General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Dog - crate - sorry it's in GD but I need some advise [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,055 posts)and unlocked most of the time - so it is a place he chooses to go, and can get out of if he wants to. Stagger work if you can so that you and your spouse are home off-shift from each other. If not, hire a pet-sitter/walker to come in during the day. Invest in doggie day care.
Having a crate as a refuge/den is fine, assuming the dog truly likes it as a refuge, but it should not be 8 hours a day, nearly every day, of locked in isolation. Dogs are pack animals - 2/3 of each day (sleep + work) every day without interaction doesn't meet their need for companionship.
I'd love to have a dog - but I won't get one (at least not until I retire) because I can't commit to the time and interaction a dog needs - and I won't subject a dog to the daily isolation that being my pet would mean for the foreseeable future. Until then - we have cats (which are far better suited to solitary lives than dogs).