I cannot over stress the importance of crate training.  If you ever plan to travel with your dog to vacation, visit friends, or in an emergency having your dog be crate trained is a huge benefit for you and provides a safe “home” for your pet.  So today we started training the wee ones.  Crates are set up in their familiar pen, and they’ve been sleeping in the bottoms for some time now.  Today I added tops and doors, and the doors have been closed for a short nap.  I will let them out in a bit, and will repeat this afternoon.  It’s much easier to crate train during the day, when crying doesn’t disturb sleeping humans.  So far it’s going well, with a minimum of fussing and now quiet.