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This is the 5th article in the complete guide to crate training series.
Before you can start crate training your puppy or older dog, you have to know what to put in a dog crate to make it a comfortable, enticing and welcoming place where your dog will love to spend time, while making sure not to leave them with things that could be detrimental to what we’re trying to achieve or even dangerous if left with your dog.
This article will explain what you should and should not place in the crate, for safety, for comfort and to be sure you’re doing the best you can for your dog when crating them.
OUR #1 RECOMMENDATION: Our favorite dog crate is the Midwest Life Stages Crate. We still use the same crate we bought for our first puppy, Linus over 17 years ago!
But before deciding what to put in your dog’s crate, you first need to know where to put it.
Where To Put A Dog Crate In The Home
Dogs are social animals, and Labradors particularly so. They need to be near their family, be able to see what’s going on around them, and feel like a part of things to live a fulfilling life.
Remember, being in a crate should be a positive experience and they should want to spend time there.
It’s not a punishment. And locking them away in a crate in a quiet corner of an out of the way room will feel to them like they’re being punished, excluded and isolated.
So to keep your dog feeling part of things, place the crate in a busy area of the home where they can see and hear what’s happening with their family. A corner of the family room, or in the kitchen are ideal places.
Wherever you do decide to place the crate, make sure it isn’t in a drafty area, isn’t close to a heat source such as a radiator or fireplace, or in direct sunlight.
It needs to be comfortable with little chance of getting too hot or too cold.
It’s A Good Idea To Start Your Puppy Off Sleeping In Your Bedroom
If you have a young puppy, it can be a good idea to move the crate into your bedroom at night, or more likely to have a second crate as moving one around each night is a nuisance.
A puppy crated in a room on their own can feel stressed, abandoned and anything but secure which can lead to whining and crying.
They will get great comfort and a feeling of safety and security being able to sleep near their family, especially during your puppy’s first few days in a strange new home.
It isn’t essential you sleep them in your bedroom with you, but it is beneficial.
After a few days, you can begin to move the crate slowly to where you want them to sleep if it isn’t planned to use your bedroom as their final sleeping area.
Just move the crate further away every couple of nights. To the bedroom door, but still inside the room. Then outside the bedroom door, to the top of stairs, etc. until they are eventually where you want them to sleep.
If you’re still considering which crate(s) to buy, we’ve compiled a list of the most highly rated crates that you can find by clicking here.
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: As mentioned earlier our #1 recommendation for a crate is the Midwest Life Stages Wire Crate. We purchased our crate 14+ years ago and have crate trained over a dozen puppies with the same crate!
What To Put In A Dog Crate
An empty crate is hardly the pleasant and welcoming place you and your dog want it to be, so you’ll want to place a few things inside for comfort. There’s bedding, toys, food and water to consider.
But what things should you be aware of when deciding what to put in a dog crate?
What To Use For Dog Crate Bedding
The first instinct people have is to put some nice, soft, fluffy bedding in the crate to keep a puppy warm and comfortable. But this is a bad idea until your dog has truly proven they will not chew their bedding.
Towels, blankets and soft stuffed bedding are easily chewed, torn apart and ingested by young, mouthy puppies, especially Labrador Retriever puppies!
The danger here is they could choke or cause an internal blockage that can have serious health consequences…and high vet bills!
Although not completely destruction-proof, countless vets, breeders and kennels the world over use and recommend VetBed to use for bedding.
Vetbed is strong and durable, very long-lasting, machine washable, non-irritant and hypoallergenic, insulating, allows air and moisture to permeate through in case of any ‘accidents’ and despite all this, still has a soft and luxurious feel.
It can still be chewed by determined puppies, but it’s much stronger and durable than any dog beds, blankets or towels you might otherwise use.
I’d recommend starting with VetBed, keeping an eye on them to make sure they aren’t chewing their bedding and if they do, initially leave the floor of the crate bare when they’re unsupervised until you’ve trained them to not chew bedding and concentrate their chewing on toys. Then re-introduce the VetBed.
Once they are completely trusted not to chew their bedding, by all means you can replace the VetBed with any kind of bedding you like.
One thing’s for sure though, you do need to add some form of bedding because no dog will want to sleep on a hard, bare crate floor!
To see a selection of bedding that’s suitable for placing inside a crate, please click here
What Toys To Leave In A Dog Crate?
