Wow - lots of views but no one can tell me at what stage their puppies were (in potty training) at what age?
Anyway, I've gotten great suggestions on here and in other reading. We've been doing crate training for the past four days, and when I let him out of the crate he's in his pen with potty pads down. I wait until he potties, saying "Go potty" before and during and if he goes he gets lots of praise and a piece of cheese and gets to come out and play with us (in the house or outside, supervised). Then its back in the crate for some down time and I repeat the process. If he does not go potty after a few minutes he goes back in the crate for a bit and then we try again.
It took him two days but he gets it now and will almost always immediately potty when he comes out of his crate. He has no choice but to use the pads right now, as they are in the whole pen, and I'll keep that up for a while. I don't think he's quite gotten the difference of pad vs. floor yet.
He's gone two days without accidents in the house, but mostly because I make sure he's 'empty' before he plays and I keep a hawk's eye on him. If he sniffs and circles he goes right back in the pen to potty and then back in his crate.
However, today I took him upstairs for a minute with us and he ran into the bathroom and started to pee on the tile floor. He had just pee'd on his pad about five minutes before, which was why he was out with us. I caught him and told him no, put him back in his pen and then in his crate. But a few days ago he had a pee accident in the same bathroom and I have not gotten my natures miracle yet. I'll try to clean in there with some vinegar, which I read kills the scent, and I'll keep him downstairs for the time being.
At this point I am not expecting him to fully understand the training process. He has definitely picked up pottying right when he leaves the crate, knowing he'll get his cheese and come out to play. But I do not think he has any clue as to where is an acceptable area to potty and where isn't.
I will continue to watch him and keep him on a strict schedule to keep aiming for accident free days, and see how things go.
We ordered a Rascal indoor potty for him since he also very naturally took to pottying outside on the grass and because it is a more 'defined' potty place for long term than just having a pee pee pad on the floor. Hopefully he will take to it. It shouldn't be here for a few weeks anyway.