Keep that crate! :-)

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

Hi All,

Been thinking (you all know how dangerous that can be) since TRiX no longer 
needs to sleep in her crate actually has taken a spot in the bed above my 
head keeping my brain warm at night I was thinking that perhaps some of you 
are thinking it's time to toss out the crate?  NO! <vbg>

Crates need to be at least a small part of your dogs life and here is 
why:  You never know when or if your dog might find it's crate a haven.  We 
have a very unfortunate situation here right now.  Last night George and I 
went and picked up three dogs who are going to be staying with us for an 
undetermined amount of time.  Dog A is a 12 year old aggressive 
female,  Dog B (Brier's Ben There Done That) is a 4 year old litter mate to 
Meg,  Dog C is Joshua a 6 year old dog from an breeder who has moved to 
Japan.  Now Ben and Josh are young enough to go to the kennel and deal with 
it.  However Dog A known to us as call name : The Stink <grin> Binkley I 
think is her real name is not dog friendly and is not crate trained.  For 
that matter neither are Josh and Ben.  Binkley is very unhappy, we can not 
mix her with the other dogs and is taking up residency in the puppy room, 
hogging up the whole room.  Still she is not happy, cried and barked all 
night last night.  Now if Binkley were crate trained she just might find 
that crate to be a haven and certainly life would be easier on us.  However 
we are not the real concern are we?

Just passing on some sage advise,

Gina