<human>: Give me a shortened version of the text

Hey everyone! My boyfriend and I will be bringing home our Bichon Frise puppy in early September, and I want to be sure that we're prepared, so I've been doing lots of research.

This post might be a bit disorganized because I have a lot of thoughts running through my head, but I appreciate any advice/help!

So, I'm terrified of separation anxiety in dogs. I had a Maltese who was very attached to me and would literally howl and bark non-stop whenever I left him, even for 15 seconds. We got him when he was 4-5 months, and I suspect he developed it because of the change in home plus the fact that his previous owners were always around so he was never taught to be alone. As a result, I really want to prevent SA in our new puppy from a young age.

My main question is regarding how people combine crate training + teaching puppy to be alone effectively. I get the concept: you toss treats around the crate, then in the crate, and work towards being able to close the door for a second, then increasing the time until puppy can be alone for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour etc. My questions are:
1. Do you ever feed your dog in the crate as part of crate training/teaching to be alone? Would that interfere with potty training or help it? Should I be consistent and only feed him in his crate or is it okay to mix it up?
2. What about special treats? I've read that you should associate being alone in the crate with a really special treat like a Kong stuffed with peanut butter. Should I only associate being alone with his treat? Would feeding him in the crate + giving a treat confuse him?

Thanks in advance for the help!
<bot>: Want to prevent separation anxiety through crate training. Should I feed meals in the crate + give him his special treat or only associate being alone in crate with treat? Should I only feed meals in crate or can I mix it up?*