[Rachael1983]

The potty training apartment seems like a good idea but it's costly and I worry that it promotes the pup to go inside the den like atmosphere.

I use the xsmall crate by Midwest. Our boy goes in there even when the door is open. Potty training was a breeze with the use of this crate since he just has enough room to stand up and turn around.

We tried X-Pen with pads, a mid-size crate, potty pads in certain areas and they just didn't work for our dog. Find what works for your home and situation. But I'm an advocate of ensuring the right size crate for crate training.