I have a fenced in back yard and two screened in porches. Pets have 1 1/2 acres of room to play, supervised, of course. My German Shepherd is almost 5 and my Morki is 10. My German Shepherd is very gentle with smaller dogs and knows he can't play with them. He only snuggles. He was trained to only play with dogs his size. They have their own crates to rest in, but my smaller dog always goes into the larger crate for snuggles. They also flop down wherever in the house on the cool tile. I will go with your routine though with feeding, sleeping, etc. If they always sleep in their crate, that's where they will sleep. If they eat at a certain time, that's when they will eat. I don't want to mess up any of your training. I can send photos to you, if you want while you're away for reassurance that all is well. Cheesy but you can even do a phone call to your pet, if you want. I’ve talked to my dogs on the phone before while away. They like to hear their family's voices!!!!