So Kodi is going 5 months..  We have two crates, one upstairs for night sleeping (room is darker, we can hear when he's up in the morning, etc.

The other crate (same exact one - don't ask, we got the two for the price of one) is downstairs.  :-)  He's so much more comfortable laying around in the house.  He will rarely go into the day crate, but does.  We reward when he does.  It's also the crate we use when having dinner and while we work on "dinner time" manners.  We always make it an enjoyable experience..Kong with filing, favorite toys, etc. if we put him in the crate..

The issue is when we leave and he's crated.  He talks and complains and hoots and hollers..  We went to dinner last night and we gone for a few hours.  He had not accidents, seemed to have been sleeping when we got home (lights in the house were out), but earlier in the evening, even though it was dark, our neighbors said they could hear him and all his noise and voices..  

We'd hate to think he's crying out for several hours and don't want him to hurt vocal cords, etc.  We've tried the 5, 10, 15 minutes approach and think it's more to when we're both out of the house... so that brings to mind separation anxiety, but we don't see other signs of that...  If he's laying around the house and one of us is gone (or both) for a shorter time, he's excited to see us come back in, but not over the top..  He sits when we come in, waits patiently for us to pet him, etc.

So, since they say it's always the owners, what should we do to get him more comfortable in the downstairs "day" or "evening out" crate?  Appreciate any thoughts.

Jay S.

I just helped someone else out with this very thing, I am going to link you the thread where I talked about my crate training clicker method. (I would retype it, but it is looong.)

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t10435-i-have-tried-everything-please-please-help-me#159927