Test driving the Ferrari of dog crates
By Ericka Basile
June 24, 2010
When is a dog crate worth $600?
When it’s the fabulous Ferrari of dog crates, and the money’s going to help shelter animals.
I’m talking about DenHaus’ BowHaus, a piece of dog furniture right out of the pages of a design magazine, intended to grace a sleek modern house with high-tech lighting, huge windows and black stone floors (which, by the way, is not my house, even without the cloud of pet hair covering everything).
No, as soon as we unboxed the BowHaus, my nine-year-old son put it together in about 10 minutes, we oohed and ahhed over this sleek functional piece of dog furniture a bit, and then I put it in my Honda and drove it to the Humane Society Naples.
Patricia Connell, their assistant director of development, was ecstatic when I called and asked if they would accept the BowHaus. She said, “The shiny silver one with holes on the side? OMG, I have seen it in magazines. Bring it over!”
She will auction it at a fundraiser for the Humane Society Naples and they’ll use the funds to help their animals. Often, items such as this will bring in three times their value at a gala because people like to donate and they love buying cool pet stuff at fundraisers.
And who better to test a fancy dog crate than a shelter dog? So Valdomar, a 5-year-old Chihuahua had the honors. He came out of the kennel at the shelter and we met him in the “get acquainted” room.
What a sweet little guy! He ran around spinning in circles in his excitement. We used tasty treats to entice him to enter the BowHaus, which he did at a trot.
He definitely liked it, but I think he was more interested in playing with us than sitting in a crate — even one as beautiful as this.
Do we have video? Of course we have video! (And since we’re sure you’ll fall in love with Valdomar and want to adopt him, we have all the information you’ll need to do that right here.)
I would have liked to keep this sleek baby, as I definitely could use it to set my evening cocktails upon while my dog snoozed below. But for now I’ll set my drink on our kitchen table and make a cheery toast to Valdomar, wishing him success in getting adopted.
And if you’re one of the beautiful people — or you just think it’s too cool to resist — you can find the BowHaus online here.
Does it have a door?
Comment by Original Lori — June 24, 2010 @ 12:07 pm
Yes~ it has a door that slides (video shows it best)and latches.
Comment by ericka — June 24, 2010 @ 12:10 pm
Yes, the door slides around. So it’s perfectly out of the way when it’s open, and perfectly flush when it’s closed.
I love my BowHaus! The light shines through and looks so cool. I also love that I can put decorations, drinks, etc. on top and not worry about it collapsing on my dog - unlike the usual wire/plastic crates.
I justified the price tag by considering the cost of a accent table as cool as this + the cost of a good dog crate.
Comment by Lola — June 24, 2010 @ 12:17 pm
Ooh my. My own bed didn’t cost that much! *LOL*
Comment by Social Mange — June 24, 2010 @ 4:35 pm
This may be the Ferrari of dog crates, but the Mac truck is http://kustomkrates.com. Be sure you are sitting down before you look at the prices.
Comment by Grahund — June 24, 2010 @ 9:10 pm
Those babies are seriously intense. Wow.
Comment by Ericka Basile — June 25, 2010 @ 4:51 am
Those prices are absolutely ridiculous ! Love the chi though, I would head down to get him but my DH would kill me for sure.
Comment by Leslie K — June 25, 2010 @ 6:45 am
Hmmm….no thanks! I can think of many other things to spend $600 on; and a dog crate isn’t one of them. The plain old plastic or wire work just fine.
Comment by Liz Palika — June 25, 2010 @ 11:02 am
Well, now Liz, I’m guessing you wouldn’t spend that kind of money on a pair of shoes, either.
But some do.
And they’re the kind of people who would like this in their homes.
(Typed with a 25-year-old Vari-Kennel 500 and a new tester Petmate “tent” crate fashionably set up in my office, doors open and dogs sleeping in both.)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 25, 2010 @ 11:26 am
If I had set aside the money to re-do my living room in modern style, I might consider this crate even though my reaction might normally be more like Liz P.’s. But if like Lola said, if you were going to need a table anyway, and a place for the pupster too…
Comment by Original Lori — June 25, 2010 @ 11:38 am
this video I shot while leaving the Humane Society shows those who can afford this and those who can’t.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=channel
Do you know what I love though? Instead of poking fun at people who can afford this crate (I tend to do it a bit, note I joked in video when walking towards the cars and played “guess my car?” game) is the fact the owner of the L was a volunteer cleaning a cat room. Every week, all the time. Drive up in L, clean cat shit, drive away in L.
No better, no worse.
We all can contribute and we all can help animals, just some with a bit more style.
Comment by Ericka Basile — June 25, 2010 @ 2:02 pm