We wrestled with the same decision for our one, small dog. We're sure he'll be quite comfortable in the laundry room (which features a handy outside door that will provide him a nice view). He'll also have a "day bed" in the kitchen, and we'll have (hopefully) all the cabinet space we need. If your dogs are comfortable in their crates, I'm sure they won't be insulted if they're not in the kitchen.

Kennel & dog houses outdoors?

do your dogs "need" their crates? our dog also slept in a crate, but when we had to pack it up for reno purposes she did fine without it and we never used a crate again (it was a big space saver)

We have our JRT's crate in the master bedroom in a corner. Sometimes he sleeps in it during the day, sometimes he's in the great room. When he was younger, he stayed in the crate when we were gone all day, otherwise the house would be torn up. Now that he's older we can leave him out, but he tends to go into the crate by himself.

Our bedroom is large enough, and I didn't want a large crate out in the open or in the kitchen. I also didn't want to stick him down in the laundry room by himself (it's also in the basement which can be cold).

For those that don't have dogs, crate training is very important. Dogs actually like their crates...it's like the small caves or hidden away areas where they would sleep in the wild.

And for those that get new puppies, with crate training you can housebreak your new dog in days. They do not want to soil the area where they sleep, so if you run them outside immediately after they have been in the crate, they "get it" right away.

It's quick, clean, positive reinforcement. When we got our new puppy years ago, I thought crate training was cruel and weird, but our vet recommended it, and it worked.

When we remodeled, we specifically built "pet space" by opening up what had been a fairly useless understairs storage closet in the mudroom so we could slide the large (we have a golden retriever) dog crate in. We love the arrangement (she is 10 months old but I expect to be using the crate at night and when we go out for several more years (at least!!) It's out of the way and I presume feels like a den to her because she LOVES it there -- she can hear everything that's going on but isn't IN the main kitchen or family room.

We stopped crating our previous dog (a Spring Spaniel) after she grew up but she continued to use the open crate (we took off the door) whenever she wanted to escape (she also took all stolen merchandise like loaves of bread off the counter into it! ;) Learning to crate a dog is the best thing we ever did (and I was the one who said I would NEVER do that to a dog, but I am totally converted!!)

Here's our setup (with a tired Maya having a rest... she puts herself in there whenever she wants to just get away from it all. I want a crate, too!)

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

ctlady...what a great place to put the crate!

My JRT does the same thing...when he needs to "get away from it all" he sneaks off to his crate. We all should be so lucky and have human crates for the same purpose!

For our new home, we had a counter installed in our laundry room at a height high enough to allow our large crates to fit underneath...

We have our dog crate in the breakfast room. It is in between the french door that goes out onto the deck and the end of the wall to the right of the door.

It is the perfect fit and the crate isn't underfoot and doesn't impede the flow of traffic.

Robyn

I have 2 dogs...one is crated when we are not home, one is not. Our big dog Hana is a Boxer mix and even at the age of 2 1/2, is still suspect at keeping her out. We have tried...and she would go days without chewing anything, and then all of a sudden...she'd find something and chew it. Back to the crate she goes! My other dog is a Keeshond...and believe it or not was TOTALLY UN-crate trainable. We tried and tried and he kept "going" in his crate. If we left him out...no potty in the house. Both dogs sleep with me on my bed so no crates at night! LOL Anyway, I guess all of that is for another forum...sorry.

Hana's crate is in the dining room in front of the coat closet door. I hate it. It is HUGE and though not in the way, rather unsightly. I never thought about creating a space for her crate when I redo the kitchen...now, something else to think about! LOL

We're using the laundry room. Our GC wondered why we wanted to make the laundry room bigger (9x9) and we had to explain that we wanted a place for our dog to go when she (or we) needed space.

We'll be making the countertop high enough to accomodate a large crate and/or dog bed for her. I think it'll be perfect because the LR is close to the kitchen and our Master bedroom and it'll just be a place for her to go whenever she's being obnoxious or needs her space.

I saved this picture from a magazine but did not end up using the idea. It could also be easily done under stairs:

Here is a picture of our dog crate. We saw it on that HGTV show I want that and well, we wanted it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Here is a link.

We are leaving a nook for them in the built in cabinetry in the family room - to either side of where the fireplace would normally be, there will be built in shelving (craftsman style - I'm sure you've seen the look a hundred times). Rather than putting in the bottom two shelves on one side, though, we're leaving it open so we can slide 2 crates in the nook.

I saw one in a catalog that looked like Brody's, except that there were vertical slats instead of mesh and it looked rather like a mission end table.

I think it's a great idea to have a crate, especially if you have more than one dog, and wish mine were crate adapted. I've spoiled them, I'm afraid.

Still, it adds a bit of drama to your day when you get to guess just what will have beed destroyed in the tug-o-war matches, and what articles will have been taken out the dog door to the back yard [And of course, see what's been brought IN].

We have the same crate cover as Brody Miasmom - it's from CrateHaven. Ours is in the family room, next to the couch, like an endtable!

