Do you crate your dog?

The benefits of crating mean’t we bought one the day we bought our new family member.

But they really are hideous…see how i incorporated Ares’ crate into our small condo.

We use his crate for two reasons:

1) time outs when he’s being punished for bad behaviour. Ares knows what “Bad- Time out Ares” means. His ears will pin back and he’ll walk to the crate.

2) we also use it as his housing. He naps during the day while we are away, and during the night he is also crated. Most articles on crating will tell you not use crating as both his “safe space” and their timeout area. But it works for us.

I know the crate isn’t seen as just a bad area only, as he often goes into the crate on his own to nap or when he’s scared from loud noises like fire works.

I think we were successful because we give treats to him when he goes into the crate for naps or during the night. Creating a distinction between good crate and bad timeout. But I definitely think you need to see what works for your pup!

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When we first got the crate, I housed it in our second bathroom that is barely used. Out of sight – out of mind was the thought.

But during Ares first weeks with us, we found that he needed the comfort of seeing us or he’d cry through the night. Hence it was moved to the living room where he can see into our bedroom. This worked like a charm, and he slept through the night.

It was a win-lose situation, we got him comfortable with being crated but now I have an eye sore in my living room.

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So I decided to style around the crate and incorporate it into the living area.

Small living styling tip: multipurpose pieces.

I turned the crate into a storage piece as well!!

A diamond teal rug layered on top the crate to colour match to the living room decor.

Then I stored our Hudson Bay fan, extra blankets, and pillows on top.

It has that eclectic and lived in feel that goes well with the rest of our apartment.

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I bought the crate at pet smart, I did no shopping around as Ares was really a spur of the moment purchase.

If I could do it over, I would buy the crate I found on the following website: DOG PRODUCT PICKER

This site does the research for you in terms of dog product, and finds the best purchases. I found a crate that was MUCH cheaper than mine. It also has two crate doors, one on the side as well. So if i wanted to style the crate differently – I could have!

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Do you crate? Lets discuss below, benefits cons, styling… I want to hear it all! 🙂