Scooter never bonded with his crate. I, like you, work full time and leaving him in a small space with no play area for possible long periods is not my idea of fun. Plus, I did not use it for potty training purposes either because he picked it up so fast. I chose to use a puppy gate and leave him in a bathroom. I have slowly expanded his space now that he is getting older and I trust him on my nice wood floors. He went from just the bathroom to the bathroom and a small hallway. Now, he stays in my kitchen while I am gone.
As far as at night, some people may not like this idea but he sleeps with me. I did try to crate him at night in the beginning and it didn't work out. I live alone and he will sleep for a long time as long as he is close to me. I think more space is better so as long as you are comfortable with the xpen at night, use it. I, on the other hand, have no problems with Scooter sleeping with me but I do know that now that he knows what it is like, he will never go back to sleeping in his bed at night. He does have two soft beds, one at the foot of my bed and one in the kitchen should he chose to change his mind.....I highly doubt it but you never know.
Good luck! |