I actually feel bad...

Caley is 19 months old now and still sleeps in a locked crate at night....her choice though...

We have tried leaving the crate open and we have also given her a new bed in our room, but she does not settle.  We relented and let her sleep on the bed with us, again, after an hour or so she would get up moving around and would continue to do this all night.  So we put her back in her crate and locked it to which are greeted with a contented sigh...she then sleeps all night and gets in bed with us at 5am and will sleep there forever then if she had her way, never gets up with us lol (how sad are we, we actually have the alarm set so we can get morning cuddles).

I have tried numerous times to leave the crate open but she only seems happy with her being shut in it...I just don't get it lol...I actually feel bad about it...

Aww it's her special place

Awww don't feel bad, she probably just like her own space

If that's the routine she is in I wouldn't worry,

Silly thing is she likes lying with us on the bed, we have to physically pick her up and put her in the crate, she is like a led weight but doesn't struggle, she behaves like royalty, I can imagine her saying "that's right peasants pick me up and put me in my throne"...I keep trying to leave her out as she seems to want to stay on the bed, but as soon as I turn telly off to go to sleep she gets restless, she only sleeps through the night in her crate...lol...I give up..ha ha

 They are strange little things!

You shouldn't feel bad about her sleeping in a crate. My boy Sid slept in one for his entire life with no ill effects. I think he saw it as 'his space'. He slept in there but it was also his refuge when the kids got a bit too much for him. The kids were all taught to leave him alone when he was in his crate.

dogs like routine, so that is her routine. I woudln't change it

Its the same here, Vin will not settle unless in his crate, so don't feel bad it really is like their little cave  

ahh dont feel bad,she obviously is happy in her crate,enjoy your bed  !

Same with Zeus! We initially crated him to toilet train him etc and the idea was to leave him in the living room overnight when he got older so he can sleep wherever/however he wants, but everytime we leave him, hes restless and ends up sleeping infront of the door waiting for someone to come down.

So now, we put him in the crate for several reasons:

1) Because when we leave him in the crate, he knows what is expected of him (i.e, he knows to sleep/rest and won't be restless in turn)

2) Because it's now getting colder, we purchased a double fleece throw and sewed it to fit the crate for extra warmth, we also sewed fleece over his bed and we cover the front of his crate with a small blanket so he feels warm and enclosed

3) Because it's his special place - whenever things get too much for him, if hes scared, or cold or whatever, he automatically goes into his crate because he knows he won't be bothered there.

don't feel bad it's their special den to sleep in

I wish Axl would sleep in his crate it would free up about 3/4 of our bed! lol