Think of the crate as their bedroom, their safe space. We have a beagle, now 6 1/2 months and we crate every night. She doesn't usually whine though we've had a few episodes of it. Thought she needed to pee, really she just wanted to be with us.

DC keeps asking when she can sleep with her in bed. The answer is: she will sleep in the crate until she is potty trained and I can trust her not to chew or eat anything and everything off the floor. It's gonna be awhile.

Our dog likes her crate. I think it makes her feel secure and know it's time to sleep. We got her at 6 months old. She is in there from about 10pm to 6am.

We also have a beagle. She did not like the crate. At all. She sleeps in bedroom, in a dog bed. She is calm, happy if close to her people.

My out of town extended family visits and stays for a while. They don’t like dogs. The dog stays in the crate to get used to being in the crate for when I need her there. My other option is to board the dog when they stay.

My doodle asks to go in his crate. I let him sleep on a beanbag in the TV room sometimes but he has barked to come out of there and go into his crate. It has a soft bed inside and we put a blanket over the top. He is always completely chilled out in there which is why he likes it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the crating thing is the difference between people who think of their dogs as pets and people who think of their dogs as family.

Not really. A crate is a safety tool. Just like a crib is for an infant. A safe place to put the dog when you cannot supervise them 100% of the time.

What kind of dog needs to be supervised all the time? And mostly aren’t they snuggled up with their owners?