[jjirons69]

+1 for the crate. Best thing for our family. We do have 1/3 ac fenced-in backyard. We have a beagle. He spends his days outside with a doghouse on our back porch. He spends his nights in the house on his dog bed. However there are times he needs to be crated, just like today. It was in the teens this morning. Before we left for work, we let him out to potty and then right to the crate. He has a crate in the kitchen and will walk right in it and lay in his crate bed.

We started him out with the crate at nights when we got him. He would cry initially but eventually got used to it to the point that was his sanctuary. We gave him treats every time he went in. He's 8 now and if you shake the treat bag, he'll run through the house and get in the crate. We still use the crate when traveling, too. It goes in the back of our Enclave and he readily jumps right in. He slept in the crate at night for the first few years but he got old enough that he would sleep all night in his dog bed in the living room and wouldn't disturb anyone. Nowadays, we just use it for traveling and the odd extremely cold or hot day here or there. He loves having it at my parents or my in-laws.

Best of luck!