the soft sided crates are awesome for crate trained dogs - they are very easily destroyed by dogs who like to dig/chew etc.
I also agree with 'no dog should be an outside dog' but the smaller the dog, the more dangerous it is for them. 15lb dogs are prey and can be attacked by coyotes (which are common even in many suburban areas) even hawks and some owls could go after a 15lb dog. Plus, small dogs can easily dig out of their yards..... we've had dogs for nearly 20yrs and the only dog who's ever gotten out is Princess - at 14lbs, she can squeeze through the tiniest holes. Even though she's only out for ~5min at a time, she's gotten out several times.
dd1 10/05
dd2 11/09
and ... a mini poodle!