How to Fix a Dog Crate Door: the 3 Most Common Issues

Whether it’s because of separation anxiety or too much energy, your dog will end up damaging or breaking the door of his crate at some point. And you need to be prepared for that. 

Learning how to fix a dog crate door is essential if you want to preserve the illusion that your dog’s crate is still his safe space. 

With that said, how do you fix a dog crate door? 

Well, if you’re dealing with bent wires, just twist them back into place using pliers. A broken latch or broken welding, on the other hand, may require replacement. 

Of course, we do explain the fix for each issue in detail in the guide below. So make sure you check that out if you’re not satisfied with this answer. 

How to Fix a Dog Crate Door: Addressing 3 of the Most Common Issues

After spending countless hours in research and talking to our fellow dog parents, we’ve identified 3 of the most common issues dog parents encounter with a crate door. 

Thus, the section below contains our detailed fixes to those issues, along with a few recommendations that could benefit you in the future. 

Of course, these fixes are only for metallic wire crate doors since they seem the most popular among dog owners. 

Fixing a Broken Latch

You can fix a broken door latch through one of two ways. Either you repair it, or you find a replacement latch. 

Most crate door latches come unstuck when they’re bent out of shape. 

To repair it, all you need to do is carefully straighten the latch out again using pliers or another similar tool. Be careful not to damage the latch further. 

Also, make sure you securely tighten all the screws and bolts holding the latch in place afterward as well. 

In some cases, however, the latch may just be broken beyond repair. Fortunately, there are plenty of places that sell replacement latches, like Amazon. 

So, you should be able to find one for your model and attach it using the accompanying guide. 

Fixing Bent Wires

Dogs feeling trapped or anxious often bite the wires of their crate door to try to escape, bending them in the process. 

Luckily, this is probably the easiest issue to deal with when learning how to fix a dog kennel door. 

All you have to do is take a plier and gently bend the wires back into place. 

Make sure you do this carefully and slowly to ensure you don’t damage the wires. 

Fixing Broken Welding

It’s natural for crates to get weaker over time, with all the jumping and rolling around that dogs do. 

However, you’re still considered really unlucky if the door of your dog’s crate breaks from where it’s welded to the frame. 

Fixing these kinds of doors requires proper welding expertise, so don’t try it if you’re not experienced in this stuff. 

What you’ll have to do is reweld the door back into its joints. 

Additionally, if you want to learn how to reinforce a dog crate door, you could try welding some extra steel into each joint. 

That should ensure the door stays firmly in place for the next few years. 

Getting a Replacement Door

Of course, if you’re not keen on fixing the door yourself or just getting any repairs done, in general, then you could always order a replacement door online. 

Amazon and other marketplaces are full of brands and people selling fully secure crate doors tailored to your crate’s size. 

All you need to do is measure your existing crate door and look for one that’s of the same size and material. 

Consult a Professional

There’s no shame in admitting when you need help in repairing a crate door.

In fact, we’d actually recommend consulting a professional or, better yet, getting them to do the job for you. 

Repairing a crate door can be delicate work, and an inexperienced individual could permanently break the latches or wires that need repairing. Resulting in you having to buy a replacement door anyway. 

So, take our advice, visit your vet, and ask them to get you in touch with a professional crate builder who can repair your crate door. What do you know, they might even teach you how to open dog crate door the right way. 

FAQs

How to secure a dog crate door?

There are a bunch of different options you could use to secure a dog crate door. 

We personally recommend buying a crate door lock from a reputable online marketplace. 

Another option is securing the door with zip ties that go across each side of the door. 2 to 4 zip ties should do the trick. 

How do you reverse the door on a dog crate?

First and foremost, you need to determine if the door of your dog’s crate is indeed reversible. 

If it is, then you just need to unlock all the latches, flip them right side up, and lock the latches in place once again. 

How do you measure a dog crate for a replacement door?

Determining the size of the replacement door will require you to measure the size of the existing crate door. 

Using a measuring tape to figure out the width and height of the door should do the trick. 

Do you close the door on a dog crate?

Yes, you should close the door on a dog crate. However, choosing when to close the door on your dog crate is completely up to you. 

Our advice, though, would be to close the door once your dog starts going in and out of the crate on his own. 

How to Fix a Dog Crate Door: The Importance of Experience

That folks, brings us to the end of our guide on how to fix a dog crate door. 

As we conclude, we’d like to stress once again how important it is to consult a professional when repairing a dog crate door. 

Their valuable input could be what stops you from irreversibly damaging the door and having to spend extra on a new one. 

Lastly, if you liked this guide, we’ve got plenty more in store for you. So make sure you check them out as well. Have a great day!