Poor Maxx. I am glad to hear he was playing last night. We had a similar situation with Porter and his crate. He would also slam his body against the crate violently. So, we started to gate him in the kitchen and have never had a problem since. He actually started doing much better going potty outside too. It was like he had his own little room at night and the crying stopped too. Port was about 11 weeks when we took him out of the crate. He is almost 4 months now and still as happy as can be in HIS kitchen.
. Once Porter gave himself a swollen eye (looked like he got slammed in the eye) we put his crate away. Our Vet said that if there is any fear that he may hurt himself, gate him in a baby proof room.