It totally infuriates me when people get a dog or puppy, who do not have yards, leave them alone all day, and crate them. Dogs are highly social animals, pack animals, and need socialization. I am sure that the folks who crate their dogs devote no more than 2-3 hours a day to them. By crating them you cause numerous psychological problems, in the same manner would be if you crated a child and left them alone all day. Dogs/puppies need structure, attention and love.
BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BUY A DOG/PUPPY… as yourself
1) Do you have the proper enviroment to raise a mentally and physically healthy animal
2) Do you understand the proper care of your dog (nutrition, training, etc.)
3) MOST IMPORTANTLY do you really have the time to dedicate to a pet?
Dogs are not toys, they are wonderful pets, if you have the time and resources to care for them.
Do the research, talk to a vet about what you have available, time wise and housing, to raise a happy, healthy dog.
Ok, rant over.
Apparently there is a clear difference of opinion on this issue. Now, if we could only get this type of debate on other issues, such as the descimation of our constitutional rights, erroding enviromental protections, taxation, lack of affordable healthcare, etc., just imagine what we could accomplish.
Thank you all for your input. Though I still strongly disagree with crating, what works for one may not work for another. I have never crated a dog because I have always had a large yeard, fenced for them to be in all day while I am at work. Our new golden pup, 5 months old, spends 4 hours at a time alone, but, she is in a large pen, with access into the barn, lots of toys, a kiddie pool and is a happy, silly, excellent dog. Potty trained at 2.5 months. She comes upstairs with us when we are there, or is outside with us when we are outside (we have 15 acres). Tho I digress……..At least I got everyone thinking a bit. 
No harm, no foul.
It seems that some folks who use crates, use them for training. I feel this is a poor way to train your dog. I feel that if you have to crate train your dog, you dod not have the complete understanding of how a dog thinks. As I said earlier, our golden, Milacek, was potty trained at 2.5 months, is well mannered, at 5 months she is perfect on a leash, sits and waits when asked, has never chewed on anything in or out of the house that does not belong to her, understands what is an outside toy and an inside toy, and is a very well trained little girl. Oh, she is really, really, really cute!
Most of my training techniques come from years of horse training through John Lyons seminars, books and magazines. The rest is common sense.
One thing I missed early is her love of my chickens. They cannot be out together (she wants to chase them). I should have put her in the pen with my grouchiest hen, Ashley, when she was a little pup, and she would have set her straight!
Oh Anne B, no need to be nasty. There weer a few nasty replies here, and there is no call for that. I based my OPINIONS on observing dogs that have been crated by people I KNOW and seeing first hand what effect it had on those dogs. No need to be nasty. Really. The snide remarks show lack of intelligence. Sad that a discussion canot be made without some being mean and nasty. Sorta like politics.
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