I don't use crates in the house at all, never have, but there are gates and the pack has always lived in the kitchen with access to the garden UNLESS invited through of an evening to sit on laps and watch TV or hinder crochet or knitting.
Now things are slightly more relaxed because Mku can open gates. I am trying to figure out a way to make them Mku-proof.
Away at shows, dogs have always been bed-dogs. It was part of their reward for spending a day crated at the show. But I no longer show and when Hoover crossed the Bridge, Mku was inconsolable on his own in the kitchen so came to bed with me.
And now we are three - Kito comes too.