For about two weeks I'd say. The trick is definitely getting them to the pad/papers as soon as you get up out of bed, before you do anything else, and training them to a word or two "potty" "go potty" whatever you want to use. He was about 8-10 weeks old when he was pooping in the crate too. Part of the problem is that when they are so young, they can't necessarily hold it all night. When I started to prompt them to the pad right before crating for the night, and as soon as I got up in the morning, the problems stopped. The routine works wonderfully. Plus they get little training treats when I catch them going on the pad. Helps to reinforce the behavior also.
Good luck!
