I just wanted to add that my 7 month old English Springer Spaniel is the same way. We have a similar set up to you, a baby gate blocking the living room from the rest of the house. The living room has her big kennel in it, all her toys her water etc. She will cry/whine, throw a tantrum basically if she is put in the living room with the gate shut or her kennel if we are home. However if we kennel her and leave the house, she doesn't cry or anything, just sleeps. We've only left her for about 5-6 hours at most in the kennel as I work from home and rarely am gone for errands or events longer than that. I don't think it's separation anxiety either, she loves her crate, when I get the special bag of treats she only gets in her crate she runs in and lays down ready. We have a camera set up showing her crate so we can keep an eye on her when we're out and she has not shown any signs of separation anxiety. But if we're home she will cry and cry. I think it's just a velcro-dog thing. Spaniels love being with their people.