Carol Jean - We live in an open-floorplan townhome. I cannot just gate off one portion of the kitchen - Unless you know where I can get a 12 foot gate. We couldn't even paint the living room and kitchen different colors because there is no division between the two. Anyway, Loki's crate is perfectly safe for him. I put him in there if I'm cleaning the floors or if my husband and I are both gone. Loki generally goes with us unless we are going to the grocery store - we don't even eat at restaurants any more - we get carry out. If Loki needs to spend 4+ hours in his crate I find a sitter for him or send him to doggie daycare.
However, I just want you to know what while my husband works from home during the day, and Loki is home with him, ALL Loki does is sleep. I feed him before I leave for work, play with him for a few minutes and walk him. He hops back in bed and my husband says he gets up around noon, stretches, goes outside and then goes back to sleep in his bed near my husband's desk until I get home from work. So, crate or not during the day - he sleeps 95% of the day anyway. SO they truly do just sleep in the crate all day. Nighttime for us is another story, however. If I crate Loki at night, which is sometimes necessary, he will be a hyper dog when I get home. I expect it so it's no big deal. However, the same thing would happen if I came home and ignored him and didn't play with him.
I'm just saying that crates, even for adult pups are good and safe. I do agree with you in that a dog should not be in crate ALL day. I would never make Loki go more than 4 hours without a potty break, and I don't think I could stick him back in there after 4 hours... So I'm with you on that. I understand we have a unique situation too, however when no one can be home I find other alternatives like daycare or grandma's house :-) Yes it's expensive, but it's the cost of having a dog, especially a high maintenance Yorkie! |