I am new to this thread, but I have some opinions I would like to add. We crate trained our Boston from the first day we brought him home. He is now 7, and is the BEST dog EVER!!! Crate training can be hard at times and is alot of work, but it is well worth the effort. The way we did it was on a schedule. He would be in for 1 hour (to start) and then would be let outside to do his thing, have some water and some much deserved family time. This only lasted 15 minutes. After a week or so, we gradually made it 2 hours of crate time, 20 minutes out. We never provided water in the kennel or food. We put blankets and old tshirts (smelled like us) for him to lay on and it provided the comfort he needed. Over time, the amount of time he was out got longer. At night, he would wine if he needed out, and we would take him outside, so playing, no food. Only water if he wanted it. He stayed in it while we were gone as well. We got rid of the crate when he was about 5. He loved it, but we moved into a small house and didn't have room for it. Now he sleeps with our daughter.
I am sure there are many different ways to crate train a dog, but that is what worked for us. We called it his "bed" and to this day, his favorite place is under our bed where it is dark and small. We are getting a female tommarrow and we are all set to train her the same way. Good luck with the training! It's worth the effort.