Hello Folks
I know this is a topic that has been covered numerous times in the past and I have done a search and just wanted someone with experience to reassure me. :-)
I have recently got a 8 week old puppy, I am using a crate and he gets taken out at 1 hourly/2 hourly intervals to the garden etc. However there are times he has peed in the crate and then proceeded to lie in it even though he could have moved to a cleaner area. He has done this a few times and I am concerned that he does not seem to have the desire to be in a clean bedding.
Any constructive advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

I would not then crate him but attach a playpen around his crate to encourage him to get away from his sleeping place.

I am assuming you are taking him out to pee often enough.  After all meals, drinks, play, on waking and every half hour whilst awake to start with.

With crate training you would also have to get up at least once at night. 

I like my sleep so don't shut my pups in  crate to toilet train but let them get up away from the bed at night and clear up in the morning.  Haven't found this prolonged house-training as long as I was watchful to ensure pup didn't have opportunity to have accidents in the daytime.

Thank you Brainless and Onetwothree. We are taking him out at 1 1/2 hr intervals(doing the song and dance whe he performs!), wife gets the day and I get the night shift! he has access to a playpen from his crate.

Emma thanks, hopefully there will be light at the end of the tunnel. He has gone through a few pillows so far,not sure whether it's wise to cover the whole crate with a bed just yet, but it certainly is one to consider in the hopefully not too distant future.
Cheers

Hi -

I do use a crate, and I do get up in the night with mine.

How long each day is your puppy in the crate for?  You say he gets taken out at 1 hourly/2 hourly intervals - well, 1 hourly is good for an 8 wk old puppy.  2 hourly is not so good and, yes, you will get accidents unless you take him out more frequently.

You don't say what breed your puppy is.  Some breeds are slower to toilet train than others.

Once a puppy has begun to use the crate as a toilet place, it's very important to try to prevent this.  If you fail to prevent it, and it continues to happen, then you may as well give up on the crate as Brainless says, because you've then lost the major advantage of it. 

To try to prevent it:

Keep a much closer eye on your puppy.  Take him out every hour, regardless of whether you think he needs to go out. 

Give him a treat when he toilets outside, as this will speed up the toilet training process (puppy will want to hang on for outside even more if he gets a treat out there.)

Wash all his bedding in biological washing powder.  This is important, because if you are washing his bedding in non-bio powder (or liquid), he will be able to smell that it's a toilet place and will continue to go there.  Only bio liquid/powder will break down the enzymes in the wee so a dog can't smell them.

Wipe the inside of the crate down with biological washing liquid/powder for the same reason.  You have to remove all wee smells.

Lastly, if his crate is big enough that he can wee in one part of it and then still move to a clean area, it's too big.  This is what a puppy shouldn't be able to do, or it defeats the point of using a crate as the puppy can easily toilet in one place and sleep in the other.

I feel for you.  I thought Poj would never be trained.  The turning point for me came when we bought her a bed which took up her entire crate.  She never weed or pooed in the night again.  She's now 7 months and I reckon she was full trained at 5 and a half months.  Keep at it - it WILL end!

People forget that a pup won't ahve much physical control until 5 months, like a todler when they need to go they need to go there and then.

Absolutely! And the other thing about very young pups and their bladders is that anything sets them going - excitement being the classic example but also just the act of waking up. Their bladders operate like taps with duff washers. Sometimes they turn on and off in the way you expect but mostly they are unpredictable and prone to constant leaking.

I agree with brainless. An 8 week old puppy is physically unable to hold itself. They are the equivalent of a 6 to 9 month old child, (depending on the breed and how quickly they reach maturity). You wouldn't expect a child of that age to be potty trained. He must also be a little stressed at having left his brothers and sisters. If possible, give him constant access to outdoors during the day so that he can come and go as he pleases, but it must be very secure and with no chance of him being stolen. I have a litter of 7 week old Labs at the moment and they never soil inside during the day because they have constant access to an outdoor run. I don't expect a puppy to be fully house trained until it is at least 5 months, and even then I'm prepared for night time accidents.