Best suited for: In-cabin airplane carrier
Also works for: Over the shoulder carrier, car carrier
Quality: ★★★★★
Price: $$$$
Overall rating: ★★★★★

As you know, I’ve long been searching for a good wheeled dog carrier that will work for in-cabin plane travel. I own one — the Creature Leisure Pet Pilot XL — but it’s just a hair too small for Chloe. I was excited, therefore, when a reader asked me what I thought of Pet Gear’s “World Traveler” carrier: It sounded like it was about the right size, and it had wheels. I…

Best suited for: Everyday crate
Also works for: Hotel or vacation rental crate
Quality: ★★★★★
Price: $$$$
Overall rating: ★★★★★

This is the crate I should have bought when I first brought Chloe home. I’ve ended up with it, after a variety of collapsible fabric crates, a Marchioro “Ithaka Clipper 6″ crate, and a Sky Kennel crate, but I wish I’d started here.

First things first: I bought the iCrate Single Door Folding Crate, Model 1530 (which is the size Medium, at 30Lx19wx21H). Chloe could fit in the next smaller size, but…

Best suited for: Hotel or vacation rental crate
Also works for: Everyday crate, if your dog doesn’t scrape to escape
Quality: ★★★★★
Price: $$$$
Overall rating: ★★★★★

This was the first crate we bought for Chloe, and although it wasn’t the best choice for a puppy, we really liked it. It folds down and sets up easily, and two of its doors extend to the ground, giving your dog good visibility as well as ventilation (the third door is really a roof that zips back). Unlike the Creature Leisure Den, this crate…

Best suited for: Cargo-area airplane carrier, everyday crate
Also works for:
Quality: ★★★★★
Price: $$$$
Overall rating: ★★★★★

We have had two of these crates for over ten years. They’re now on their second generation of cats, and they work and look as well as they did when we bought them (okay, they’re a little scuffed in places, and they have cargo stickers on them, but they’re essentially the same).

Model 21100 is the Small size (15Hx21Lx16W) in “bleached linen.” It’s a good size for all of our cats, who range from…

Best suited for: Everyday crate
Also works for: Cargo-area airplane carrier
Quality: ★★★★★
Price: $$$$
Overall rating: ★★★★★

I bought this crate (26.75Hx36.5Lx25.5W) in desperation — Chloe had just clawed through the corner of her Creature Leisure Den and I needed a crate for her that very day. I couldn’t find a Vari-Kennel crate in the three pet stores I went to, so in the last one I bought this crate instead. I’ve regretted it ever since, because the door fits poorly in its opening and the door latch is balky and hard…

Best suited for: Permanent crate
Also works for:
Quality: ★★★★★
Price: $$$$
Overall rating: ★★★★★

There seems to be a consensus among owners of giant breed dogs (including Mastiffs, Irish Wolfhounds, Great Danes, Scottish Deerhounds, Saint Bernards, Newfoundlands, Great Pyrenees, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Bouviers des Flandres, Dogues de Bordeaux, and Collies) that the best crate for the biggest dogs is either Midwest’s Model 1154U (single door) or Model SL54DD (two doors). They are both typical wire crates, just much, much larger than anything you’ve seen at the pet stores: Model 1154U is…

Best suited for: Hotel or vacation rental crate
Also works for: Everyday crate, if your dog doesn’t scrape to escape
Quality: ★★★★★
Price: $$$$
Overall rating: ★★★★★

We own three of these Dens, two medium ones (for travel and for a vacation home) and a large one (for everyday use at home). The Den comes in three sizes: Small (17Hx22.5Lx15.5W), Medium (24Hx29.5Lx22W), and Large (30Hx38Lx28.5W). We like the Den because, assembled, it is sturdy and solid; and it collapses with the simplest of approaches — the four aluminum poles that provide structure at…