aww, Smokey is so cute! He looks like a hyper little boy good luck with everything. .

As far as what the 1st owners said about tearing up his crate, are you sure they didn't just throw him in his crate and leave him alone? Crate training is supposed to be a slow and gradual process. . also, if you buy a metal wire crate for him, I doubt he could tear it apart crates are a godsend for puppies. here's a really good crate training link. . .

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/cratetraining.htm