After 7 years and 300,000 miles, how well does a Gunner hold up?

I still remember the first time I saw a Gunner Kennel. It was in a DU magazine, if I recall, but the memory’s a little hazy from almost a decade ago. Casually thumbing through the glossy pages of that issue, the ad reached out and grabbed my full attention almost immediately. That’s saying a lot for a guy with a journalism and marketing background and a career of callousness to all sorts of advertising strategies.

It was a Deja Vu moment, like the kennel was ripped directly from my day dreams about how I’d build a badass dog crate myself if I were more creative and knew where to begin. Within a half second, I was determined to own one without looking at a single spec or feature bullet point.

That’s the hallmark of a game-changing product. Much in the way that no one considered buying a Blackberry after the introduction of the iPhone, so did my investment in Gunner change the way I thought about keeping dogs safe (and let’s be honest, stylish) on the road.

To my eyes back then, the Gunner crushed the competition like a cheap plastic dog crate in a rollover collision. And you don’t have to read to the end of this review to find out very little has changed in the 7+ years I’ve owned them.

In that long of a relationship, you really get to know a product well. What works? What needs tweaking? What holds up to 300,000 miles of bird hunting road trips on gravel roads or puppy teeth?

Below is a long-contemplated, long-form practical review of the G1 kennel from the perspective of a bird hunting obsessed veterinarian who works daily with sporting dogs in the clinic and in the field. I’ll do my best to share my honest feedback on the long-term pros and cons of Gunner’s flagship product.

But before I dive in, you can’t fully appreciate a Gunner kennel without a brief dive into their company origin story. I’ve met founder Addison Edmonds a few times on the hunting trade show circuit and once during an impromptu pit stop at Gunner HQ in Nashville. It was early in the pandemic, and with the kids in virtual classrooms, my family and I pulled a camper from coast to coast, pinging between national parks across the country and in dire need of a bathroom break along the Tennessee stretch of I-40.

Addison and his wife, Emily, along with the rest of the team greeted us road-weary westerners like old friends. Their passion for dogs was evident in every facet of their facility, from their wall of memorable canines to the sketches of new products in their R&D room. I knew then I picked the right team, dog hair and all. Supporting American-made products made by good natured humans is an easy decision for me.

As someone who also took tremendous risks and altered the course of his life because of the love of an inspirational hunting dog, It’s hard not to have respect for the Edmonds’ story of grinding and perseverance to blaze an unpaved path in the dog kennel market.

Let’s dive in:

Pros of the G1 Kennel

1. Crash Safety — The G1 Kennel (an ambiguous label which, as an aside, makes me feel like we should expect a G2 model at some point in the future) is on the very short list of dog kennels that has earned a 5-star crash test rating from the Center for Pet Safety. Let’s be frank here: this label is far more than marketing fluff — it’s the direct result of controlled testing that simulates real-world collisions. For dog owners who worry about worst-case scenarios, that credential is a meaningful and must-have box that needs checking when shopping for a new kennel. Your dogs don’t get a say in how safe they wish to be on the road, so the onus is on you to keep their best interests at heart.

The safety rating is presumably achieved by the kennel’s double-walled, roto-molded construction. That dual wall creates an air gap and structural redundancy that absorbs and dissipates the energy from a crash much better (there’s no comparison, really) than single-walled plastic crates. In practical terms: the kennel keeps its shape, it flexes but doesn’t shear or explode like cheap crates, and has the ability to insulate the dog from temperature extremes.

Think giant YETI cooler in stoutness, function, and durability.

2. Durability – So how well does it hold up to 8 years of truck bed bouncing, weather, and dogs? The answer is surprisingly well. After countless hours of exposure to puppies, negative and triple digits, frost, blazing sunlight, and a litany of canine body fluids, just a quick hose down and a brief swipe of Armor All and the Gunners look basically the same as the day they arrived on my doorstep.

The hinges and latch are still quiet and smooth. The bolts are tight. The drain plug deploys as designed, and the stainless steel is still, well, unstained.

All-in-all, Gunners are built like a tank and continue to perform that way no matter what you throw at them. It’s not hyperbolic to say it’s the last dog kennel you’ll buy.

3. Style – Good looks are subjective, but I challenge you to show me a sexier dog kennel on the market. But again, you’re talking to a guy who admittedly fell in love with a photo of one first. Fortunately, I’m not alone in this assessment, and Gunner has a list of copycat competitors to support the claim that they are the unchallenged alpha dog when it comes to kennel beauty. In a decade since they were released, none have come close.

The Gunner is beefy with clean lines, a rounded hexagonal facade with stainless steel accents at the tie down points, and a simple but relatable logo featuring the bust of the inspirational Gunner dog himself.

They’re offered in a host of universally attractive standard colors (I have classic gray/gun metal as well as a pair of the limited edition kennels in blaze orange), but Gunner has a variety of customizable options and short-run special colors (dubbed the Flyway Series) that YETI disciples will appreciate.

As waterfowlers at heart, the Gunner team has released several Mossy Oak camo door options for those of you east of the Mississippi who need everything slathered in Bottomland. No judgement here. They’re pretty slick, even for a guy who runs pointing dogs out West.

