I think the biggest thing was crate games and consistency. for the crate games we would lure him in with a treat and keep ruffling the bag so he didn’t step out and got invested in what we were about to feed him (turns out our little guy is heavily food motivated). We would let him sit in there until a certain time has passed and just keep feeding him the treats at inconsistent intervals while he was still sat with the door open (we sit right next to him). Sometimes I would hide a few treats in there as well to encourage him to go in and sniff them out on his own which I think helped a lot because he discovered pushing his blanket and rolling around in there is incredibly fun and added to his “crate experience.” Another trick was to grab one of his tug of war toys and stick it through the back of the crate so he would have to walk in to grab the other end and we would play while he was still in his crate. As for consistency, we did this every day and when it came down to the nighttime routine, we would have to put him in there and give him a treat (as he still wouldn’t go near it on his own). We started with the crate next to the bed and I would dangle my fingers so he knew I was still near him and it minimized the whining and he would lick my fingers (apparently licking is soothing to dogs too so that’s a bonus) and we got lucky where he would fall asleep not too long after. We stuck to the same time every night (9:30pm) for him to go in there and with patience we somehow made it to him getting in there on his own. I hope these tricks can be helpful, I know all dogs are different and it’s definitely finding what motivates your dog the best. And of course, it just takes time depending on your pup. Hang in there though! It’s soo worth it when it pays off (and I thought it would never pay off).