Fluffypony,
Consider the kennels the best investment that you will make. We did not agree with crate training in the beginning when we got our Puggle, I felt that it was cruel to lock him up all day. We bought an excerise pen, put the pee pads in there and everyday we came home to shredded pee pads and a huge mess. Finally we decided to get the kennel because we could not take the mess anymore not to mention that we would have to bathe the Chase everynight after we cleaned up the mess. In time, we were able to trust Chase to be left with the kennel door open and he could be free in the kitchen because we had gates up. This took about 6 months. He hardly ever had an accidentonce he learned and got older.
Then, we got Zahra, our Basenji, now they are both locked in their kennels all day, I don't trust Zahra to not destroy our house. She still has not fully learned that she can not potty in the house. She is getting better but if I give her too much room in her crate she will potty on one end and hang out in the other. I thought Chase was hard to train, Zahra is much worse. Maybe it is the fact that we got her from a pet store and she was there for so long and it was acceptable for her to potty in her cage and sleep in it. Yuck.
Sometimes we let them share a kennel because when we first got Zahra she did not like to be apart from Chase, I think it made her feel safe to be with him in his kennel all day.
Anyway, as a person who originally did not like the kennel idea this was my first dog, I thought it was mean now I know that they actually enjoy the security of it. They are pack animals.
Hope this helps,
Jenn
