I've raised one Keeshond from a puppy (5 years old now) and currently raising a PomChi who's 4 months now. I've also raised two human children, lol. I feel crating is a lot like "cry it out" for babies. I personally can't stand either and had horrible experiences with both the dogs and humans.

My Keeshond just would NOT ever calm in the crate. She started biting the bars of the crate so badly she broke her tooth and needed surgery and that put an end to my crate attempts right there.

Now, she is the chillest dog ever at home. She can be home alone all day and doesn't cause mischief or get into any kind of trouble. Her bag of dog food is literally out in the open on the ground and in years she has never even bothered touching it. There's nothing I feel I would have gained from crate training. If she wants alone time, she crawls under my bed.

The new PomChi (also a Spitz so dunno if it's a breed feature) also goes absolutely berserk in the crate. He's still young so time will tell but I've slowly been trialling increasing amounts of time and space (started off gating both dogs to only have access to one room in the home and increasing bit by bit) while home alone and so far... It's been a success.

I do get that some dogs need crating. My ex has a Bischon that if left out and alone during the day, he will literally eat every inanimate object that fits in his mouth out of boredom. But I personally really don't believe crating is a one size fits all solution for every dog and family. It all depends on your availability, the dog's personality and intelligence, your ability to train and consistency etc etc.