Ok, let me rephrase, as it seems that we have gotten a bit off-topic, and I am not getting the advice that I am seeking!

1. My main question morphed from barking into this: If the dog is not in the crate, (because I am using the dinnerbox or other coaxing method) what do I do with her at night? I have to sleep, ergo cannot be keeping an eye on her. I understand tethering, but that only works if you are awake!!

2. The dog is not crated all the time. I am not ignorant about crate training, and have in fact done it before with great success. <<I take the dog out to potty, we have SUPERVISED play time,water, food, whatever it is time for, and then back into the crate. Then gradually the playtime gets longer.>> I just have never had a dog that was averse to the crate. She has only had accidents in the basement so far. (which is why I chose the basement in the first place, so I would not get all upset about accidents... it is a plain concrete floor, easily cleaned.) All of the accidents can trace back to human error.

3. All the other dogs I have had thought of the crate as their den. They would often go and nap in them even with the door open and me home. It was their bed. They went 'into their house' whenever we left the house for more than a very short time, and at night, every night. They went in willingly, and did not fuss. Sometimes they got cookies, but not very often. However, they were crated from the time they were puppies, so it was the norm; just the way things were in our house. The problem here is I have a full grown, 50# dog who does not like the crate, and this was where my questions stemmed from, once we got passed the original barking issue. Please do not misunderstand. I love pets and loved all my dogs very much. But there are boundaries. I am the human, they are the dog. I may just have a few more boundaries than some folks here.

4. As it happens, the crate failed this morning while I was taking dh to work, so no crate training today! (crate was borrowed, and had a crack at the bottom where the door latched in. Crack got bigger and Dot pushed her way out, I guess.)

Took her to vet, no major problems. She does have either sarcoptic mange or ringworm, and a staph. infection...

She does not wet or potty excessively.

Kibble is a combo of Iams and Purina ONE (can't afford barf, unfortunately. No inexpensive source of meat/bones that I can find.) Treats are kibble pieces, Iams small bones, beggin strips (she will eat these now) and pup-peroni, her fave. She did have an apple core yesterday, and ate a small string off her Bobo (loofah dog), oops.

BTW, the original barking problem has been solved with the crate in the kitchen. She just wants to see or hear her people...