Jessika,

I've been thinking for quite a while that you should have crates. Being away so much and working long hours, it seemed like your dogs were being "a little bad". When you were talking about your room-mate and how they were moving out/on... and all the problems you had. You were mentioning about peeing and in the beds and what not... I was thinking, "now if there is ever a girl who could use a crate, Jessika is one". It is not a punishment, if just contains them. In fact, when we finally stopped crating Ginger, she was sad and would go into her crate - door wide open and unlocked, and sleep at night. When we were leaving the house, she was at door or window watching us and sometimes barking, but if we forgot something or had to come back, we would find her in her crate laying down.

When we actually took the crate away, she was real confused and kept looking for it. She would even slump down on the floor and sleep where it used to be. I think if used appropriately and after they get used to it, there's actually a sense of security for them when in it. And you won't have to worry about those unwanted or surprise pees or droppings anymore!!!