Crate Capture

You see what I did there Cailleach? I learning from you. Crate 'Capture'...as in captured the photo or as in 'Great' Capture. Cailleach is always coming up with such witty titles.

Crate training uses a dog's natural instincts as a den animal. A dog's den is his home, a place to sleep and hide from danger. The dog should feel it is a safe place. , and raise a family. The crate becomes your dog's den, an ideal spot to snooze or take refuge during a thunderstorm. With a puppy however, the primary use is for housetraining with the hopes that dogs do not like to soil their safe place.
Well, I am doing this method and I have done it before but I feel just awful for the Tessa when she is in there. For many reasons (grandchildren, not doing the floors every day, toys or other dangerous objects) I cannot let her just have the run of the house. When I first moved into this house, it was allot of small rooms. I went with the open floor plan when remodeling and I love it except for the fact that I can no longer use gates!! The openings to the rooms are much too large.
Therefore, I do not have a fenced in yard and I do not have any gates. This makes crate training an absolute necessity. I will say she is fine with it and I am the one who is stressing out about it. When I was at my sister’s house yesterday and she not only had gates but a fenced in yard, I felt Tessa had so much more fun and freedom.
I walk her frequently and as a reward after each successful walk, I give her free time to play on the couch with us or jump around on my bed. Of course, there is everyone else here in the house who also takes her out and for playtime, too so she does get plenty of time out of the crate. I guess when I saw her today and captured the photo I felt like I was being mean. I know there is a reason for it but I was never good at being tough!