I work in a school so get all the holidays off and my hubby works from home (mnost of the time!) so Eddie has only had to be left occasionally but when we have left him he has been great.
We never used a crate as we got Eddie when he was 8 months old - so we just risked it and left him, but we did do some preparation by building up the time that he was left gradually - meant lots of time in and out of the house stood in the driveway
You must get them to like being in the crate first though - don't just put pup in and shut the door and go! Build up the time in the crate with the door open with nice treats so they see it as a nice place to be, then gradually start shutting the door and leaving the room. From what I have read it can take a while to do this, but it will be worth it
