New Bichon Owner - any tips for training?

Hi all! I heard about this site via a fellow dog owner so thought I'd give it a go!
I brought home my first dog ever on Saturday and am finding it a challenge! Toby is an 8 week old Bichon Frise. He seems to have settled more today but yesterday was terrible - he was whining and barking for most of the day and I felt awful leaving him to it. I work full time so I want him to get used to his own Company. I do understand he is a baby and doesn't fully understand what's going on, plus that he has had a big upheaval by leaving his mother and litter mates.
Yesterday I had him sectioned off in the kitchen with toys, his crate, an extra bed, water, etc which may have been too big a space for such a tony dog. Today his pen arrived and he seems so much more settled confined in a smaller area (I've attached it to his crate so he can roam around as he likes. I will have to see how he gets on tonight as he cries at night.
Does anyone have any tips for overnight crating? I've read varying advice online. For example, do I need to get up in the night to let him out? Or is it enough to put a puppy training pad at the front of the cage?
I'm on holiday for the rest of May so am hoping to get him more settled by the time I go back to work. Although I don't want him to get too used to me being here!
I can't walk him until mid June due to his jabs so am exercising him in the garden through play. Any tips on this would also be appreciated!
Any general tips on Bichon's would also be appreciated!

Welcome to Dogsey!!

I would always crate overnight, but get up (at set times) and let Toby out. Make sure he goes outside to the toilet before bed; then set your alarm for (example!) midnight and 4/5am (depending on what time you normally get up etc).

Wake him up, take him outside and let him toilet. Then take him back to bed - his crate - and settle him quickly and with a minimum of fuss.

I would try to steer away from newspaper/training pads, mainly because you are setting yourself a 'middle' target. What you want Toby to do is do his toilet outside; but by using paper/pads, you are adding a step to the toilet training.

Make sure you take him outside at regular intervals - when he wakes up, after eating, after playing etc; you'll get to know when he wants to go, as you'll recognise the circling/sniffing behaviour he exhibits. Take him out and use your 'command' word - toilet, wee-wees, be clean etc. Praise him loads when he goes. Pick a word you are happy with though - you might not want to have to walk around saying "wee-wees" in a park full of people!!

Very tiring with a puppy.
Toilet training can be a long affair depending on the breeds.
dont scold accidents , just whip the pup up and get it outside and praise when they do good.
Cute puppies can get away with murder so you need to decide your feeding rules and furniture rules, to prevent greeding and jumping on furniture.
Cant give a little bit off your sandwich and then complain if he sits for some every time.
Cant let him up on the sofa one day cos you want cuddles and then get frustrated when he climbs up himself when pup gets bigger.

When you go back to work how are you going to cope with his 4 feeds a day? Have you someone to come in to feed, help with potty training & interaction? May be you have someone else at home during tbe day?

How long are you crating him for? Puppues & dogs need to be crate " trained " - did the breeder already have his/her puppies crate trained? Google crate training to get the correct way

He will cry, he is missing his mum & litter mates, this will ease with time.

I do use paper as a inbetween as you will need to leave him sometimes to shop etc & not all young pups can hang on until you get back. Training pads - ours all thought of as toys
& would run round the house with one in the mouth trailing
it behind. Im sure they do work for some

In meantine enjoy your puppy - puppydays pass all too quickly

How long will you be at work for, and will the dog be left alone for the duration? By the end of May, he will still be too young to be left for any length of time. Apart from anything else, during the day he should go out every 2 h until he's toilet trained. (My bitch couldn't control her bladder fully until she was 7 months old...) If you don't have anyone who can stay home with him, maybe you can get a dog sitter or friend to stay in until he's old enough to be left?

Re: exercise in the garden, I'd do that little and often, eg 5 min bursts followed by rest time. Puppies need to sleep and rest a lot. It's also useful if your puppy learns that you're not a full-time entertainment centre, but that you call the shots as to when exercise and play happens and when it ends.

I crate trained my dogs by feeding them every meal in the crate, then letting them snooze off the food in there with the door open. When it comes to shutting the crate for the first time, build it from just 1 minute. There are lots of good instructions on the I-net.

Similarly, build up leaving the dog starting with you leaving the room and coming straight back in. Build that up for a few minutes, then leave the house for 1 minute, and build up from there. If he gets overexcited when you get back don't greet him enthusiastically (or at all). It should become something commonplace that you slip out of and back into the home.

Puppies like to follow you around - it's a good idea to teach the puppy straightaway to stay in his bed while you move around and do stuff (for very short periods initially, of course). If he learns from the start that he doesn't *have* to come to the loo with you every time , he will cope with later absences much better.

It's a great idea to limit the available space when leaving him. Dogs like dens, and having a huge space to deal with when they're left can be too much for them.

How long are you leaving this puppy on it's own?