Special thanks to Lauri B. for sharing Xena's story!
"My Impact Crate success story:
I’ve owned (30+) and trained numerous Rottweilers and German Shepherds (even from Slovakia) for FEMA, obedience competition, tracking, showing, etc. On December 21, 2018, I rescued my first German Shepherd from the Contra Costa County animal shelter.
She was an extremely strong, determined dog and had the worst separation anxiety than any I’ve ever owned. She originally escaped from somewhere although the story is sketchy. She had ripped her right front forearm/wrist down to the bone. She had surgery at the animal shelter and I adopted her as soon as she was ready. I have never gone to the animal shelter because I’ve always had 4-5 dogs at a time, so this was a first.
The first night I had her, I knew there was a problem. I couldn’t leave her even for a minute. She escaped two 700 wire crates initially and ruined them. She tore up the inside of my truck, ripped the seat covers and tore up several beds. I have never had a dog with so much anxiety before and I even had her on medication. At one point 8 mg of Xanax and she still escaped from everywhere! She would panic! I had to find something and get it fast to keep her safe!
My friends down in Los Angeles recommended you! I purchased the crate immediately! When my crate arrived in January: I purchased the largest crate you made (I think). It came assembled on an 18 wheel Semi Truck! This crate was sturdy! It was well built and it kept her in one place safe. But I did not expect her to absolutely love this crate. I had taken her with me everywhere from day one but she actually loved staying in your crate. She went to work with me every day, basketball games, baseball games, etc with me from the get go, but the crate made her feel secure and safe. She was very happy!
During the summer I added additional fans in my truck and left all the windows down in my excursion so she would be comfortable. I parked in the shade at work and left the back of the truck open for her (closed the top window but left the split gate open). She would be sound asleep when I would go check on her and sometimes I had to wake her up to take her for a walk.
But, I did want to pass on to you the great success I’ve had with this dog and thank you for making such a great crate! She is by far the smartest GSD I’ve ever owned and learns something after showing/teaching her one-two times how to do it. I think that’s why she was able to escape everything so quickly. I’ve had her for a year now and she is training in search & rescue! She is also going to be tracking and article detection. Hoping to work with the Sheriff’s office team! She’s well trained and I hope to compete with her in obedience next year. Thank you again for the great crate! I highly recommend Impact to everyone! I might be your biggest fan!!
January 2019 “then” in your largest crate! She’s a big dog! She loves your crate. This is my friend who helped me adopt Xena from the shelter! Thank you Impact!!
And "now" after a year!
1) She’s training to be a search and rescue dog.
2) She is on twitter and has a following of over 1480 people!
3) she’s on Instagram with a following!
4) she’s entered in a photo contest on line www.K9love.com. Don’t know if she won or not. *update: Xena won two photo contests!
I own one of your crates and it is by far the best crate I’ve ever purchased and owned. I’ve owned (I thought) every type of dog crate, but this crate is exceptional!
Anyway, I owe it all to your crate! It allowed me to calm her and spend time with her while I was working! I spread praises to everyone!"
-Lauri Bobrosky