Originally posted by Soledad
The reason it didn't feel right for me and Wylie, is because Wylie was such a smart, considerate dog.

He learned all of his tricks on his first day at our house. He's never chewed anything of ours and he doesn't have accidents.

I think if I had had a less obedient and/or more hyper dog who wasn't a quick learner, crate training would have been appropriate, but with Wylie it seemed unnecessary.

He does have a kennel, and he is used to it. We just don't lock him up in it.
When thats the case, then people usually don't crate train and thats perfectly fine. I'm a crate advocate for dogs who need it for behavioral reasons. My dogs are housebroken and not destructive so they are not crated anymore. I crated for the first month because Reece had seperation anxiety and would have busted through a window and Lolly I didn't trust alone with Shiloh at first.