Yes it does have the arm above the top rack and it seems to be working well, no kibbles left on top of anything. It normally won't see a lot of use, I plan on moving it downstairs for overflow and backup. It's still upstairs so I'm going to wash a load of canning jars either this afternoon or tomorrow to be filled with tomatoes. It does seem like a fun machine to have with the quick cycles, hot water and hurricane force swooshing going on inside. The motor noise kind of detracts from it, but overall a nice, low, low mileage machine. I honestly wonder how many gallons of hot water this thing requires though, it doesn't seem to be a water miser by any means.