ITA with using treats and putting him in his crate at times OTHER when you're leaving. He associates the crate with you leaving. Not good.

Here's a suggestion--try putting him in his crate with the door open and give him his food in there--hand feed him piece by piece. Do this every time you feed him for a while so he gets the idea that the crate's associated with a nice thing. And if he doesn't, then put his food in the crate all the way in the back. Let him eat in there with the door open if he won't eat from your hand. Tempt him if you have to with that doggie gravy stuff or even a little broth over his food--you just want to make him go in there to eat. I use Natural Balance food in a roll--it's semi-moist--cut up in very small pieces to help train my dogs. You might want to see if he responds to that well without putting that in the crate and then trying it in the crate. If he adores the food, you might want to make a small piece of that his "special treat" (see below).

Also, give him only ONE special treat or kind of treat when you put him in his crate to go away. Make sure it's something he absolutely LOVES. Give him a Kong filled with peanut butter and treats, cheese and treats, or anything he adores but ONLY use it for when he goes in the crate.

My one dog has separation anxiety but he goes right in his crate for me. I give him Waggin Trails chicken filet treats, which are 100% chicken. He adores them and can't wait to get his treat. But I try not to give him them unless he's going in the crate. He sees me go for the bag and he starts for the steps. LOL (Geez.... wish men were as easy to train.
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) N.B.--he won't eat anything else in the crate--it goes uneaten the rest of the day if I put anything else in there. He won't chew on bones or Kongs or anything. So you may have to work at it to find what he'll go for.

It may take time, but if you have patience and work at it you should succeeed. Don't yell or scold him. I don't mean that if he growls at you you don't do something to let him know that's not acceptable. Let him see/smell the food bowl and just calmly take his food upstairs to the crate and put it down inside the crate. Then leave the crate alone and wait for him to get hungry enough to eat.

Dogs are food driven, praise driven or toy driven generally. So you need to find out which he is. Then use THAT to help you to get him to do what you want. He only gets what he loves if he does what you ask him to do. It's his reward for doing well. I know it's bribery, but it does help train. Some people, however, don't believe in that type of training. I've always found that people and dogs react well to what motivates them.
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Eventually you don't have to keep using the reward thing if you don't want to, but I see no harm in putting a special treat in the crate with your pup during the day if you're going to be away. JMO

Good luck!

P.S. You might want to try reading The Other End of the Leash. It's a very good book on body language and dog behavior.
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