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There is nothing cruel about a dog crate, although the same cannot be said of dog owners. It is a dog's natural instinct to have a "den", a small, protected, warm (or cool) comfortable spot where they feel safe and secure. When used appropriately, crates provide dogs with this protected haven that they crave and contribute to the physical and mental wellbeing of both dog and owner.

I currently own three dogs of 3 vastly different breeds. Holly is a 9 year old Boxer who stands 23 inches tall at the shoulder and weighs 56lbs. Benny is a 2 year old Chihuahua mix who stands about 8 inches tall at the shoulder and weighs 15 pounds. Sookie is a 3 month old Great Pyrenees who right now is just a little bigger than Benny, although when she is grown she will stand around over 30 inches at the shoulder and weigh between 100 and 150lbs.The problem is that in my 3 dog household, I have 2 crates-the Benny crate and the "grown up Sookie" crate.

Holly was crate trained as a puppy for practical purposes-she was my show dog. I always teach them gently, by putting their toys in their crate when I pick them up, feeding them in their crate, and requiring them to eat special goodies (pig ears, meaty joints, etc) in their crates with the door open. When Holly was a puppy and my daughter was 3, my daughter was taught to never bother Holly when she was in her crate. Holly would retreat to her crate voluntarily for peace and quiet when she tired of my daughters attentions.

As Holly and my daughter grew older, we did away with the crate. After all, she was housebroken, well behaved and surely she was more comfortable sleeping in our beds or on the sofa. I never realized how much she missed having her own room until 2 years ago when we adopted Benny and bought his very small crate. Holly instantly began trying to cram herself into his tiny crate. She would often take her bone and slide her front half into Benny's crate to chew on it-effectively protecting herself from him trying to steal her goody.

Last spring we acquired our first Great Pyrenees puppy, Tango. Benny is a little greedy-guts who will harass the other dogs until he gains their goodies and then he'll run off to his own crate. He's also particularly nasty at feeding time. He will wolf down his own food and then growl and intimidate the puppy until he gets its food too. Because of this behavior as well as the need to train the puppy, I went out and purchased a crate that would be large enough for Tango when he was mature. It is

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