Question by Justin M: My dog will not voluntarily go in his crate?
We got our little guy about a year ago when he was about 3 months old, he is now 1 year 3 months, neutered at 6 months. He is a Shih Tzu/Maltese mix; he has characteristics of both breeds. He weighs about 10 lbs. and has a huge personality, I mean HUGE personality. He communicates with us incredibly well, we can basically read his every thought; very intelligent! We got his crate the very night we got him. Within a month we started him on professional puppy training for a month. He absolutely refuses to voluntarily go in his crate whenever we go out or when it's bedtime. After we first got him he figured out things we do which tells him he's going in his crate, i.e. putting on our shoes, locking the back door, saying the words "crate" or "nite nite", he will just go limp and submissively lie on his back, or go and hide under a chair, or in a corner. We were taught to feed him in his crate, for potty reasons 
And he has absolutely no problems going in his crate to eat, and sometimes he just goes in there to hang out and play with a toy. He did excellent with potty training, no accidents since he was 4 months old. So I'm assuming he is not scared of being in his crate. We tried all the professional tricks, and obviously they didn't work, not one single time. Does he have separation anxiety? What can we do to try and change this behavior? I know it's very minuscule, but other than that he is such a well behaved dog, we just want to break the habit to put the icing on the cake.
Best answer:
Answer by Julia B
Try to give him a lot of good treats every time he goes in and have an excited voice at first. Both my boxers run into their crates as soon as they see me grab the treats, but it takes a few weeks to get them used to it.
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Get your dog used to your getting-ready-to-leave cues, like picking up keys and jacket. Go through these actions repeatedly during the time when you’re staying home, without actually leaving. If your dog has already learned to associate his fears with your departure cues, it will take a lot of repetitions before the dog will get it.
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Start by making sure your dog is getting enough exercise, including mental exercise (usually satisfied with some training and the chance to interact with other dogs or explore new places). Before you can retrain your dog (and it may take weeks or longer), arrange for the dog to not be alone – get a pet sitter, join a doggy daycare, or leave your dog with a friend who’s home all day.
Since he obviously does not have anything against the crate itself, it has to be the fact that you are leaving him.
he should realize that its not working so he wont try it anymore. He will know that this is the way it works and just let it go.
The same thing for going nite nite. You are leaving him.
Some dogs can not stand it when their human leaves.
When he goes limp and rolls on his back, do you pet him? Do you walk towards him and talk to him in a reassuring way?
If you do, and believe me if I would see mine do it I would cry with him, then he knows this is a tool for you do give him just a bit more attention.
When you leave him, ignore his cute submissive moves, he is tricking you. It will be really hard but you absolutely ignore the behavior.
After a while, depending on how stubborn he is
As soon as mine sees me putting on my shoes and its not for a walk, he goes in his crate by himself and sit there waiting for me to shut the door.
try putting treats in the kennel make the dog think it is a good thing tell it the words you want to use show it the treat then put treat in kennel keep doing this till it understand