He gets upset as soon as he realizes he's in the crate w/the door shut. I can be gone one hour and he'll have urinated everywhere and torn up whatever is in the crate w/him.
Last night I knew I'd be gone for several hours so I tried occupying him – I let in his crate with him a KONG stuffed with a little canned dog good and some raw carrots {a favorite}, two empty paper towel tubes, a small rawhide chew, and a bunch of loose paper towels. I also left a radio playing. The other two dogs were next to him, Jazzy in her crate and Gypsy on her big pillow.
When I got home the rawhide was gone,the KONG was empty, the paper towels tubes disintegrated, and the bedding full of holes and urine -- all as I'd expected. LOL
I let the dogs out for about an hour, brought them in, put him to bed in his crate as always at night and he curled right up and went to sleep like a good boy.
Maybe it is because we are a homeschooling family, so we are here ALL the time -- the dogs are only alone during the day one - three times a week -- and he just has it in his head that closed crates are for night time only. During the day we are expected to be home to serve his needs!