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Or should I put the doggie bed away and start getting him used to the crate itself?

As long as the pup (and house) are safe, I would stay with the enclosed space, especially if you are gone long hours.

Put the bed AND crate in there with him. Put that, and his food, water dishes, toys, etc at one end and some shavings or shredded paper at the other end. He will naturally try to get as far from his sleeping/eating area as possible to potty (you can put some wet papers down there to get him started -- so it smells like the "go" place.). I find this does not inhibit them when it comes time to "go" outside. If you are home, by all means take him outside very often and have him potty. IF indoors in his area, he will easily go to the "other" area to potty. He is at least learning that the crate is not a place to go. Take the door off his crate or tie it back and make it inviting -- he will probably eventually go in there to sleep and get used to the crate.

While you are home, at his young age, train him with very short periods in the crate. What I do for the first few times is wait til he gets sleepy, THEN put him in the crate. He may fuss a few minutes, but then will go to sleep. Be sure you do this only when you are home because you want to be right there when he wakes up and immediately take him out before he has a chance to cry or potty. He WILL have to potty, so take him out immediately. He's learned a couple of things by taking a nap in the crate -- it was nice in there and I came out of the crate and really had to go and I went OUTSIDE. Then throughout the day I may put him in the crate for a few minutes while he is awake and isn't necessarily going to be sleeping. He will probably cry a while. I let him and then as soon as he is quiet a few minutes, I let him out and we immediately go outside. I will let him run to the door on his own. After a nap, I will CARRY him because I don't want him to stop and go before he gets outside.

Before I actually put the pup in the crate and shut the door, the crate will have been where he is playing and he will have gone in and out of it, playing. While he is playing, I may shut the door while he is in there and talk to him, but swing the door open before he has a chance to make noise. I want him to see the door close and have him feel the confinement. If he's a good eater, feed him in there, close the door, but be ready to open it as soon as he is done eating and before he can make any noise.

The baby gate may not contain him for very long and they can be dangerous if they can get their heads through. You might want to buy one of those portable exercise pens and set one up in the kitchen or something...those work well too for building an "area".

Carla