, we also really love the garage door like most customers. It’s convenient and saves space too.
If you want to get this, though, then maybe you should keep it for a well-trained dog. We’re almost convinced that an escape artist won’t be able to figure out the locks easily. But a chewer or a large breed could chew and break this open.
In the end, Midwest again delivers quality on its crate and this is another good one from the brand.
