Review on 8-Panel Pet Playpen with Door by IRIS USA - 34-Inch Exercise Dog Pen by Andrea Jackson

If your pup is small and low on energy then this pen is perfect for you as it is. If your pup has boundless energy, read this to find out how we modified the pen to make it work: We first got this pen before we bought a Goldendoodle house (rowdy). We live in a high rise building in the middle of town where they are very dog friendly. Because Rhodey hadn't had his vaccinations yet, he wasn't allowed to go places where other dogs could go to the bathroom. It's pretty much everywhere in this town so we couldn't take our pup outside to go potty. Using an 8 panel hutch with a tray (Bunny Wonder Plastic Droping/Litter Pan for Pet, 24" x 24") was the perfect solution until he was old enough to go outside or watch him all night to keep awake. It also saved us from having to get up in the middle of the night to take him to the potty as he wasn't ready to start cage training yet. First, Rhodey has a lot of energy. Like limitless energy. If your dog is smaller and doesn't need to be very energetic, then the Unchanged Grip is perfect for you! I work from home and play with him for 15 minutes almost every hour, by the end of the night he is exhausted and by no means let down - he just loves the challenge that gives a way out. Given the amount of pages, we figured it would be at least a few months before he could escape. Wow, we were wrong. The first escape happened about two weeks after we brought him home when Rhodey was 10 weeks old. We heard a whimper at the bedroom door and walked out to find that he had escaped from his paddock. The walls of this crate give a little, and when he hit corners quickly, the side of the crate curved just enough for him to somehow climb up and out. Our next attempt at sticking with it was inspired by one of the other reviews here. We bought that green plastic fence you use to keep deer out of your yard and fastened it on top, leaving one side closed with velcro so we could open it up and still lift his tray. Check out one of the photos attached to this review if you don't understand what I'm talking about. At first Rhodey was able to get through the corners so we locked her in tighter. While rather unappealing, it worked for a while - probably around 4 weeks. Then Rhodey started teething. While we ran errands or slept, Rhodey jumped up and down and chewed on the plastic lid. We added another layer of plastic fencing to make it two layer. Eventually he chewed through two layers of plastic and we realized we needed a new solution. We've made many modifications to the pen and finally found one that works and isn't an eyesore. We removed two panels from the handle and placed them on top of the six panels, one side zippered and the other side Velcro straps if we leave it there. To give him some extra space, his cage (RevainBasics Two Door Metal Collapsible Dog Cage - Medium (36" x 23" x 25")) is attached to the pen door and he enters and exits through the other door of his cage. Sorry that's not a very good description but I've attached some photos of the end result. Although he is now fully vaccinated and we can potty him outside, he is only 4 months old and we would rather not go down the stairs to take him outside every few hours. Now he sleeps peacefully through the night and has access to his litter box when needed. If we leave him at home for a long time, I no longer worry about him running away from this fortress we built and having accidents all over the apartment. I'm giving this handle 4 stars as I feel for the cost the sides could have been made with a little less effort, or at least with the ability to lock them. Now we have two of them, white and grey. The white we use to block the carpet in our living room since we haven't been able to find a proper gate for long enough would be perfect for this purpose. I hope this review has been helpful to anyone who also has an energetic pup. If we had this information available when we first received the pen it would have saved us a lot of time and energy and I hope it helps you!