Puppy toilet training advice

[LumpySpaceCow]

Morning,

I know this topic has been covered to death on here but wondered if anyone could offer advice on our specific situation 😀

We have a gorgeous 10 week old black lab (first time lab owners if anyone had got any hints or tips they would like to share!). We have had him for 2 weeks.

During the day we take him out frequently - the usual after sleep, meals, play and then any other time he is sniffing about - he is on a lead in our garden and then praise + treats when he wees/poos. A couple of accidents in the house but he's getting there.

At night, he sleeps in an open crate that is attached to a puppy pen (open plan house so nowhere to 'shut him off') with a couple of puppy pads at the end of the crate. We tried him just in the crate when we got him but he pooed in there and it was all very traumatic. For the first week, we also slept downstairs with him and took him out during the night but I nearly had a nervous breakdown with the sleep deprivation so we decided on the pen.

We get up with him at 5am (he is used to an early start as he came from a farm) - sometimes the puppy pads are empty, sometimes a wee, this morning a wee and a poo - it is all very hit an miss. Any suggestions on how we can improve on this? I am nervous of shutting him in his crate at night in case he has an accident and becomes traumatised again - we have worked hard to get him used to it and he will happily go into his crate.
Do I wait a few more weeks and then try him in crate when his puppy pads are consistently dry? Has anyone done anything similar and can offer advice?

I know it's only been 2 weeks but I am just craving the time when we will have a fully house trained pup!
Thanks

The only solution is to get rid of the puppy pads and take him out in the middle of the night when he wakes up and alerts you I'm afraid.

Personally, I hate puppy pads as I feel like they just encourage toileting inside. We never used them and our beagle never had a single night-time accident. He slept in our room and we just took him outside when he woke up.

Firstly I would remove the pads, all they do is encourage them to wee and secondly he is so little and it will take a bit longer till he can hold his bladder. Have you thought of decreasing the puppy pen size over a period of time? Dogs don't usually go to toilet in their beds and maybe by decreasing the pen size this could encourage him to hold himself. Also can I ask why is he going on a lead in the garden? I know you need to get him used to a lead but you also need to get him used to being off a lead and recalling to his name.
My Black lab is now 6 months old, he is my 5th dog and 3rd lab. He will do anything for a biscuit so I have used that to my advantage. Training wise dogs only need to know a handful of commands, sit, stay, heel, no, wait, and the most important ones in my book are recall under any circumstance and the word leave. I have always started a dog as I mean to carry on. So sitting to have a lead put on, no pulling when on a lead, great recall from anything, it's all just basic manners and it makes dog ownership and walking so much more pleasurable. Oh and if you don't want them on a sofa don't let them up, that lovely cuddly 6kg puppy will eventually be 30kg and not so dainty when he squashes you.

we encourage all of our dogs with the phrase " be clean " repeated over and over whilst they are actually going , most get used to it very quickly and understand that when you then subsequently take them out what to do when you start using the phrase

Remove the pads and get up in the night
take them out for a last wee at 10ish
then up at 4am ish

remember this isn’t forever and gradually move your 4am alarm back gradually until pup came to the night

there is no quick fix for nighttime toilet training and if pup doesn’t give you a signal they need to go in the night (like crying etc) you can’t rely on them telling you so easier just to get up before they need to go/ have an accident

Came to the night = goes through the night

Thanks for the tips everyone. I thought that's the advice I would get re: puppy pads. We don't use them during the day and sometimes they are dry in the morning - we just need to make sure he goes out at 11pm as he then seems to last until 5am - maybe we try him in the crate from 11pm and I set the alarm for 5am unless he alerts me otherwise? I am just anxious that I won't hear him or won't get to him quick enough and he will go in his crate. I can't ever remember getting up in the middle of the night with my last dog - although I may have blocked out his puppy hood as I can't remember it being this hard work 🤣

We take him outside on a lead as the garden isn't fully secure - we are waiting on a fencer to secure it. However, this morning I have had him outside without one and will continue to do that during the day.

He starts puppy training classes next week but he can already sit and drop items (he literally puts everything in his mouth when in the garden!)