Anyone else not a huge fan of crate training? I remember my friend's mom telling me about it, and I did attempt it with Wylie a few times, but it just didn't seem right for me and Wylie. Am I alone? Everyone I know thinks it's the greatest thing ever.
No, you're not alone. I know lots of people who don't think it's the greatest thing ever. I personally crate only if I absolutely have to. I have one dog that is crated whenever we leave the house, because he picks fights and then get the worst of them when he is alone with the other dogs. But, I work at home, so he is crated for an hour or two once in a while, at the most. And I have two dogs that are crated at night, for potty issues. That's it, out of ten dogs.

I think crate training, like most things in the world, started out as a good idea and have ended up being used incorrectly and abused. There are many dogs who would have been euthanized long ago it it weren't for crate training. So thank goodness it exists for dogs like that.

However, a huge number of people use a crate for their dogs like they use the television for their kids - they are too busy or lazy to deal with them, so they plop them in the crate or in front of the TV. Sad. I am also opposed to crating a dog for ten hours per day, every day, while the owners are at work. Then the dog often goes back in the crate to sleep for eight hours at night. And sometimes back in the crate while the owners go out to dinner or to the movies. So, at least eighteen hours out of twenty four in a crate ... what kind of life is that?

If one doesn't have any time to spend with a dog, perhaps one shouldn't own a dog at all, instead of owning a dog that lives in cage almost all day and night.

Just MHO.