When many people consider what to put in a dog crate, they rightfully think to place in some toys. There are many benefits to leaving two or three tough chew toys in the crate with your puppy:
- It provides something to occupy their minds, enriching what’s otherwise a basic, unexciting environment.
- It provides an alternative to chewing on bedding.
- It teaches them that being in the crate is a time when they get some of their favorite things, increasing their enjoyment of the crate.
- It promotes good habits and a chew toy obsession, lessening the likelihood of a preference to chew on your belongings when out of the crate.
Please be aware that you should never leave soft stuffed teddy bears or easily chewed squeaky toys alone with your puppy.
These will likely get destroyed and your dog could ingest large pieces causing intestinal blockages.
The best toys to leave in the crate are strong, durable hollow toys that you can stuff with treats, perhaps even freeze so the fun lasts longer.
Kong toys are ideal and we at Labrador Training HQ highly recommend them!
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: Labs are heavy chewers so we recommend the KONG Extreme for our Labrador friends.
They’re highly durable and stuffed with peanut butter, part of their usual meal or some form of edible treats, dogs absolutely love working at getting the food out, keeping their minds and jaws occupied.
To see a selection of toys suitable for placing inside a crate with your puppy or dog, click here.
Should You Put Food And Water In A Dog Crate?
Generally speaking you will not be leaving water inside the crate, especially when house breaking your young puppy.
If you do, they will fill their bladders quickly and end up having ‘accidents’ in the crate, severely inhibiting your house breaking process.
It isn’t cruel to not leave water in the crate. During the day you’ll rarely leave them in there for more than an hour or two and puppies are absolutely fine and will not dehydrate through the night without water.
This will cause no harm or discomfort and will lessen the number of overnight toilet breaks needed.
However, it’s a good idea to have the necessary equipment to provide water for your dog when crated if the need arises.
It’s necessary for those (hopefully) rare occasions when you do need to leave them crated for an extended 3 or 4 hour period, or for people who must crate their dogs while working, or at times your vet recommends crating for medical reasons.
If you do need to provide water, it’s recommended to use a crate mounted water bottle or a bowl that can be fixed to the crate making them harder to spill.
A standard bowl placed on the floor will more often than not be played with, spilt and little of the water actually surviving to be drunk.
For a selection of dog bowls, specially made to be fastened to a crate to provide water in such a way that it cannot be spilled, please click here.
When it comes to putting food in the crate, as explained earlier it’s a very good idea to stuff some favorite food or treats into hollow chew toys to keep your puppy occupied in the crate.
But with this exception, if you’re crating your puppy unsupervised you shouldn’t leave food in there in a bowl on the floor, it will likely just be spilt and make a horrible mess.
It is however a good idea to feed your puppy their main meals inside of the crate as a daily routine as this will help to reinforce the fact only good things happen in there and increase their acceptance and enjoyment of the crate.
Should You Cover A Dog Crate?
There isn’t a simple ‘yes or no’ answer to this as dogs personalities, their likes and dislikes are different. For some dogs covering a crate is a good idea, for others it certainly isn’t.
As discussed earlier in the series, dogs learn to love their crates as their own little den of safety and security.
Plastic or fabric crates already have quite enclosed sides, but wire crates are very open and can leave puppies without that feeling of security they’re after. Covering the crate can help with this.
However, some dogs are the opposite and get stressed if they can’t see out of their crate and want to know what’s going on.
This is especially true for some Labradors who always want to see and be near their families.
For Labs, many people leave the crate uncovered during the day, but do cover it lightly at night to reduce stimulation when their Labs should be sleeping.
For some dogs, they can feel stressed and start to cry in an exposed wire crate because they find it hard to calm down and relax when they can see so much going on around them.
These puppies may feel more secure and comfortable if the crate is partly covered, reducing stimulation and helping them to relax and sleep.
It’s certainly worth trying out the idea. But like all changes in a puppy’s life you must introduce the idea slowly, covering only partially and while you’re there. Asking them to go in, door left open, with some food inside.
Get them used to it a bit at a time over the course of a few days before ever covering the crate for a whole sleep session or over night. You need to know they’re happy and that the darkness isn’t scaring them.
If they panic, gnaw and claw at the crate to get out, or try to pull the cover off into the crate, they’re telling you they don’t like it.
