The Kennel Effect

Because the dogs had been eating a lot of things they shouldn't in our absence, The Wife and I bought some wire crates for the dogs. The first crates we bought were a little small, so we supplemented them with a larger one. Now we've got good-sized crates for both dogs, and use the smallest one that we first bought for the cat who acts like a pest, leaving the quiet cat free to roam the house.

The critters have adapted very well to this new aspect of their lives. The dogs, after some initial resistance to the too-small cages, have decided that they like the kennels and go in there on their own. We found Karma sleeping in her kennel all on her own this morning.

The result is that we can sleep in the mornings without animals scratching at our bedroom doors -- or even leave the bedroom doors open and let the heat from the rest of the house in. On weekends, we can even sleep in. We can also leave for work and know that the dogs won't grab something off the coffee table and rip it to shreds.

I wouldn't have thought the animals would have liked being kenneled. But not only do they seem to like having their own secure space to sleep in, the dogs also seem to be behaving better when they're out of the cages -- there's less jockeying for dominance between them and even less begging for food while we're eating dinner. We should have done this a long time ago.