I’m looking for advice on the best location to keep a crate (and I tacked on a few other crate questions). (Background: we have never owned a dog and therefore have no experience with crates.) I have read two of Mr Frawley’s articles which address this subject: <a href=http://www.leerburg.com/housebrk.htm>"How To Housebreak Your Puppy"</a> and <a href=http://www.leerburg.com/dogs-babies.htm>"Introducing Dogs and Babies"</a>. The first recommends that while you are housebreaking the puppy you keep the crate in the bedroom of the person who will be taking the puppy out at night. Once the puppy is housebroken, the recommendation from the second article (with a clarification from Mr Frawley) is that (as a general rule) you not allow the dog in any bedroom.

1. Do you keep a crate in a location where family members will generally be (kitchen, living room) or in a slightly more isolated location (dining room, hallway closet with door removed).

2. What impact does temporarily moving the crate have on the dog? We frequently have guests—often larger groups w/ kids. My thought is that this would require us to move the crate during those times (1. to move dog away from group and/or 2. because we might need the room). We would move the crate to a bedroom (where we shouldn’t allow the dog) or to the garage. Another possibility is that we would put the dog outside in a kennel (which we don’t currently have and will most likely be the subject of a future post) when we have company. We would still move the crate, but the dog wouldn’t know the difference (unless the weather was horrible).

3. What types of crates do people recommend? I have read Mr Frawley’s recommendation: <a href=http://www.leerburg.com/dogcrate.htm>”The Kind of Dog Crates We Recommend”</a>. If you have a wire cage, do you cover it? Is it best to own a travel crate and a house crate? Can you buy one size of crate and then block off a smaller and smaller portion of it as the dog grows?

4. When do you leave the door of the crate open and when do you close it? Obviously you close it when you are crate training the puppy. I would think you would also close it when you leave the dog home alone or when for some reason you don’t want the dog out (ie company). Other than that, once the dog is trained, do you leave the door open?

5. What types of items should you leave in or not leave in the crate? Toys, water, food?

I’d better stop. The longer I think about this, the more questions I have. Please, address any of the questions (or an area about crates which is important that I haven’t addressed).

1. In my house crates are in the living room area. It just happens in my case that I am not in there much. When I am here, the dogs are with me, but can access the crates if they want to. When I am not here they are either in the car with me crated or they are here crated.

2. With a crate trained dog, moving the crate has never seemed to be an issue. The crate becomes the dog's safe place and is acutally a comfort when moving or traveling. Just think if YOU could take YOUR bed on vacation... I know I would sleep better! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> So, no... I don't think moving it to a different room will affect the dog.

3. I have both types of crates, and like both for different reasons. My dogs are generally in the vari-kennel style, but I do have a two door folding wire crate that is a lot more versatile. I don't cover the wire crate. I have one dog who likes to pull anything she can get her teeth on into the crate to chew on. :rolleyes:

4. The door is left open when you want the dog to have free access. Some dogs are ready for this eariler than others. I recommend you approach this cautiously, one room at a time.

5. With an adult dog, I leave a stainless steel flat backed bucket of water in the crate both in the house and also in the car (in the car, only fill half full).. The only 'toy' they are allowed in their crates would be a kong.

I have my crate in the laundry area, leading into the garage and out doors. Sometimes, less now than before, I will leave my 7 mo lab out when I am leaving for a short period of time because I can close up the area. But usually now, I put him in the crate and close it. The crate is the largest size I could find, so I am limited in where I put it. Sydney is not allowed in any bedrooms or bathroom. At night I hide treats around his crate, so he is very anxious to get inside. Once inside, I usually close it up. Sometimes, my daughter and I will go inside and play with him (it is a very BIG crate). The only time he makes a fuss is when he knows we are home and he can't come out because he has misbehaved or we can't watch him.