Stealth trend indeed!
Kaia has been fine in the crate. She had the other puppy on the ride home from Kentucky and apparently had no problems then. She's been fed in there since she got home and will go sit in there when she's hungry or thinks she should get food/treats.
Loki on the other hand hated anything restricting from day one. He was fed in there and I always kept the door open, throwing treats in when he wasn't looking so if he passed by and smelled it, he'd have to go in to find it. Really high value stuff was given only in the crate (ie raw bones). For a time, just to get him to stay in longer and be ok, while feeding I'd close the door and feed a small amount of kibble through the bars, that took quite some time but it helped him get used to being in there longer than he would have had he eaten from a bowl. I haven't had to deal with that degree of panic, so others will have to fill in there.