She has her bed in the utility room and the children know if she goes in there of her own accord, to leave her be. She doesn't seem to be destructive at all, but its early days of course. I wonder if we need one or just a gate on the door would be enough for her?

Many thanks!

This is advise from someone who didnt use a crate and whose dog did have his bed in the utility room. He was ages compared to other dogs in getting housetrained because the room was quite big and he would get out of his bed and wee on the floor.
He is housetrained but i feel i would have done it easier with a crate and safer when you have to leave him. JMO

EDITED to say i have just read its a 2 year old so might already be housetrained so my advise probably not relavant in this case

If you could, I'd get a crate in any case. Always useful

I am a huge fan of the crate. It is Moxie's safe place where we leave her alone.
It is a big one, I could easily put another little girl in.
(Hope the OH doesn't read this!)

Have put a photo on so you can see!

im a huge fan of crates, but then again i haven't got a utility room!

Just a few questions to ask yourself and then you will be the best judge as to if you need one

1. Can she get access to the utility room at all times ie if she is fed up can she just
put herslef to bed?

2. Would she be able to jump over the gate if she wanted? with a crate you know
they are definately secure.

3. Heaven forbid if she was really poorly, is the utility room easy for you to keep
an eye on her? Crates are moveable, so at the moment angel's is in the middle
of the living room and when its warm/sunny she has a change of scene in the
garden

Hope that helps (from a crate lover )

Sam and angel

Oh decisions decisions!!

I am a crate fan, have to admit, we *were* going for a pup and crate was top of the shopping list and they are always in the classified ads locally so reasonable price.

Only reason I hesitate is because she is already 2 and seems so well behaved (so far ).

We live in a terraced house so all rooms lead off from one another and are easily accessible as we tend to shut the one door to the hallway and leave the rest open. I work from home and my only child left at home is only here in the morning, so she has plenty of quiet time anyway.

I don't think she could jump a gate but wouldn't want her to hurt huerself trying
x

I am sooooooo laughing my socks off at that last bit and about OH! But yes I thoroughly agree with a crate being their own "cave".

I know, im sure i worry more about what Angel does, what can upset her and what she can hurt herself on than i do about my daughter

If you are all managing fine as you are, then great Maybe the only time you will need to consider it is if she (hopefully never) is poorly and needs to keep jumping to a minimum.

The disadvantage with just the gate is her standing up with front paws on it - she may then just find it a bit tempting to "hop" over the otherside!

I know why you are laughing!

Another crate fan here! I first used one with a Cocker pup last year, and when our new Springer arrives in a couple of weeks we'll be crate training him too. I think it's important they have their safe "cave" - especially if you want to take your dog somewhere with you for a day, or overnight. Plus it gives us complete peace of mind about leaving the dog if we have to pop out for an hour or so.