Start again trying to get them used to a cover just a few minutes at a time, enticing them in with treats and not closing the door.
But if despite your best efforts they really, truly do not like it covered, then do not cover it as it’ll only cause stress. Some dogs just will not accept it.
My recommendation is to at least try it out. For the dogs who do prefer it, you will never know unless you try!
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: Use high value treats when crate training your puppy. One of Stetson’s favorite treats are the Wellness Soft Puppy Bites. However, every puppy is different. Find what your puppy likes best and use that treat exclusively when crate training.
What Should You Use To Cover A Crate?
To cover a crate, many people use old towels or bed sheets.
These are perfectly fine, but you must be sure your puppy or dog won’t pull them into the crate and chew them (we’ve had several puppies do this with blankets we put over our crate).
Some people place the crate in a corner of the room so that 2 sides are automatically covered by the walls and they then place a wooden board on top of the crate to cover the roof.
This has the benefit of your puppy not being able to pull the board into the crate, but also offers a usable surface on top of the crate, like a piece of furniture. Somewhere to put a magazine rack or a vase of flowers perhaps?
There are also specially made crate covers available in many styles if you’re looking for something a bit more stylish or to suit the look of your home decor.
Just be sure that whatever you use to cover the crate, you never cover all sides and that there’s plenty of ventilation.
To see a selection of highly recommended covers that fit all the most common crate sizes, please click here.
What To Put In Your Puppy’s Crate At Night
So far we’ve been talking about how careful you need to be when choosing what items you put in your crate. If your puppy is destructive you don’t want him to destroy and ingest anything.
However, if your puppy is crying, whining, and barking in his crate at night you’ll do almost anything to get him to stop.
REMEMBER: Don’t let your puppy out of the crate if he’s barking. It will just reinforce the bad behavior.
We’re going against the grain with this recommendation. I guess rules are made to be broken, right?
One product we found that we love, love is the Calmeroos Puppy Toy with Heartbeat & Heat Pack.
It’s almost like having a littermate in the crate with your puppy and helps him adjust and feel more comfortable during his first night home.
We’ve been using the Calmeroos Puppy with our puppies during their first few nights at home. Our last four puppies (Charlie, Doni, Downey, and Bodhi) all adjusted quickly to their crates with the help of the Calmeroos Puppy.
*The Calmeroos Puppy is a plush toy with a plastic heartbeat toy and heat pack in the center so if you have a destructive puppy DO NOT leave him alone and unsupervised with the Calmeroos Puppy.
Conclusion
After reading this article you should now be able to create the safest and most beneficial environment as possible for your dog to enjoy when using a crate.
This article should be a great help in your decisions of what to put in a dog crate, what not to put in there, preferred locations and whether or not you should cover it over.
These are all important things that need to be considered before you ever introduce your dog to the crate.
Here’s a recap of some of the products we recommend when crate training:
- Calmeroos Puppy Toy with Heartbeat & Heat Pack
- Wellness Soft Puppy Bites
- KONG Extreme
- VetBed
- Midwest Life Stages Wire Crate
More information:
This was part 5 in an 8-part series that details everything you need to know about the use of a crate and crate training your puppy.
The information applies equally well to dogs of all breeds and not just Labradors.
The Entire series is linked to here:
- Part 1: Crate training – The complete guide (introduction)
- Part 2: Why use a dog crate – and Answering ‘Is Crate Training Cruel’?
- Part 3: How to use a dog crate – When and when NOT to crate a dog
- Part 4: A Guide to Dog Crate Sizes and Styles – Make Sure You Pick the Right One!
- Part 5: Best Crate Accessories – What to Buy For Your Dog’s Crate
- Part 6: Puppy Crate Training Guide – Detailed and Easy to Follow
- Part 7: How to crate train an older dog – Yours or adopted
- Part 8: A List Of Dog Crates Highly Recommended By Labrador Training HQ
I’ve tried to cover literally every question I could imagine on dog crates and crate training in the article series above, but of course it’s hard to cover every question that people may possibly have.
