MidWest Exercise Pen, 48-Inch, Black

Great for attaching to a dog crate for more room. Size is excellent for a large dog. Easy to attach using clips. Excellent value.

Not strong enough

Recently purchased a new home and have been trying to decide what to do with my 8yr old Pit w/SEVERE separation anxiety when I need to leave the house. He was never crated trained as a puppy (he was a stray who was hit by a car and was a year old by the time I rescued him) and has NEVER liked his kennel. In the summer months he goes to my mom's when I leave for work but with winter approaching I needed a better option. I ordered the tallest pen available and as you can see it is MUCH larger than my dog - side note my dog is super short. But i plan to foster and adopt more large breed dogs so it seemed like the best use of my money. The panels come already connected and it stands straight up right out of the box. One thing I do have to note is I do have it upside down. I took it out of the box that way and did not notice until I already had it attached to my dog's kennel and at that point I was too lazy to change it. It stands straight up by itself (again, I have it upside down so just keep that in mind) but I attached it to my dog's kennel (which is Top Paw brand - this will connect to ANY metal kennel) for extra stability. My dog has arthritis in one rear leg and a bad hip on the other side so he is not a jumper or climber in any way but he is a bully and will push & knock things over to get where he wants to be. I can definitely say with it attached to the kennel there is no way he can knock it over. Also, he has pushed the panels pretty hard and they do not fall over or cave in so I'm not worried about them collapsing on him if he get's too rambunctious. I have it attached to the open kennel door just to give him as much space as possible (also please know he is left with a bed, blankets, pee pads and toys - not just the few things you see him with in the photos. These were taken right after assembly.) and it is still very sturdy. My dog is a chewer. He has chewed through ceramic dog bowls, blankets, towels, bras and the kennel you see in the photos. The kennel is the only thing that has stood the test of time (I purchased it right before I brought him home 7 years ago) and even it is separated in certain areas or caved in due to him trying to chew his way out. I'm not really worried about that with the pen. He has chewed through all the pee pads I've left him with but the pen has stayed intact so far. The pen does not come with "stabilizers" like I've seen with some others but I didn't have a problem keeping it upright. It comes with stakes to be used in the ground if you're using it outside. If you're opting for indoor use and have hardwood floors, like me, I have not seen any scratches or damage to my flooring even with my dog constantly pushing and moving the panels around. (My floors are actual hardwood, not laminate - if that makes a difference.) This pen also doubles as a great makeshift gate. I have a very large yard and can easily gate off sections I don't want him getting into or place it at the bottom of the porch stairs (there are only two stairs, I am not worried about him falling down) to keep him out with me without a leash. This was a pretty decent price so I'm very happy with my purchase!

I just got a 22 lb dog with lots of energy we have previously had 2 of these fences for our other 2 dogs (11 and 7lbs) as an outdoor run to go to the bathroom. Well, Zander, our new dog needed a place to run and get his energy out and an indoor game of fetch just wasn't going to cut it. In came this fence we bought 4 more fences for a total of 6 and for a fraction of the price (and we made it bigger than you're average "run") we made a run for Zander to well run and it works almost perfectly we just had to add some supports to keep it all upright those hooks for potted plants that we had lying around worked well. And on top of it all, I counted my steps and multiplied by 2.5 to get the linear feet of my fence but it turns out that measurement is for average sized men, I am a short woman so I ended up with an extra fence which I used some extra chicken wire I had, some zip ties, carpet tiles, cement blocks, and a tiny cat tree to make a catio and come spring the cats will love it since they loved going out in a harness to sunbathe last summer. All in all, it is a win from me and instead of paying 1000 dollars to buy a run which I would have to bring him back and forth from the run we were able to hook it up to our back door and build bigger for cheaper. This is probably not how the designers meant for this playpen but it worked well for our needs.

I purchased the 48" black MidWest Exercise Pen to use in a linear fashion across my driveway to keep my yellow lab in our otherwise fully enclosed back yard when we are all hanging out there (she otherwise only has access to one half of the divided yard). It's 16-foot length allows for a shallow zigzag configuration across the concrete drive (span is 13' incl grass section on ea side) and is easily hooked to fence posts at either end. My 60-pound dog is not a jumper so I have no concern that she will somehow breech this new wire 'fencing' (besides, she is supervised when open to the entire yard). The fact that it is black practically makes it visually 'disappear' so I initially walked my dog up to it to investigate and check out the new boundary so that she wouldn't accidentally headlong into it sometime during one of her energized "zoomie" sessions. I also added a few ties of bright orange caution tape so that it would be noticeable to any unsuspecting visitors, preventing them from barrelling through it with their car. It will be nice, too, across the driveway, when I am caring for and out with my grandkiddos, to make sure they don't take their bikes and trikes clear down to the front sidewalk/street; keeping them safe. I love that it is available in this taller height and that it is so easy to set up and take down that I am able to manage it on my own, folding it back up accordian style to allow access down the drive. This is a super convenient and easy way to temporarily fence off the driveway as needed, and I wish I would have thought about using an exercise pen in this fashion years ago! Yay!

I gave this a 4 out of 5 stars for the following reasons: - it's tall enough that my puppy cannot jump the fence or show an interest in climbing it - it does not give or bend MUCH when he paws at it or bumps into it throughout the day while I'm at work - it can be easily manipulated to form different shapes to suit any area of your home - has enough room for a small kennel, pee pad, food/water and play area for puppy - the black looks appealing and seems to handle being wet well - the opening is easily unclipped for quick access but a reliable close - comes with pegs for your lawn so that it can be secured to the ground outside The two negative aspects of this product are: - it does not come with corner braces for use indoors. This leads to the pen being slid across the floor slightly when puppy pushes on it. - the pen is quite heavy and being a young woman with moderate lifting ability, I did have trouble getting this from my car to the house and hauling it up stairs was quite challenging. This will limit my ability to use it indoors/outdoors as it's not convenient to haul in and out at that weight. Some people have help, I live alone. Overall, I would recommend use of this pen for puppies of small to medium breeds. I think a large breed puppy would have to be very young for this to contain them as it can be manipulated by weight and a jumping large puppy could easily slide this across flooring. I have a 10 week old Italian Greyhound puppy and he's been using this for 2.5 weeks and it's worked really well for us. I'm guessing it will hold him for another 3 months or so before he gets too large and is able to slide it across the floor. At that point, it could be a good option for outdoors as the fencing posts they provide will give much more security and hold the fence still.

Bought the 48" high version of this exercise pen as part of a long-term containment solution for our new mini aussie puppy. Pros: Interconnected panels make it impossible for the dog to lift it. Sturdy metal construction. Decent size. Cons: If you use this inside, stakes won't work hence making this a very easy pen for the dog to push around. Puppies jump, making this a bit of an issue. You can connect this to a kennel (which is a pro), but I would recommend zip ties as others have stated. The included clips aren't very good. A couple of the panels had bends in the metal. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning. No door (see below). We did a bit of modifying to make sure this pen was puppy proof. We have a brilliant, strong-willed puppy who will find a way out of anything. In order to make this a great pen for him for nighttime containment we connected it to a large kennel with lots of zipties and the included clips. My husband built a frame around the outside to stabilize this so it can't be toppled or pushed across the floor. We used this exercise pen as a jumping off point for something a bit more sturdy. I wouldn't have trusted this unattended otherwise. Also, I was under the impression one of the panels had a door in it and it didn't. That would have been a problem if we didn't put a kennel on the one end.