Congrats! Let me assure you, you're not crazy. 
My family has two great danes and three miniature australian shepherds in our tiny three bedroom farmhouse, and we cope just fine!
Our miniature australian shepherds are also crate trained. They have been left in their crates for up to 10 hours a day - not regularly but occasionally, as we all work at least an hour from home. They do not resent their crates, they are their safe places, their sleeping holes, etc. My year old, Morrie is particularly destructive with his teeth at this point in time so if we did not crate him, we'd be suffering several thousand dollars in damage (seriously, the dog chews anything and everything, got into my younger sister's school supplies and ate a bag of PENS - no food motivation!). Who knows if he will grow out of his chewing stage? Even so, he will continue to live in his crate at night and while we are away. I don't feel I am being cruel to him or neglecting him in any way shape or form, rather feel like I am protecting him from things he could swallow if he was unsupervised and loose. Would hate to come home and find him with something lodged in his throat!!! He gets regular exercise - and I think that is key if your dog is living in a crate for a large part of the day -- you can't just bring him out and let him loaf around the house if he's going to be cooped up that long per day. Morrie has agility classes once a week and we "train" at home three-four times a week additionally, and he has full range of about 60 acres of land. A little excessive - don't think you need to move and find yourself a bigger spread in order to keep your dog in a crate!!!
Truthfully, I wish our danes were crate trained for safety and transportation purposes (not that they would sleep in them, my elder dane does well on the "other side" of my double bed!), but I didn't start them young and so I'd be afraid of them hurting themselves in a crate.
Anyhow, babbled on! Congrats on your new family member, stick around you can learn lots here!
My family has two great danes and three miniature australian shepherds in our tiny three bedroom farmhouse, and we cope just fine!Our miniature australian shepherds are also crate trained. They have been left in their crates for up to 10 hours a day - not regularly but occasionally, as we all work at least an hour from home. They do not resent their crates, they are their safe places, their sleeping holes, etc. My year old, Morrie is particularly destructive with his teeth at this point in time so if we did not crate him, we'd be suffering several thousand dollars in damage (seriously, the dog chews anything and everything, got into my younger sister's school supplies and ate a bag of PENS - no food motivation!). Who knows if he will grow out of his chewing stage? Even so, he will continue to live in his crate at night and while we are away. I don't feel I am being cruel to him or neglecting him in any way shape or form, rather feel like I am protecting him from things he could swallow if he was unsupervised and loose. Would hate to come home and find him with something lodged in his throat!!! He gets regular exercise - and I think that is key if your dog is living in a crate for a large part of the day -- you can't just bring him out and let him loaf around the house if he's going to be cooped up that long per day. Morrie has agility classes once a week and we "train" at home three-four times a week additionally, and he has full range of about 60 acres of land. A little excessive - don't think you need to move and find yourself a bigger spread in order to keep your dog in a crate!!!
Truthfully, I wish our danes were crate trained for safety and transportation purposes (not that they would sleep in them, my elder dane does well on the "other side" of my double bed!), but I didn't start them young and so I'd be afraid of them hurting themselves in a crate.
Anyhow, babbled on! Congrats on your new family member, stick around you can learn lots here!
