I don't believe in crate training, but I do believe in using expen's. They work great! I think restricting the amount of space they have to "free roam" really helps. An expen isn't TOO restrictive, and they still have room for a bed or crate, food/water and their peepads. Missy was trained very easily using this method. Now that she's trained, I leave one section open on her expen and she uses it as "her" space and loves it.