So if there’s anything you need to know but cannot find an answer for above, please feel free to leave your questions in the comments section below and I will happily give all the help I can :-)
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Top Picks For Our Dogs
- BEST PUPPY TOY
We Like: Calmeroos Puppy Toy w/ Heartbeat and Heat Packs - Perfect for new puppies. Helps ease anxiety in their new home. - BEST DOG CHEW
We Like: Bones & Chews Bully Sticks - All of our puppies love to bite, nip, and chew. We love using Bully Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors. - BEST DOG TREATS
We Like: Crazy Dog Train Me Treats - One of our favorite treats for training our service dog puppies. - BEST FRESH DOG FOOD
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For a list of all the supplies we get for our new service dog puppies check out our New Puppy Checklist on the PuppyInTraining.com blog.
28 comments
Very informative and well-researched, in-depth article, Mark. I found the point of whether to cover the crate or not the most interesting of all…
It would be interesting to see the different dog breeds react to the crate being covered or not (temperament etc). I would imagine that most puppies would be fine if the crate is covered during the night…
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Ruan,
I’m sure there would be some preference dependent on breeds but I’ve little experience outside of Labradors other than mixed breeds I had as a child.
My Monty (black lab) can’t stand the crate being covered during the day and will rest outside of it if it’s covered, but go inside if it isn’t.
Main benefit of crating overnight? It stops him getting up from sleep as soon as first light hits during the summer months…so I can sleep in longer, haha :-)
Thank you for taking the time to comment!
I had the question of where to start crate training, I know puppies are easily distracted but you had said to have the crate in the kitchen or
Living room, high traffic areas. Should you start off one on one in a quiet room? Also.. what to do if
You puppy whines? You don’t want to reward the whining because they will whine longer and harder next time but if they are just coming up on say their one minute mark and they start to whine, what then?
Dogs are considered to be most choosy and most cleanliness preffering species in the world. They want it correct and they want it clean. They love to have their own personal space in their crates.
They certainly do…unless it’s spreading the insides of a stuffed toy around when my back’s turned! :-)
Is anyone able to help ? My dog always drag his blanket out of his bed onto the floor. He then proceeds to sleep on the blanket outside on the floor instead of in his bed. Anybody know the reason why he does that ? Thanks
Hi Nat,
It sounds to me like your Lab isn’t yet fully crate trained and hasn’t yet learnt to love his crate. Spend more time going through the crate training exercises in my guide. Until he is comfortably and happily spending extended time in there, he isn’t yet fully crate trained and might still prefer not to be in there. So you still have some work to do with his crate training by the sound of it.
We will be getting a 7 week old labrador next month and I have a question about the crate. My husband sleeps during the day and I sleep at night. I don’t want to put the crate in the dark bedroom during the day and at night, concerned it may confuse her sleep pattern. Should we have 2 separate crates, one for the bedroom at night and one for the family room during the day where she will get day time light? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Rebecca,
Yes, your thinking is correct. like all animals she will benefit from seeing the cycle of night and day. Dogs, humans, all animals have a ‘body clock’ and ‘circadian rhythms’ that govern bodily functions and cycles that can easily be disrupted if changes in night and day aren’t experienced.
My knowledge of ‘circadian rhythms’ is minimal at best, but I know all animals bodies run in daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal cycles that are governed by day and night, the seasons and so on. Being kept constantly in the dark (or not experiencing enough light) can disrupt this.
So yes, I would say to have two crates if you can financially stretch to it. :-)
i have a create training problem mine can escape her create and open doors or she will wreak anything that gets in her way, or howl whine bark and bang or flat out refuse to go to her kennel. but when left on her own free will she will sleep all night in her kennel, so long as the doors open, she will hide her bones in it, so long as the door is open. she keeps her favorite toys in it, so long as the door is open. and no animal else is allowed to look at it much less use it. but if i need to leave or need to keep her away from company or what ever its completely useless. and the worst part is shes and angel if i leave her alone she waits by the door no matter how long im gone. company that’s another story
Hi Sena,
It sounds like she may be suffering some degree of separation anxiety. Please read the following article and see if you think it applies: Separation anxiety
If she does, you really need to address this before she will ever be happy crated.
Secondly, if you have an escape artist, you’re going to need a bigger and more robust crate that’s more escape proof…trouble is, they do cost more! But cheaper crates can be quite easy to escape from by a determined dog. You can see the type of crate I mean at this link: ‘Heavy Duty’ dog crates
Lastly, you may have to go back to crate training basics for some time. Get her used to the idea great things happen in the crate by restricting some of her favorite for only inside the crate, such as stuffed chew toys, main meals and so on. Then get her used to being inside with the door closed but while you are there, not only when you leave and so on. Go back to basics. The rest of my crate training guide, linked to above should help.
