Whatever you do, don't give up with continuing to do the things that he responds well to with his crate (feeding in there, night time routine etc.). Keep making sure that anytime he steps foot in his crate he gets a tiny bit of a yummy treat. Try to put him in there during the day when it would normally be a time he woulld be getting sleepy and need a nap break. Always give him something to do when he goes in there for break.... (a frozen kong stuffed with some peanutbutter or plain frozen yogurt, or a favorite toy, something special).

Hopefully one of our trainers will see this and have some better suggestions for you. Don't give up, it takes some dogs longer than others, but helping him learn to be comfortable in his crate is the best thing you can do to keep him safe until he learns to be a reliable, mature member of your household.

 

Susan Garrett has a DVD out "Crate Games" it teaches motivation, impulse control and builds value for the crate.

It makes the crate fun and valuable to the dog.

"When I put him in there, I put a treat in for him to eat. Once he's done with his treat, he will start going crazy with the panting, drooling and whining"

You want the pup to choose to go into the crate. The first step would be just throwing a treat into the crate and letting the pup go get it and letting the pup come right back out.
Then you want to get the dog to stay in for a few seconds so throwing a few more treats toward the back of the crate one at a time. Then letting the pup come back up. Don't make a big deal of the pup coming out of the crate but make a big deal of the pup choosing to go into the crate.

It is all about breaking it down into very small pieces and building on them.

Once the pup will stay in the crate a 10 to 15 seconds and not be stressed then you want to close the crate door and open it. again throwing the treat toward the back of the crate.
In the process you want to decide if you want the pup to sit or down in the crate and reward for that position. As time goes on the key is you only reward the pup for that position even when you open the crate door. And so on...
This is very general and I really would suggest purchasing her video for very clear steps.

Thanks everyone, I'll check out the DVD. I appreciate the help!

He'll go in willingly to get the his toys or treats or to eat. He's progressing so much, I can't wait!

 

Susan Garrett has a DVD out "Crate Games" it teaches motivation, impulse control and builds value for the crate.

It makes the crate fun and valuable to the dog.

"When I put him in there, I put a treat in for him to eat. Once he's done with his treat, he will start going crazy with the panting, drooling and whining"

You want the pup to choose to go into the crate. The first step would be just throwing a treat into the crate and letting the pup go get it and letting the pup come right back out.
Then you want to get the dog to stay in for a few seconds so throwing a few more treats toward the back of the crate one at a time. Then letting the pup come back up. Don't make a big deal of the pup coming out of the crate but make a big deal of the pup choosing to go into the crate.

It is all about breaking it down into very small pieces and building on them.

Once the pup will stay in the crate a 10 to 15 seconds and not be stressed then you want to close the crate door and open it. again throwing the treat toward the back of the crate.
In the process you want to decide if you want the pup to sit or down in the crate and reward for that position. As time goes on the key is you only reward the pup for that position even when you open the crate door. And so on...
This is very general and I really would suggest purchasing her video for very clear steps.

 

Ugh still having a very hard time with this.

Lately, I've been trying to do this:

At 10AM, 12PM, 2PM, 4PM, and 6PM, I will lure him into the crate with a small piece of turkey. (He doesn't get turkey for anything else, just for the crate.)
I will then shut the door, and stay in front of the crate for 30 seconds, then I will leave the room for 1 minute, come back for 30 seconds, leave for 1 minute and then let him out and give him a treat. I only let him out if he's not whining.

He will go into the crate, and he will be fine in there IF I'm in the room. However, within a few seconds of me leaving the room he will start to whine and excessively drool.

It doesn't seem to be getting any better!

 

My Golden, Roxie, did the exact same thing and even to this day she does not like her crate. She has stop drooling in her crate but she wines and barks when she is in it. We tried everything. My advice is just to stick with it, baby steps. If she gets to the point where she seem anxious, then take a step back and only leave the room for 10 seconds, or 30 seconds instead of 1 min. Work your way up.

I know it seems hard but he will get it eventually.

One thing that I have learned is to get a kong or some type of lasting treat. Give it to him in the crate and before he finishes it take it away and let him out. The key is to take the treat away before he finishes it. He will eventually just finish the treat and be happy.

He may never like being in the crate but he will hopefully accept it.

One other thing, a lot of people have mentioned X pens or just section off certain rooms like a tile kitchen where he can be confined and not get into trouble instead of crating. This can sometimes work. There are some dogs that just refuse crating, imo.

 

We're definitely trying to keep up with it. On Monday and yesterday, he seemed to be pretty good. When we leave his gets drool all over his chin and his front legs/paws. So it was a pleasant surprise when I came home around lunch and he was completely dry. But when I came home from work later (we have a dog sitter stop by inbetween), he was wet again.

We're mulling over the Xpen idea, we'll probably wait until he outgrows the current crate he's in.

 

Quick update


It seems that Rocky is getting a lot better and used to the crate. When I have to leave the house he's good with my putting him in there, and he'll just go to the back and plop down. He hasn't been drooling or freaking out, so I think he's starting to get used to it.

Also last night when we went to bed, I just tapped on the crate and he walked in and plopped down and went to sleep.

I hope he keeps it up, he's doing so well and I'm super impressed with how smart he is!!