Having experienced a minor car crash just yards from home, we started to worry about the effects of a crash if the dogs were in the car at the time. We looked at all the car crates for dogs available in the UK market which were all of a similar design rather than the secure dog cage we were looking for, then happened to be attending an automotive trade fair when we saw these extremely robust looking cages. We tested them for a year in our own car, before becoming the UK distributor for these crates, and whilst we were fortunate that the crate wasn't put to the test, we were (and are!) very happy with the product. We believe that they are the safest car crates for dogs in the world. At the same time I wanted a more robust vehicle. I thought that a Volvo would be too expensive but managed to get a good deal from the dealer in Oxford as Sir Roger Bannister had traded in his old red Volvo in for a newer model and the dealer thought the old car would sell just on its celebrity status! We launched the car crates at a small community event in Beckenham, organised by our local police in 2007; then went on to display them at Paws in the Park and a PDSA show in Bromley. Since then we've shown our crates at All About Dogs, The Macmillan Dog Day, The Cold Wet Nose Show, The Wag & Bone Show, The Edenbridge and Oxted Agricultural Show, The Autumn Show & Game Fair held at the South of England Centre, Ardingly, West Sussex, The Essex Dog Day, Discover Dogs, CLA Game Fair, Aztec Shows, Crufts, Shropshire County Show, Staffordshire Game Fair and many other shows. We haven't yet had a stand at Pup Aid, but have visited the Brighton shows to support Marc Abraham's campaign against puppy farming.
On a personal level we're delighted with our own crate. Since one of our own dogs had operations on his legs and spine we travelled about 4,000 miles in twelve months to and from Fitzpatrick Referrals in Surrey (well worth all the driving as our little boy is now running round like a puppy again - thanks Noel!) We also covered much mileage on our favourite holiday - a two week tour of beautiful Scotland, including a stay at Guisachan, the ancestral home of the golden retriever.
, so that people elsewhere in the UK could enjoy the luxury of having the crate built for them. At a show in 2013 we were approached by a couple who'd previously bought two Variocages for their cars and were keen to get involved. Kevin & Terri Groom joined us in October 2013 as distributors for the Norfolk and Suffolk area. They have a shop in Loddon and have done some shows in 2014. We've been approached by people from other areas too, but as yet we're still looking for people in areas outwith the East Anglian area.
We've met some lovely dogs (and people!) on our travels, and are pleased to say that our crates have the seal of approval from golden retrievers, flatcoated retrievers, dobermanns, rottweilers, labradors, German shepherds, English setters, Irish Setters, Chesapeake Bay retrievers, curly coated retrievers, border collies, rough collies, larger munsterlanders, bearded collies, labradors, weimeraners, springer spaniels, poodles, labradoodles, beagles, Italian spinones, boxers, Hungarian Vizslas, pugs, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Chihuahuas, miniature schnauzers, Lhasa Apsos, French Bulldogs, Shih Tzus, cocker spaniels, cockerpoos, whippets, field spaniels, beaucerons, shar peis, border terriers, Clumber spaniels, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Dogue de Bordeaux, Brittany spaniels, Welsh springer spaniels, Irish water spaniels, Jack Russells, Manchester terriers, Eurasiers, Scottish Terriers, Chow Chows, Portuguese water dogs, Pugs, Pyrenean sheepdogs, German shorthaired pointers, German wirehaired pointers, Japanese Akitas, dalmations,
If we get calls from people asking for a 'dog box' then usually they're people with working gundogs. The manufacturer calls the product 'cages' but usually in the UK people prefer to use the word 'crate'. Sometimes at shows we have passers by commenting that the crates/cages/dog boxes look like prisons. Well ... prisons are there to keep people safe so there are some similarities!
