Crating

Question
Thanks for all the useful information on this site.  I have recently gotten a 8 week old male chocolate lab pup and used this site a lot before we received him.  
To my question.  I had a lab pup in college and remember it being a struggle to get him to go in his crate, almost impossible.  We basically relied on throwing in either a toy or a treat and closing the door behind him.  Our current pup has recently been reluctant to go in on his own.  We feed him in the crate, leave his water in there and leave the door open at all times.  However, when we go to leave or can not be around him, he will hardly come into the room where the crate is located.  I know he will not want to be in his crate, seeing how he will be away from us, however is there a better way?  I remember what is was like and would prefer to endure that again.

Thanks!  

Answer
At that age, I mostly rely on picking up the puppy and placing it in the crate.  If you are doing a good job being top dog, and not leaving it in the crate all day, by the time they are 3-4 months old, they should be going in the crate at the command of ''Kennel!''.  

It is only natural that a puppy resists its crate at first.  What the puppy
wants more than anything else is to be others, you, anyone else in the
household, and any other pets.  In our modern society, even if we are home,
other things distract us from the attention an uncrated puppy must have.   The
only real solution is to crate the dog when you aren't around.  The dog may be
happier in its den than loose in the house.  It relaxes, it feels safe in its
den.  It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving
its self.  Dogs that have been crated all along do very well.  Many of them
will rest in their crates even when the door is open.  I think the plastic
ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling.  Metal ones can be put
in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew.  Select
a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

Leave it some toys.  Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter.  Don't leave
anything in the crate the dog might chew up.  It will do fine without even any
bedding.  You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.