Crate Woes.....

[Shenjall]

I guess its not really high up in there in the crate difficulty department, but it's a problem we're having now.

We have a 6ish year old black lab. We adopted her from the pound back in sept. She's fantastic! Fully trained, lovable, calm, yet playful - just the best dog ever!

But the placement (or even need) of the crate is making me wonder.

It was in our living room, but it really seemed to take up alot of space and was in a corner so the hairballs really collected up in the corner, and not so easy to clean up. So, we moved it into a spot in our kitchen, which gives us the room in the living room again, but not so much in the kitchen, plus, I'm not liking having a dog bed/crate in the same place I prepare meals. (we also have 3 cats, so I'm used to the odd hair in our food, , but it just doesnt feel right having her bed right *there*)

So, my question is, do we even need one? Our family is pretty mellow, no running and screaming kids to overwhelm her and they know to respect her and her space. The kittys are mellow too. 2 dont really bother with her and 1 cuddles with her. (omg, soooo sweet)
We were thinking of investing in a kuranda bed for her. B/c of her age and breed, we are concerned of her hips and want her to be comfy, and we were thinking of just putting that in the living room for her. Would that be good enough?

I believe she can be trusted. Well, not with the basement, but b/c the gourmet litter boxes are down there, lol, but we have a door that we can close it off. (she knows not to go down there, and follows that rule when we are home, but I wouldnt want to tempt her too much if we are out)
She did do a counter surf her first day home. But we only closed her in the kitchen, no crate, so that would be our fault, not hers.

Has anyone succesfully transitioned from a crate, to just a bed?

[Ola_]

We used to crate our two dogs when away from home, but now they are just fine with having the run of the house. It totally depends on the dog in my opinion. They always had cushy dog beds though, even when they were crated so I'm not sure of the connection there. Do you not currently have any dog beds for her?

Can you get the kuranda beds locally? I'd want to try it out to see if she likes it, I'm pretty sure neither of my dogs would as they like to nest in their beds and curl up into balls. I'm a big fan of the dog beds they have at Costco (and they are very affordable and seem durable also). They have memory foam ones too if you think that might be more supportive for her hips. Our dogs sleep in our bedroom at night, so we have beds for them in the bedroom and in the living room.

BTW, are you doing any joint supplements to prevent any issues since have hip concerns? I'm giving my greyhound glucosamine/chondroitin and fish oil supplements (he's almost 11).