My husband and I crate two out of our four dogs, and I have no problem with it. I don't want to do it forever, but the two that I crate are safer in their crates than out of them, I feel. First, your dog should not wear his collar in the crate, as he may get his tags stuck between the bars, and strangle himself.
As for getting him in the crate, you may have to just pick him up and set him inside, until he gets used to it, and close the door right behind him. (We have 3 greyhounds, all of whom were crate-raised, and they go right in without a fuss. Our little Pup, who we found when she was about 6 months old, threw a fit about going into her crate, so we had to place her in it.) Boo and Pup now both run to their crates when we say 'kennel up!' We crate because we have 4 young dogs, and don't want the pack mentality to take over when they are home alone. When Boo and Pup are older and calmer (haha) we plan to leave them uncrated, but separate the dogs into different parts of the house using baby gates.