What size of the vetbed would I get for the 42″ Crate?
Hi Monica,
Oh, I see the link was broken. Sorry, fixed it now!
I buy the 100cm x 75cm, it leaves a couple of cm gap all round but is preferable to me compared to buying one larger and having to trim it to size. That size leaves the 42″ crate I use 98% covered.
If you really MUST cover the whole floor as a preference, you should check the product details of the crate you are planning to buy, then buy some Vetbed that’s larger than the crate and trim it to size.
My 4 mo old black lab male wakes up in his crate every morning between 4 and430. He goes potty then back in his crate until 5 30 . He barks until he gets breakfast. Then its playtime. I am exhausted and need to adjust his schedule. He goes to bed around 10. I have a demanding job and two busy teens. We give him tons of attention and playtime and someone comes during the day for lunch and walk. How can i retrain the a.m. routine?
Hi Jane,
7 hours is about right for a nights sleep for a dog. 10 to 4:30 being 6.5hrs, so it’s not too far off. So he will wake about this time, it’s normal. The trick is to concentrate on training him to accept…and be quiet during…time alone. So when he wakes, he doesn’t wake you.
Have a google for ‘training a dog to accept time alone’ and work this into your daily and weekly training routines. Also make sure he isn’t just crate during the night only. Have frequent, short crating periods during every day where he is able to get down to some good occupational chewing with a stuffed kong or something in his crate. So he gets used to entertaining himself and being alone in the crate.
One tip..though it won’t help with your exhaustion in the beginning I’m afraid…is to make sure you get up and let him out in the morning BEFORE he starts to bark for attention.
A problem is, if he barks in the morning, and even if you ignore it for an hour, you still go to him and let him out. Whether he’s been barking for 2 minutes or 1 hour, he can quite easily make the connection between ‘I bark – they come let me out.’ There’s not really a way around this. So the plan is to set your alarm and get up out out of bed, letting him out BEFORE he starts to bark in the morning.
If he barks routinely at 5:30, you have to get up and let him out at 5:00 while he is still silent. So he learns you always come to let him out every day, he hasn’t barked and doesn’t think his screaming for attention is what worked. Then after a couple of weeks, extend the time you get up to let him out by 5 minutes each day. Do 5:05, then 5:10, then 5:15, and so on. The hope is, he still doesn’t bark at the time you get up. He knows you are coming. You should eventually be able to go past 5:30, 6:00, 7:00 o clock eventually.
The important thing is to train him to accept and enjoy time alone, and then get up BEFORE he barks to break the connection between barking and you coming.
That’s what I would do :-)
I hope that helps. All the best!
I recently adapted 1 year old black lab mix (mostly lab w/ possibly Great Dane? Got long legs but face is very much lab…). I currently have some flexibility to work from home & go to office for few hours as needed – I arranged this while the dog can get adjusted to his new life with me.
Question I have are: 1) Eventually, I’ll get back to ‘normal’ work schedule where I’ll go to office all day. Even if I was to hire a dog walker, the dog needs to be crated. Should I be crating him w/ the to-be schedule (=crate him during the day, even if I’m working from home) OR should I let him roam around the house when I’m home…and crate him when I leave the house & worry about ‘to-be’ schedule when I need to switch?
2) My dog can chew seriously – 12″ bully stick would be gone in 30-45 minutes. What are some other good ‘long lasting toy’ that you recommend? I do use Kong (stuff with dry dog food w/ bit of yogurt & roasted squash…and freeze it) but as your article says, something that he’d love and will last in crate…
Hi Kate,
1) I would crate him often, regardless of whether you are home or not, to make sure he gets used to it, happy to be there and doesn’t learn that whenever he is asked into the crate it means he’s going to be left alone for hours. That can make a dog resent the crate because then it only means only one thing – impending loneliness! I don’t mean ‘crate him lots’ I mean ‘crate him often’ – much more time out of the crate than in it, but some time every day. So crate him when you’re home, sometimes for 20 minutes while you eat a snack, occasionally with some chews for a couple of hours, if working from home for 4 hours, crate him for one hour. BUT…
When you are working from home, I wouldn’t crate him to match your ‘away from home’ schedule. As long as he isn’t destructive if you cannot concentrate on him when working from home, allow him as much time out of the crate as you can possibly can. Why crate if there’s no need? Just do the occasional crating to randomise it and keep him happy and familiar with it, with perhaps the odd half day in there to acclimatize and so he doesn’t learn it’s only when you leave. But if it were me, I’d prefer him resting at my feet while I work and out of the crate enjoying life as much as possible :-)
2) I have an article on tough chew toys you can view here. Hopefully that helps! 10 Best Toughest, Durable Dog Toys For Heavy Chewers
All the best!
