We were afraid that Chewie would hate us for crating him during the day - but the only thing that he hates about the day, is the fact that we both work! He wants us to be home to curl up with all day long - and his puppy dog eyes are sad after our morning walk...
A small aside here - we purchased Chewie last year, when he was two and a half years old - and received a very shaky history on him. The sellers hemmed and hawed regarding if he had been crated etc... So to our knowledge, he was not crate trained before we had him. Now, Monday-Friday he lives in "Chewie's House" (his crate) while we are at work. His regular crate is much larger than what would be considered the proper size for a Yorkie under 6 pounds, but we had gotten a great deal on it, and it's big enough for his bed, toys, dishes, etc... And we figured that if WE were in a crate all day that we'd appreciate being able to stretch our legs a little bit!
Anyhow, we purchased a smaller "travel" crate for a trip in the fall - and we baited him into it with his favorite beefy smelling treats (Jerky, Pupperoni, and the rest of the "Puppy Crack" type treats that smell fabulous to him). He was pretty much okay with the whole travel crate, but while we were on vacation and had to leave him in the crate for short periods of time I know that he was upset - and missed the spacious "Chewie's House" that he has at home. I think that if I had it all to do over again that we would have brought his regular crate, or a similarly sized travel crate, with us.
So - if the crate you purchased and showed photos of is the only crate that Tinkerbell has come in contact with you're in much better shape than we were on our trip! And you're planning in advance! Kudos to you!
What I was trying to get at - is that Chewie did JUST FINE learning to live in a crate - and certainly your little Tinkerbell will learn that "Tinkerbell's House" is a safe place!
Chewie and Christina