No guarantees, but I’ll wager you’ll get in the habit of looking back at your truck for just one more peek (as I do, shamelessly) as you head out for your hunt. Show me a flimsy plastic crate that attracts that level of attention or the spurs as many “how do ya like dem kennels?” gas pump conversations as my Gunners.

Cons of the G1 Kennel

1. Size and Heft — Tank-level durability comes at a price, both physically and financially (which I’ll address later). There’s no denying it: Gunners are built tough and weigh a freaking ton. If you’re constantly swapping or shuffling kennels in your transportation setup, you’ll probably grow tired or resentful of the effort involved.

Throw on the all-weather cover and the fan kit and you’re talking “bend at the knees” safety lifting to load them in the truck bed. It’s not a deal-breaker, but I definitely find excuses to avoid moving my intermediates around unless absolutely necessary. While they’ve held up to years of heavy use, they certainly haven’t gotten leaner over time. It’s not something I lose sleep over, though. I know it’s a tradeoff for the type of safety shelter I want my dogs in if we crash.

That type of kennel thickness means a wider and bulkier footprint to achieve the desired interior real estate you need for your dogs. The vast majority of sporting breeds use the intermediate, which runs about the size of a larger cheap kennel in its exterior specs. That said, I can attest that you can still squeeze two of these kennels side-by-side in a Honda Pilot if that’s how you like to (or are forced to, on occasion) roll.

2. Cost — On paper anyway, investing in a pair of kennels is not an insignificant investment. No doubt about it. Sure, I could offer you some sort of crafty amortization schedule over the life of the dog or compare the price of their kennels to what you’ve already blown on less permanent things like fuel, trendy waders, or cases of shells (it’s worth thinking about your purchase this way), but at the end of the day, they’re still spendy compared to the competition.

However, you’re reading a review from a charter member of the Buy Once, Cry Once fraternity, and I’ve never regretted getting the very best whenever I can swing it. I can say honestly that biting the bullet on arguably the world’s sweetest kennel setup is likely the last similar transaction you’ll ever make. And your kids will probably still run your kennels long after you’re gone. It’s easy math in my book, but I respect that the upfront cost is a factor.

With that in mind, you should budget for the full setup and not just the bare kennels. Both of my kennels have the orthopedic bed (see #3 below). I use and love the all weather kit and deploy the windows in rain or cool weather. I run the fans in the summer (a nice addition that I’ll review alone one day), and I depend on the cold weather door covers to keep my dogs warm and cozy en route to and from late season hunts.

These accouterments add a lot to the final retail price, but they make the whole setup feel invincible.

3. Odds and Ends – The gripes are few and minor, but I feel like you’re entitled to complain a little with that level of investment. You can also feel good that on the receiving end is a team of developers (Addison included), who genuinely value your feedback in their seemingly relentless pursuit of perfection in all their products.

For one, the orthopedic bed is a weak link in this setup. Don’t get me wrong, it seems comfortable and supportive enough with its memory foam core. And the tough nylon shell has (mostly) held up to the claws of the voracious digger in my string of dogs.

However, it also does a great job acting as a sponge for all sorts of undesirable liquids, from kennel accidents and wet dogs, to rain and snow. And because of the foam core, it literally never dries. Even in Idaho with its low relative humidity in the summer, it takes a day or more of drying out time to recover from saturation. On a multi-day road trip or a humid environment, that’s not an acceptable scenario. The bed simply becomes unusable in those situations. I see a potential design solution here with what they’ve built in their new Homestead Dog Bed. Knowing the Gunner team, I bet something’s cooking for an ortho bed refresh.

Secondly, even with the all weather kit deployed and the cold weather door in place, it’s impossible to keep the inside completely dry in heavy rain. Maybe a small lip of awning that protects the door or a gasket system around the edges of the windows beneath the all weather kit would help. It’s hard to say. I’ll leave a real solution to the Gunner team, who obviously loves to brainstorm how to fix these issues. But for now, it’s challenging to protect the interior from every curveball Mother Nature throws.

As you can imagine, a leaky kennel and a spongy dog bed make for a potentially chilly and unsafe combination when we get back to the truck after a wet fall hunt. Those of you who run a topper/camper shell or drive an SUV need not fret over such things.

And lastly – and I’m really grasping at straws here – the cold weather door covers are a little blah aesthetically. They really put all their research into function (and nailed it), but obviously came up short on looks. I would love to see an embossed Gunner logo or some other stylish bling on the front. Maybe it’s a logistical omission because the door is reversible, but it seems like a missed opportunity for more wow factor in the presentation.

Should I buy a G1 Kennel?

If you had to read this far to know my opinion, I’ve failed you. I’m happily biased, but I can tell that when it comes to safety and style, there really isn’t another kennel that comes close to a Gunner. Build your dream kit, put it in the cart, and pull the trigger. You’ll never have to buy another kennel, and you’ll never have to look back, except to gawk at your setup.

Road (Trip) Hard and Put Up Wet: A Long-Winded, Long-Term Gunner Kennels Review