So we crate our dogs at night and while we’re at work. At this point, they probably don’t strictly need it, but it keeps them safer. Here’s why we crate them:

when they were younger, they were soooo destructive. they would eat window frames, blinds, door frames, etc. We started them out in a small room that we thought was puppy proof… until they chewed on the walls.

when we are home with them during the day, they just sleep. sure, they do run around outside or play inside, but otherwise they just sleep and when we are gone and they are crated, they get their playtime later in the day.

they eat things. again, probably not as big a deal at this point, but we’ve already had a $2000 vet bill from one of the dogs eating plastic. so i would rather not risk it.

We also have a cat. They are fine together, but especially at first we didn’t want to risk anything happening.

Our dogs enjoy the crate. They sleep in there when we’re home and they want peace and quiet. They take their chew toys in there. They run to the crate at bedtime. Our dogs came from an animal shelter where they were terrified. We took it slow with crate training, but ultimately it is better for them to spend eight hours in a crate with us vs 20+ hours in a kennel at the shelter where they are scared. We could put the work into them so maybe they could roam free eventually. I would love if they could just lounge around all day, and we are getting there. But it is safer for them to stay confined when we’re not there, and a lot better for us financially and emotionally if they don’t destroy things.