I have a male beagle that is 7 weeks old. He seems fine in the morning with the crate training and all but when night time comes, he doesn’t want to sleep inside the crate. He prefers sleeping on the wooden floor and cries when placed in the crate. I placed toys inside but he still wouldn’t sleep so I placed blankets inside and he slept comfortably. My point is it’s a trial and error. Try putting things that may remind them of their mother. A hot compress wrapped in towel might work.
We have a 9week old bichon frise,during the day she will potter in and out of the crate even have a little nap,but when night time comes that’s when it all starts,I have brought her upstairs in the bedroom with us she will be ok for about half an hour then disaster happens…..howling and whinning for 8 solid hours,we are at our wits end and we need help,her crate is so cosy with her favourite toys.Why is this happening.
Hi Gina
It may be possible that your pup has separation anxiety from being away from her mother. There are a couple of things you can try at night. You can talk to her in a soothing voice. This may not be very plausible as you will need your rest. Try getting a hot-water bottle wrapped in a blanket and place it against her. This will mimic the warmth of her mother’s and or siblings bodies, you can also get a clock wind it up and place it near the crate. This will soothe her as it mimics the mother’s heart beat. If the clock will be annoying to you take the crate out of your bedroom.
It is also possible that the quiet at night is too much for the pup to deal with, so some soothing music may also help.
Cheers
I really loved how you mentioned how to help your dog feel included. I’ve been debating about investing in a crate. I’ve had some concerns but this had a great perspective on how to make being in a crate a positive experience.
Hi
Thanks for the articles. I have recently adopted a 15 month old pit mix. Very loving but he needs to be crated during the day while I’m at work. I also have a 6 year old lab and a 2 year old Shorkie. They are not crated during the day. Would it be best to crate the newest addition in a room he can see the tie he 2 dogs or is it best to keep his crate on where he can’t see the other 2?
Thanks
Barb
Hi,
We are adopting an 8 week old lab mix next week. We will follow the steps to crate training, but I am unclear about the sleeping at night while crate training is going on. While puppies who are going through crate training should not be “forced” into a crate during training, don’t they have to sleep in one at night? We will keep him in our bedroom in the crate and ignore whining if we need to, but I am stuck on how this jives with keeping the crate a happy place to be for him.
Thanks,
Barbara
Hi,
Thank you for being so detailed in your articles. I was wondering if we should be using special crate toys that are only given to them when crated (kongs for example) or if we should we be using their everyday toys and pick their favorites to be given to them when crated?
Thanks
Maude
my pup has just turned a year old. I feel like I’ve tried everything (unsuccessfully) to get him used to the crate. I’ve used a divider to give him a smaller space but always seems to have a problem. Any cover he pulls it into the crate. My biggest problem, side from the barking after I leave.. is when I’m gone, if I have anything of fabric like a dog bed, towel, soft toy, etc. he will pee on it everytime he’s left alone. Alternatively, as soon as you remove the fabric and he’s left alone, he manages to hold his bladder regardless if he ensues on the barking or not when alone. HELP! I want the crate to be comfortable and enjoyable
We have two four year old golden doodles and just got a new labradoodle puppy. Should we recrate the two while we are crate training the new one.They. are usually in house on their own now. New puppy is seven weeks old.
My 11 week lab puppy will not sleep during the day. She sleeps the entire night in the crate , which we cover lightly. I am trying now to force naps so she isn’t such a pistol later. She will go into crate but if sees you she won’t rest. So now during the day, I cover it for a nap when I’m home. When we leave for a period of time , I probably won’t as she seems to settle when we aren’t here in crate. I feel bad covering it during day but I can’t get her to nap at all- other suggestions ?
Very useful thanks