I also use to think crates were a bad thing. I have learned so much since then.

Katie was our first dog to use a crate and it is the best thing ever. Like others have said it is her safe place. Tori has her own crate and it is her safe place also. It is like their own bedrooms. Their doors are always open except for Tori's at night and both of them are closed when we are not home...which isn't too often because we all work different shifts so it seems like someone is always here. The crates have been wonderful and the girls have no problem with them what so ever. Now when I am at work and no one is home I don't have to worry that they are destroying the house and chewing everything up and maybe even swallowing stuff that they shouldn't have. Our RB Chloe was so bad when she was younger and once swallowed a whole sock and we didn't even know it. When she was spayed she threw the whole thing up and that is how we found out. The sock was still one piece. It was a knee length sock! Now I know my girls are safe when I am gone. They do not have to go into their crates when we are home although their doors are always open and they are often in there on their own will sleeping away. We never had too much problems with Katie and she has never had to sleep in her crate at night. She has always slept wherever she wants and been a good girl. Tori is a bit more hyper and I'm not for sure I can trust her just yet so her door is closed at night. In another thread I posted how last night was her first night outside her crate. She did wonderful!

Even my sister says that she sure does wish she would have known about this when her little westie, Lily was a baby. Boy, for a little dog she sure did major damage. My sister would put her in the kitchen with a baby gate and Lily would chew up all the leg chairs and even tore a big hole in the linoleum floor How did she do that! She even chewed her way through the baby gate.

I am now a firm believer in the crate system when it is used properly. Our crates are not used for punishment! My girls are young (one and six months old) so they can get quite rowdy and once in awhile I will say "timeout" and they will go to their crates for a treat or their kongs filled with a bit of peanut butter. I think they like their timeouts also Hmmm...maybe that is why they get so rowdy....they want their kongs filled with peanut butter! Those sly little pups!