Originally posted by jenluckenbach
I often wondered why people had dogs if they were going to crate them for the majority of the time. I mean, the cats have free run of the house. It is their home and I could not imagine locking them up.

BUT

It is extremely important for a dog to know HOW to be in a crate without being "antsy". When they go to vet, groomer, kennel, they will be in a crate and if they do not know HOW to be in one, they will pace, bark and dig to the point of hurting themselves.

bottom line: Train them to accept the crate but don't lock them up unnecessarily.

JUST MY OPINION
We don't crate Mick unless we're out or going to bed Even at the going out, if my mom goes to work for longer than usual, we'll close him in in the kitchen. She laid down a newspaper and he did his business on it. Nowhere else--which is weird because he was never trained to go on the paper. Anyways, I agree with you--don't crate the dog unecessarily. Mick used to make noise in his but he got used to it and my mom added this comfy pillow for him and now he likes to go in on his own. lol