Macula still seems to consider the crate , at any time other than bedtime,
as evil exile. She will not touch bones, kongs, etc., I think because she's
stressed--barking in a high pitched tone.

I'm thinking about moving her food dish into the crate. In addition to
(hopefully) making the crate more palatable, this may have other pluses:
the location of her dish right now always attracts ants in the summer, and
right now the food dish is a magnet for the rugrats whenever they are on the
floor in this room. The potential downsides are that the crate is closer to
the nursery, and therefore possibly even more accessible: and the crate is
in our bedroom, which is carpeted, and I worry about how much mess might be
made and the possibility of ants and other ickies invaded the bedroom.

Do any of you feed in the crate? Does it work? Will this make things
better for Macula, do you think?

Marie