@yesnice You can say, “YAY!!! What a good doggie! You’re such a good girl/boy! They know from your tone of voice that you think they’ve done something wonderful. It even comes across when you have to keep your voice down. Do a little dance, whatever. Give them a pat or two, but don’t let them steal your glove, haha. Make sure you do and say the same things inside when you’re training to reinforce the connection between the happy tone of voice or little dance and good times, or a snack.
It’s helpful to use a word that means only peeing and pooping. Maybe your neighbors don’t want to hear you encouraging either activity late at night so the word you use doesn’t have to actually mean anything, it’s just a word that will convey the point to your puppy and is separate from “yay” or “good girl/boy”.
When I met my ex-husband he was a student living in cheap housing in an inner city around lots of other students. So, not wanting to be on the deserted street at midnight and trying to be quiet and not disturb anyone studying, he would encourage her by saying sweetly, “C’mon. Hurry up.” So, in her puppy mind the words “hurry up” meant pee or poop. And it meant that for her 15 years.
When I was on my own raising my own puppy it felt natural to use “hurry up,” with her, too.
It worked. Just use that phrase, no more than two words, ONLY for that activity, so choose the word carefully, haha.
If you want to treat for that behavior, you can wait until you’re inside by keeping up the happy banter as you go inside and get the treat to them as quickly as you can, before you take off your coat, etc. By keeping up the happy sounds until you give the treat it helps the puppy remember that they are getting a treat because they did the right thing outside.
another redditor suggested a ‘squeasy snacker’ for me and it’s got a removable top part so you can use something more solid or more liquid! Good luck!