Best crate for senior Miniature Schnauzer mobility

An older Miniature Schnauzer with mobility issues needs a crate where the door opening sits as close to floor level as possible — a high lip or step-in threshold can be genuinely painful or impossible for a dog with stiff joints or hind-leg weakness. Before I point you to something specific, a couple of quick questions: how much mobility has he lost — is he struggling to step over anything, or is it more of a hesitation and discomfort situation? And is this crate primarily for the car, or for use at home as well?

That's really helpful. Catching his back feet means even a modest threshold is a problem, so you want a crate with a door that opens fully and sits flush or near-flush with the ground. For a Miniature Schnauzer he'll need something in the small range — roughly 60–70cm long. Given it's primarily for the car and he needs easy entry, I'd move away from rigid plastic airline crates here because they typically have a raised lip of 5–8cm. What you want instead is a soft-sided crate with a front-opening door that zips fully down to ground level. Does he have any tendency to chew or scratch at soft fabric when anxious, or is he generally calm in the car?

Perfect — that makes a soft crate entirely appropriate and much kinder for him. My recommendation is the Petsfit Soft-Sided Dog Crate in size Small (61cm). It has a front door that unzips completely to the base panel, so there is effectively zero threshold — you can lay the door flat and guide him straight in without any stepping. The base is padded, the mesh panels give good ventilation and visibility which tends to keep calm dogs calm, and it folds flat for storage between trips. The frame is sturdy enough to stay stable on a car seat, and you can secure it with a seatbelt through the side loops. It won't protect him in a serious collision the way a rigid crate would, but for vet runs with a gentle older dog it's a very sensible, practical choice — and the entry is genuinely the easiest you'll find at this size.

Yes, worth doing. A thin orthopaedic or memory foam mat cut to fit the base will take pressure off his hips and elbows on the journey. Look for something around 2–3cm thick — too thick and it raises the effective entry height slightly, which defeats the point. A non-slip cover over it helps too, so he doesn't slide when the car brakes. You don't need to spend much — a folded veterinary fleece on top of a cheap foam insert works well and washes easily.

Glad it was useful. The Petsfit Small should serve him well. One last thing worth knowing: if his mobility continues to decline, some owners eventually switch to a fully open-topped pen for home use so the dog can be lifted in and out rather than walked in — just something to keep in mind as things change. Hope the vet trips stay easy for both of you.