I personally found it easier to potty train Oliver with the use of the crate. We have a wire crate with a divider. At 4 months old, he was trustworthy enough to open the entire crate without any accidents and by 5 months old, he was trustworthy enough to sleep in our bedroom on the floor. I don't want Oliver in my bed and I don't think he actually likes our bed. I tried letting him up there once or twice and he would never calm down or thought he needed to sleep on my head which no thanks. I had a cat that used to sleep on my face and that was awful enough, I can't imagine a 90 pound dog on my face!

When Oliver got tired and refused to take a nap and would get all crazy, I would just tell him to relax and if that didn't work, I would send him outside for a few seconds. He hates being more than 10 feet away from me so him stepping outside and me shutting the door in his face made him calm down real quick. Then he would come back inside and lay down and take the nap he so desperately needed.

You have to figure out what works best for you and your dog. Good luck!