I agree completely.. we play with the crate the first day.. leave the door open and throw treats in thru out the day and shut the door for longer periods.. make the crate a place they want to go in... mine now all you have to say is bed time .. and they all run for the crates and open their own doors and wait for the cheese...

Throw treats in the crate and keep the door open and praise each time pup goes in and ignore when pup comes out.
Feed pup in the crate and shut door for a few seconds at a time.
Use filled kongs and chew bones in the crate.
Start lengthening time with the door shut.
Keep the crate in a room with the family with the door open so pup can go in to lay down when it wants to.
Just keep lengthening time pup stays in crate. Until pup likes the crate don't attempt to keep pup in overnight.
Each time you let pup out when it whines you reinforce the whining and the whining will get louder and longer.
Good luck.

Dont wait until the evening to crate...use the crate throughout the day. Make the crate time short at first and then as she gets use to it, lengthen the time. Then at night put her in the crate before you go to bed and cover the crate with a sheet. Maybe play a radio sometimes that helps also.

We put Oliver in the crate the first night and as long as he can see me, he sleeps the whole night. If I leave the room, he starts barking. I'm sure no matter what though she would get used to it in a few days. We also have an exercise pen that we put him in in the family room so he can be with us but not loose.

When I got Bully, he was 3 1/2 years old and crate trained. I said, "I'm not going to keep him crate trained. I'll break him of it." Well, that was 2 years ago and he still has his crate. He loves it.

With Bacon, we got him when he was 9 weeks old and he has (and loves) his crate. Yes. He barked like crazy for the first few nights. Then, he'd bark like crazy for awhile and then he'd only bark if he heard us moving around. Finally, he didn't bark at all. Now, he goes to his crate for comfort, to nap, and when I tel him "kennel." He and Bully sometimes sleep in the same crate for a nap during the daytime.

As for the HOW of training Bacon, he is crated at night or when we're not going to be home (Bull gets free reign of the house, except at night). I started by tossing treats in his crate or toys and he'd go in to get them. I WOULDN'T shut him inside. I did this many times throughout the day. Each time he went in the crate, I'd tell him, "Good kennel, Bacon. Good boy." I might even give him more treats. Of course, at night, we'd put him in the crate with toys and treats waiting for him, say "Kennel, Bacon," put him in, and tell him, "Good boy!" It helped us A LOT to have Bully Boy trained to go to his crate at night. After we come in from our last walk, Bull high-tails it for his kennel and waits anxiously for his treats. Bacon saw that and learned it must not be all bad.

Like I said, they both love their crates. It gives them a spot in the house that is THEIRS. We don't bother them when they're in their crates. If we need to do something (i.e., clean wrinkles, clip nails, etc...), we wait until they come out and we don't force them to. We don't use it as punishment. The doors are open for them all day to come and go as they please unless we tell them, "Kennel," and shut them in. Generally, I give them treats for going to their kennels, but sometimes I don't because it keeps them guessing. The crates are their dens. I have a crate liner in each, toys that they drag in there are left in there, and each one is draped with a sheet or comforter to keep it dark and cozy (den-like).

Oh, we also sectioned Bacon's crate off so he'd only have enough room to turn around and lie down. As he grew, we gave him more room by moving the divider back.