The Midwest Homes Puppy Starter Kit is a good kit for those who are looking to get a pup and crate train it. What you see in the photo is really what you get - a thin 24" nonslip pad for a metal crate, leash, collar, bear toy, Kong toy, two bowls with holders, doggie pee pads, and small Kong treats. This kit isn't the cheapest - you can probably put together a similar set yourself at a lower cost, but keep in mind you're buying legit Kong toys (which really aren't that cheap), as well as other durable items. This isn't dollar store type stuff. While I like the kit overall, there are a few items in here I'm not totally in love with. The Kong, Kong Brush, and Kong bear are all great items. The Kong toy and bear are very durable, and really fun toys for dogs to play with and chew on. The brush isn't as necessary - it really depends on your dog's hair length to determine how useful it will be. My Papillon has really long hair, so a brush like this isn't all that useful - it simply doesn't get much hair off of him. It is nice to use in during his bath though - I end up with less hair under my nails and he doesn't seem to mind the mini massage. The doggie leash, collar, and pee pads are also good items. The leash and collar set are very durable and I particularly like the collar which has a plastic clasp as opposed to a buckle. The pee pads also work just fine and are quite absorbent. The fabric nonslip mat is only okay. It's very thin and although it fits perfectly inside of a crate, it doesn't offer much in terms of cushion for your dog. This may be useful if your dog is really not crate trained since it is easier to wash because it's so thin, but it's really not better than using a folded over towel. One thing to note - it does fit perfectly in a 24" bottomed crate. Also on the "okay list" are the Kong treats. The treats themselves were not particularly exciting to my dog, and although it's touted as being a great treat to stick inside of a Kong, I found it awful to put inside. My dog simply could not get it out of the Kong despite him chewing, licking, and venting all his frustrations on the Kong. Unless you have a ridiculously aggressive chewer, or break the treat up unto pieces, you're going to end up with a soggy snack molding inside of your Kong. I would just just give the treat to you dog and not bother trying to stuff it into the teeny Kong. The only items of the set that I'm not in love with are the bowl sets. The bowls themselves are fantastic - they're durable, easy to clean, and the perfect size to put inside of a crate. What I'm not in love with is the holders for the bowls. The holders are a "push into place" type holder, meaning that you need to shove the bowl into the metal rods to keep it in place. This is very difficult, and more often than not, we ended up with water and food bits everywhere when we tried to remove the bowls from the holders. While these bowls will definitely not move once pushed into place, they are difficult to put in and remove unless you unscrew the clips every time. Overall, if you're looking for a complete puppy starter set, this is a decent one to get you started. If giving as a gift, it's neatly packaged all in one box, and also includes a catalog with a number of MidWest Homes metal crates to purchase. This would be a nice gift to give to your pet loving friends.
