We never crate trained any of our dogs or fosters. We did have crates out, mostly for dogs that wanted a comfy, safe place to chill. We use customizable pens. They come in super handy for keeping dogs separated or keeping certain parts of the house off limits.

Of course we have an advantage in that we work from home so we didn’t have a need to crate train. And crate training can be a good foundation for more advanced training and also helping anxious dogs feel more comfortable. A pack structure fixes a lot of dog behavior issues.

In case you are planning on adding a dog to the family and plan on crate training, here are some simple tips that may help:

• Cover the crate with a blanket to make it more den-like and comfortable.

• Put the crate in a quiet area of the house where your dog won't be disturbed.

• Start by letting your dog stay in the crate for short periods of time, such as 15 minutes. Gradually increase the amount of time your dog spends in the crate each day.

• If your dog starts to whine or bark, don't let them out of the crate right away. Wait until they are quiet before letting them out.

• If your dog has an accident in the crate, don't punish them. Just clean it up and try again later.