Laurie, we started him on crate training from day one. Actually, he took his toys in there on the first day. He naps in there without a fuss and he sleeps in there at night. And, yes, if I lose track of him for a bit I know to look in his crate first.
We crate trained our lab and our shepherd years ago and it really pays off in the end. It's a big crate and I have a box in the back to take up space for him and then I'll take it out once he takes up more space on his own.
Hope this thread brought some smiles today! I love talking about our animals!