Here is a link that might be useful: CrateHaven

Thanks so much for all of the input, everyone. Our dogs LOVE their crates and choose to go in them whenever they want to nap or just get away from things. One is still young and will get into trouble if left loose while we are away, so doing without crates is not an option. I love the photos of the crate slipped under the stairs and the dog space built in under the eave of the house. How clever! That has gotten me wondering if we have a similar space where we can tuck a crate or build in a special doggie condo area. Hmmmm....If we can't find such an area then at least I have some sources for crates that are better looking than their current creme colored General Crates. Thanks!

One of my dogs has a kennel and loves it. The other hates crates. The one crate that I have is a lovely army green. It is in the guest room with a blanket over the top that camouflages it. (The blanket coordinates with the bedding :)

We have a hardwood hideaway and love it. People cannot believe that it is not just an endtable. It really is beautiful and looks just like furniture.

Here is a link that might be useful: wooden dog crate

Ncamy,
I really like that crate. What a great idea. Our pup sleeps in her crate in our bedroom closet, but now I'm tempted to get one of those as a bedside table/crate.

Thanks for sharing the link.

I hadn't heard of Hardwood Hideaway before (we ordered from Crate Haven). I have a question though - it doesn't look like those are designed to slip the wire crate inside it. In our Crate Haven cover, the wire crate (we have one from Midwest Homes) slips right inside it, so cleaning isn't an issue. If I need to clean the crate, I slip it right out. In the Hardwood Hideaway, is the only way to keep the dog in to slip the wood panel back on the door?? (If so, how does the dog breathe?) In the Crate Haven, I just shut the crate door. I also have both side panels off for good circulation. Of course the dog is kept in by the crate still.

Okay, now I have something ELSE to buy!!! LOL. I must have one of those Crate Haven crate covers! I've had my eye on some sort of furniture piece for the crate for a while now, but most of them look like they are so dark inside. I like that this one does not hide that it is, in fact, a crate, just a really nice looking one. :) I REALLY love that mesh door that Allison0704 posted, but we have no place for something like that. VERY COOL though.

Answers to the Hardwood Hideaway questions:

The floor doesn't come out. It is just one solid piece of furniture. Therefore it is not for puppies or a dog that has accidents. We keep a crate pad/bed in there which can be washed.

For ventilation there are slatted windows on all four sides. It is dark and doesn't get as good of ventilation as a wire crate. However it is about equal to the plastic crates. My Westie started off life in a dark maroon plastic crate so she was already used to a dark cozy den.

We keep the door panel on the crate permanently because she is confined when we are at work. Otherwise she would drive the cat insane! When we are at home and on weekends we leave the door open and she just goes in and out of her "home." Dogs truly do love their crates! But mine still prefers sleeping on the bed with us at night.

Our new house will have a folding table in the laundry room, which is off the master suite. The dog crate will go under there. We had to put our 13-year-old Golden down just before Christmas, and as soon as we're in the new house, I'll get a GR puppy . . . madness, to get a new pup with new flooring, but we'll be in an apartment while building, sooo . . . I have to wait till we move in . . .

Our dogs have their crates in a spare bedroom - I don't suppose that is an option? Before we bought the house, our apartment was smaller and the crates were in the living/dining room. I hear you on the space it takes up - one of my dogs is a greyhound and his crate is 3 feet x 4 feet x 2 feet (I think that's categorized as "giant").

One thing to consider with those decorative, furniture-like crates, is that some dogs and many puppies enjoy chewing wood. Just wanted to mention it because I wouldn't want anyone to get a beautiful crate and have it end up as a chew toy.

Like others, our crates will be in the laundry room under a shelf high enough to accommodate giant crates. The shelf will be the grocery bag landing zone/mail sort zone with cabs for storage.

Just concerned about the radiant heat. Laundry room will be kept cool, but hoping it won't heat up the bottom of crate too much. My boys like it chilly.

I had planned something similar to allison's pic in my laundry room, but it turned out smaller than I would have liked. I can fit small dogs in there but not large ones, so I am in the same quandry. Here's another link to some nice crates.
http://www.dogdayarchitecture.com

Hi SoCal, the Crate Haven crate covers are great. They are nice and open, but they do come with side panels that can be installed to cover one or two sides of the crate if you want a more furniture look. They are made to fit standard size crates. Like Snookums, we have a Midwest brand crate.

Wow! Who would have thought there'd be so many companies making these disguises for crates? Based on what I can tell, I'm partial to the ones from Crate Haven. For me, it's desirable to be able to slip a standard metal crate inside, thus averting possible cleaning or chewing issues. Of course, the real issue is where to put these things. Our dogs are medium/large, so these are not small crates I'm dealing with. I'd prefer to have them back in the kitchen/service area and not in the living room. Pretty stupid of me to get this far into the design process without considering this. So those of you that are still planning: Take note! I've emailed our architect and we're going to see if we can reconfigure the mudroom to accomodate the crates. We'll compare the cost of having the cabinet maker build in something to what crates from Crate Haven will cost - sort of a hybrid solution, maybe, combining Allison0704's concept with the Crate Haven concept. It means I'll lose some storage cabinets, but c'est la vie. I'll let you know how it turns out (many months down the road).....Thanks, everyone.