[Blarg]

I don't own a dog right now, but when I grew up we owned a kennel, a quarantine, and a pet shop, and my mom bred dogs too, but casually, not like a volume business or anything.

Now she's really into obedience and agility trials for dogs. She's done it with germa shepherds and got an incredibly adorable and beautiful australian shepherd she's training in it now. Exceptionally smart dog, with an incredibly perky, happy personality. Too energetic by far for most people or for apartment living, though.

The extent to how much I'd let a dog wander the house would vary dog by dog. Some dogs are really happy in their crate, and if you have a small dog, it's not that much of a burden. And even those usually spend their time outside them, if a person is around at least. But a crate ample enough for a big dog is pretty large, and seems unfair to me. I mean, I can't hold my pee for 8 or 10 hours, and wouldn't want to lie in my own pee for 4 hours either. I'd rather they peed on the floor.

My folks got these expanding gates, and the dogs got used to staying behind them, even if they could leap over them. As one of them aged, his bladder started to go, so they put him in the kitchen/breakfast nook area, which was tiled and could be easily cleaned. Their little dog they crate sometimes, but that's to a great extent for habituation, as they take him to agility trials, and he has to get used to being in the crate for hours of travel time. It doesn't seem necessary for dogs not subject to frequent long travel like that.

If I had an adult dog that peed all over, I'd probably take him to a doctor, then a trainer, and still wind up locking him in a bathroom or the kitchen or something as a worst-case scenario. I know dogs like dens, but they also love the cool, cool tile on a warm day, too, and the chance to lay in the sun or opt out of it at will.