[Buster Bailey]

I have 2 yorkies as well & they are littermates. We got them when they were 11 weeks old, and they have been crated together since the day we got them. We had to move up a size in the crate as they have aged, but we kept their smaller one as a travel crate and have a little bit bigger of one for them at home so they have a little more room now. The vet said that crate training is the best thing for them since it provides security and will help them to control their potty urges & stay out of trouble. I can't say that I've never felt guilty about leaving them in a crate, but I know that it keeping them safe and also helping them to control going potty inside. They are in their crate at night which is located in my living room (my bedroom is down the hallway), so if they whine, I can hear them and let them out to go to potty and then they go back in the crate & I go back to bed. Most of the time they sleep through the nights now. For a couple of weeks after we got them, they got up to go potty 1 or 2 times a night. We had a little bit of a potty-in-the-crate issue after our baby girl was spayed since she got a UTI, and another time when we fed them a cleaned T-Bone after my husband was finished with it & something errupted in their crate which was REALLY gross (we will NEVER EVER feed them ANY type of table food or scraps ever, ever again!!!), but other than that, they have never gone potty in their crate. I have to pick the water dishes up after 8:00 though, or they will wake up & have to pee during the night. If that happens, I get up and let them out. I actually know their barks & whines now - one for "Mom, let me out, I have to pee", or "I really have to pee - let me out!", "I have to poop" (that one's a bark), or "I'm bored or mad at my sister"....During the morning, they have free reign in the house after they've gone potty outside until I'm in the shower, in which case they go back in the crate. Then before I leave for work, they go in the crate and I come home for lunch from 12-1 and they are out. Then back in they go from 1-5. Then they get a walk after I get home from work and are with me wherever I'm at during the rest of the night until bedtime. I have started to leave kongs in their crate, and sometimes a rawhide (but if I give them treats in their kongs, I feed them less food - don't want them to get fat!). Keep in mind that puppies are supposed to sleep about 18 hours each day (that's what my vet told me anyway), so a crate is a great tool to help them get their sleep. Some places tell you not to crate them together, but my furbabies are very happy with what they have. They happily go into their crate when I say "Buster, kennel...Bailey, kennel"...When training remember to use each of their names, otherwise they get confused. My husband & I are going to set up a "play pen" in our basement for them, so they don't have to be in the crate all day now that they're house-trained. They are 7 months old now, and I think that the crate has been very good for them. I walk them everyday as well to make sure that they can get some of their ever-lasting energy out! I think a pen sounds fine too, but you could very well have to pick up a mess. I'm guessing with a pen & training pad, you will have messes to clean up, but I think both are probably good options. Good luck with your decision!